Major Feasts and Fasts
January 1
|
Circumcision of Our Lord, God and Savior, Jesus Christ
Feast of St. Basil the Great
New Year's Day (Civil)
|
January 6
|
Theophany of Our Lord, God, and Savior, Jesus Christ
|
January 11
|
Sunday After Theophany
|
January 18 | Sunday of Zacchaeus |
January 19 | Martin Luther King Day (USA) |
January 30 | Synaxis of the Ecumenical Teachers and Hierarchs: Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, and John Chrysostom |
January 25 | Sunday of the Publican and Pharisee |
February 1 | Sunday of the Prodigal Son |
February 2 | Encounter of Our Lord, God, and Savior, Jesus Christ with Simeon and Anna (Presentation of Our Lord into the Temple) |
February 7 | First All-Souls Saturday |
February 8 | Sunday of the Second Coming of Christ (Meat-Fare) |
February 15 | Forgiveness Sunday (Cheese-Fare) |
February 16 | Beginning of the Holy Forty Days Fast | President's Day (USA) |
February 22 | First Sunday of the Great Fast (Sunday of Orthodoxy) |
February 28 | Second All-Souls Saturday |
March 1 | Second Sunday of the Great Fast (St. Gregory Palamas) |
March 7 | Third All Souls Saturday |
March 8 | Third Sunday of the Great Fast (Veneration of the Cross) |
March 14 | Fourth All-Souls Saturday |
March 15 | Fourth Sunday of the Great Fast (St. John of the Ladder) |
March 19 | Canon of St. Andrew of Crete |
March 22 | Fifth Sunday of the Great Fast (St. Mary of Egypt) |
March 25 | Annunciation to the Mother of God |
March 27 | End of the Holy Forty Day's Fast (at sunset or after Vespers or Presanctified on Friday) |
March 28 - April 4 | Great and Holy Week |
March 28 |
Lazarus Saturday |
March 29 |
Palm (Flowery) Sunday - Entrance into Jerusalem |
March 30 | Great and Holy Monday |
March 31 | Great and Holy Tuesday |
April 1 | Great and Holy Wednesday |
April 2 | Great and Holy Thursday |
April 3 | Great and Holy Friday |
April 4 | Great and Holy Saturday |
April 5 | Pascha - Feast of the Resurrection of Christ (Easter Sunday) |
April 5-11 | Bright Week |
April 12 | Second Sunday of Pascha (Apostle Thomas) |
April 19 | Third Sunday of Pascha (Myrrh-Bearing Women) |
April 26 | Fourth Sunday of Pascha (Healing of the Paralytic) |
April 29 | Mid-Pentecost |
May 3 | Fifth Sunday of Pascha (Samaritan Women at the Well) |
May 10 | Sixth Sunday of Pascha (Man Born Blind) |
May 14 | Feast of the Ascension of Our Lord, God, and Savior, Jesus Christ |
May 17 | Seventh Sunday of Pascha (Holy Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council) |
May 23 | Fifth All-Souls Saturday |
May 24 | Pentecost - Descent of the Holy Spirit |
May 25 | Pentecost Monday: Feast of the Holy Trinity | Memorial Day (USA), Victoria Day (Canada) |
May 31 | All Saints Sunday |
May 31-June 29 | The Apostles' Fast (The fast begins with the vespers on Sunday evening and concludes on June 29th) |
June 24 | Nativity of the Holy Glorious Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist John |
June 29 | The Holy Glorious and All-Praised Leaders of the Apostles, Peter & Paul |
July 1 | Canada Day (Canada) |
July 4 | Independence Day (USA) |
July 19 | Sunday of the Holy Fathers of the First Six Ecumenical Councils |
July 20 | Holy, Glorious Prophet Elijah |
August 1-14 |
Dormition Fast
|
August 6 | Transfiguration of Our Lord, God and Savior, Jesus Christ |
August 15 | The Dormition of our Most Holy Lady, the Mother of God and Ever-Virgin Mary |
August 29 | The Beheading of the Holy Glorious Prophet, Forerunner, and Baptist John |
September 1 | Liturgical New Year (7535) |
September 7 | Labor Day (USA & Canada) |
September 8 | The Nativity of our Most Holy Lady, the Mother of God and Ever-Virgin Mary |
September 14 | The Universal Exaltation of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross |
October 1 | The Protection of our Most Holy Lady the Mother of God and Ever-Virgin Mary |
October 12 | Columbus Day (USA), Thanksgiving Day (Canada) |
October 18 | Sunday of the Holy Fathers of the Seventh Ecumenical Council |
November 8 | Synaxis of the Archangel Michael and the Other Bodiless Powers |
November 11 | Veterans' Day (USA), Remembrance Day (Canada) |
November 15 | Nativity Fast Begins (Philip's Fast also known as Advent) |
November 21 | The Entry of the Most Holy Mother of God into the Temple |
November 26 | Thanksgiving Day (USA) |
December 6 | St Nicholas the Wonderworker and Archbishop of Myra in Lycia |
December 9 (8) | The Conception of the Most Holy Mother of God by the Righteous Anna |
December 12 | Our Lady of Guadalupe (Ruthenians, USA) |
December 13 | Second Sunday Before Christmas (Holy Forefathers) |
December 20 | Sunday Before Christmas (Holy Fathers) |
December 24 | Christmas Eve |
December 25 | The Nativity of our Lord God and Savior, Jesus Christ |
December 26 |
Synaxis of the Most Holy Mother of God, Boxing Day (Canada)
|
December 27 | First-Martyr and Archdeacon Stephen |
December 27 | Sunday after Christmas: Commemoration of the Holy Righteous David the King, Joseph the Betrothed, and James the Brother of the Lord |
December 28 | 20,000 Martyrs of Nicomedia |
December 29 | 14,000 Infants (the Holy Innocents) Slain by Herod at Bethlehem |
Note: The Byzantine liturgical year starts on September 1 and ends on August 31. The movable feasts are determined by the date of Pascha (the feast of the Resurrection). There are two systems currently in use to calculate Pascha - Gregorian (Western) and Julian (Eastern). Roman Catholics, most Byzantine Catholics in America and some Orthodox (notably those in Finland) follow the Gregorian date. Some Byzantines in America and most Byzantines and Orthodox in Canada and elsewhere follow the Julian date. In the year AD 2025 the Gregorian Easter is April 5 and the Julian Easter is April 12th.