Recent from talks
Great feasts in the Eastern Orthodox Church
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Great feasts in the Eastern Orthodox Church
In the Eastern Orthodox Church, the feast of the death and Resurrection of Jesus, called Pascha (Easter), is the greatest of all holy days and as such it is called the "feast of feasts". Immediately below it in importance, there is a group of Twelve Great Feasts (Greek: Δωδεκάορτον). Together with Pascha, these are the most significant dates on the Orthodox liturgical calendar. Eight of the great feasts are in honor of Jesus Christ, while the other four are dedicated to the Virgin Mary—the Theotokos.
The Twelve Great Feasts are as follows (note that the liturgical year begins with the month of September):
With the exception of the Presentation/Entrance of the Theotokos, appointed hymns for all of the Twelve Great Feasts are found in the Georgian Iadgari (Chantbook) of Jerusalem which was compiled in approximately the middle of the 6th century. Thus eleven of the twelve feasts were celebrated in the Greek East for some time prior, as most of the hymnographic content is datable to the 5th century.
Besides the Twelve Great Feasts, the Orthodox Church knows five other feasts that rank as great feasts, yet without being numbered among the twelve. They are: the Circumcision of Christ (1 January [O.S. 14 January]), the Nativity of St. John the Baptist (24 June [O.S. 7 July]), the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul (29 June [O.S. 12 July]), the Beheading of St John the Baptist (29 August [O.S. 11 September]), and the Intercession of the Theotokos (1 October [O.S. 14 October]).
In Byzantine art a slightly different group were often depicted as a set, omitting the first three in the list above, and adding the Raising of Lazarus, Crucifixion of Jesus, and Harrowing of Hell.
Mary was born to elderly and previously barren parents by the names of Joachim and Anna (now saints), in answer to their prayers. Orthodox Christians do not hold to the Roman Catholic doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, in which it is taught that Mary was preserved from the ancestral sin that befalls us all as descendants of Adam and Eve, in anticipation of her giving birth to the sinless Christ. The Orthodox believe that Mary, and indeed all mankind, was born only to suffer the consequences of the ancestral sin (being born into a corrupt world surrounded by temptations to sin), the chief of which was the enslavement to Death, and thus needed salvation from this enslavement, like all mankind. The Roman Catholic doctrine of the Immaculate Conception also recognizes that Mary was in need of salvation, viewing her as prevented from falling into the scar of sin, instead of being pulled up out of it. Orthodox thought does vary on whether Mary actually ever sinned, though there is general agreement that she was cleansed from sin at the Annunciation.
The Exaltation of the Holy Cross (also called the Elevation of the Cross) commemorates the recovery of the cross on which Jesus Christ was crucified. The Persians had captured it as a prize of war in Jerusalem in the year 614, and it was recovered by the forces of the Eastern Roman Empire ("Byzantine Empire") in 629. The cross was joyously held up for veneration by the Christian faithful upon its recovery.
According to Tradition, Mary was taken—presented—to the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem as a young girl, where she lived and served until her betrothal to Joseph.
Hub AI
Great feasts in the Eastern Orthodox Church AI simulator
(@Great feasts in the Eastern Orthodox Church_simulator)
Great feasts in the Eastern Orthodox Church
In the Eastern Orthodox Church, the feast of the death and Resurrection of Jesus, called Pascha (Easter), is the greatest of all holy days and as such it is called the "feast of feasts". Immediately below it in importance, there is a group of Twelve Great Feasts (Greek: Δωδεκάορτον). Together with Pascha, these are the most significant dates on the Orthodox liturgical calendar. Eight of the great feasts are in honor of Jesus Christ, while the other four are dedicated to the Virgin Mary—the Theotokos.
The Twelve Great Feasts are as follows (note that the liturgical year begins with the month of September):
With the exception of the Presentation/Entrance of the Theotokos, appointed hymns for all of the Twelve Great Feasts are found in the Georgian Iadgari (Chantbook) of Jerusalem which was compiled in approximately the middle of the 6th century. Thus eleven of the twelve feasts were celebrated in the Greek East for some time prior, as most of the hymnographic content is datable to the 5th century.
Besides the Twelve Great Feasts, the Orthodox Church knows five other feasts that rank as great feasts, yet without being numbered among the twelve. They are: the Circumcision of Christ (1 January [O.S. 14 January]), the Nativity of St. John the Baptist (24 June [O.S. 7 July]), the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul (29 June [O.S. 12 July]), the Beheading of St John the Baptist (29 August [O.S. 11 September]), and the Intercession of the Theotokos (1 October [O.S. 14 October]).
In Byzantine art a slightly different group were often depicted as a set, omitting the first three in the list above, and adding the Raising of Lazarus, Crucifixion of Jesus, and Harrowing of Hell.
Mary was born to elderly and previously barren parents by the names of Joachim and Anna (now saints), in answer to their prayers. Orthodox Christians do not hold to the Roman Catholic doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, in which it is taught that Mary was preserved from the ancestral sin that befalls us all as descendants of Adam and Eve, in anticipation of her giving birth to the sinless Christ. The Orthodox believe that Mary, and indeed all mankind, was born only to suffer the consequences of the ancestral sin (being born into a corrupt world surrounded by temptations to sin), the chief of which was the enslavement to Death, and thus needed salvation from this enslavement, like all mankind. The Roman Catholic doctrine of the Immaculate Conception also recognizes that Mary was in need of salvation, viewing her as prevented from falling into the scar of sin, instead of being pulled up out of it. Orthodox thought does vary on whether Mary actually ever sinned, though there is general agreement that she was cleansed from sin at the Annunciation.
The Exaltation of the Holy Cross (also called the Elevation of the Cross) commemorates the recovery of the cross on which Jesus Christ was crucified. The Persians had captured it as a prize of war in Jerusalem in the year 614, and it was recovered by the forces of the Eastern Roman Empire ("Byzantine Empire") in 629. The cross was joyously held up for veneration by the Christian faithful upon its recovery.
According to Tradition, Mary was taken—presented—to the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem as a young girl, where she lived and served until her betrothal to Joseph.