Tomorrow marks the beginning of the new Byzantine liturgical year, Anno Mundi 7535, and our liturgical calendar is now available to download here.
It includes the commemorations and readings for every day of the year, as well as a guide to the traditional fasting rule, now with an additional appendix detailing the canonical minimum required by the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.
The menologion, as it is known in Greek, follows the Gregorian calendar for both the solar and lunar year. The calendar also includes the numbering of the Sunday Eothinon for Orthros (Matins), which points the reader to the relevant Resurrection Gospel and propers for that week.
As in previous years, the rankings of the calendar follow the new menologion published in Kyïv on 17 October 2023. It is worth noting that some of the feasts are assigned a different ranking than previously.
The First Œcumenical Council of Nicæa ruled in AD 325 that Pascha should be celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox. This year’s calendar notes the spring equinox and Paschal full moon as viewed from the meridian of Jerusalem; a method first agreed at the Pan-Orthodox Congress of Constantinople in 1923 and adopted by the World Council of Churches at Aleppo in 1997. The Gregorian Paschalion, which was formulated in the sixteenth century from the meridian of Rome, aligns with this more scientifically accurate method most years. This year is no exception.
As with all human endeavours, it is bound to be imperfect, so please forgive any errors and let us know so they may be corrected. ✠