Liturgical year in the Orthodox Church

The liturgical year in the Orthodox Church does not perfectly correspond to the civil year and, except for those churches and those places where the relationship with the ecclesiastical year reaches identification, has a variable duration as the start and end dates are mobile. From this it follows that there is no single liturgical year for all orthodoxy as the same varies:

• according to the individual Orthodox churches, e
• According to the various rites possibly present in a single Orthodox church.

Therefore, in a simple but precise way, it can be said that:

• There are as many liturgical years as there are Orthodox rites, e
• Every year liturgical is the temporal expression of the relative orthodox liturgical rite.

Among the various liturgical years, many common elements remain, especially among those belonging to the same ritual family, given that the many common factors among the related and individual Orthodox churches are more remarkable being the same in full communion.

In the fifth century, this period began on September 24 and ended on 23 September following or, according to other sources, on September 23 and ended on 22 September. The ecclesiastical year derives from the calculation of the Byzantine time based on the concept of unfair, that is, a specific period of 15 years.

In fact, the beginning of each single year and more than each new Indictional cycle was solemnly inaugurated. The patriarch of Constantinople announced the year of the edition and, after the celebration of the Divine Liturgy in Santa Sofia, with the Holy Synod he met in a large classroom: according to some sources it would be the then room of the ecumenical throne. After some introductory liturgical rites, the patriarch called the new year, according to the position of the same within the Indicational cycle, and gave a general acquittal. Then he signed the official document that sanctioned the beginning of the new year.

Although this tradition has lost its practical meaning with the end of the Byzantine Empire, the Church has maintained this date, on 1 September, which for it marks the beginning of the ecclesiastical year, in other words the New Year, even if for the remaining this anniversary has no consequences in the life of the Church.

Relationship between the ecclesiastical and liturgical years [ change | Modifica Wikitesto ]

A little particular is the relationship between the notion of ecclesiastical year and the notion of liturgical year.
In the Orthodox Church, especially in the context of the Byzantine ritual tradition, there is today an orientation to the distinction between the notion of ecclesiastical year and that of the liturgical year, even if not all scholars and liturgical operators are in favor of this distinction. Where there is the distinction the liturgical year begins with Easter and ends with the next Saturday preceding the next Easter. Where instead the indistinction between the ecclesiastical and liturgical year remains, the liturgical year begins on 1 September to end on the following August 31st.

Every year Orthodox liturgical is similar to the Latin ones but, as described above, it does not start with the first Sunday of Advent.
The Orthodox liturgical years are structured on the dates of the Giuliano calendar, which differs by thirteen days compared to the Gregorian one, currently in use in different parts of the world and also used in the Orthodox countries as a civil calendar: this entails, by way of example, that the Christmas of the Lord is celebrated on January 7 and the date of Easter normally differs between the East and West Christian.
Every year Orthodox liturgical is characterized by the alternation of holidays and fasts

The so-called fasting It is the name of the long period of fasting previous Christmas, while the fast corresponding to Lent, before Easter, is called great fasting . There are other periods of fasting such as the fasting of the apostles , preceding the feast of the saints Peter and Paul, of one or two weeks, and the fasting previous the sleep of Mary, two weeks, from 1 to 14 August.

The liturgical year includes twelve great holidays, called major holidays, also present in the Christian West, which celebrate some aspects of the life of Jesus and Virgin Mary. The twelve major holidays, lower only to Easter, are indicated below with the relative celebration date according to the Giuliano calendar: