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120-503: The text consists of the 12 calendar pages and a series of additional pages with detailed explanations for finding information used in the medieval computus , including golden numbers and epacts . The calendar is written in medieval runes with a gloss in Latin and some places also in Swedish added by Worm. It follows a standard layout for a Medieval calendar similar to those found in

240-452: A book of hours , with Christian feasts and saint's days. Worm attempted to identify some of the unusual symbols found in the calendar, including one marking fast days and another marking the beginning of the Zodiac months which curiously start on the 18th day of each month instead of the more common 20th or 21st. As with any medieval calendar, there is a column for the golden numbers used in

360-491: A balance of righteousness: wherefore one of them was dragged down to Hades by the weight of his blasphemy [the balance points downward] , whereas the other was lightened of his transgressions unto the comprehension of theology [the balance points upward] . O Christ God, glory to Thee." The Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity on New York City's Upper East Side is the largest Eastern Orthodox Christian church in

480-508: A calculation known as computus ( Latin for 'computation'). Easter is celebrated on the first Sunday after the Paschal full moon (a mathematical approximation of the first astronomical full moon , on or after 21 March – itself a fixed approximation of the March equinox ). Determining this date in advance requires a correlation between the lunar months and

600-506: A century year). This is a correction to the length of the tropical year, but should have no effect on the Metonic relation between years and lunations. Therefore, the epact is compensated for this (partially – see epact ) by subtracting one in these century years. This is the so-called solar correction or "solar equation" ("equation" being used in its medieval sense of "correction"). However, 19 uncorrected Julian years are

720-692: A clean slate is given. Through baptism a person is united to the Body of Christ by becoming a member of the Eastern Orthodox Church. During the service, water is blessed. The catechumen is fully immersed in the water three times in the name of the Trinity. This is considered to be a death of the "old man" by participation in the crucifixion and burial of Christ, and a rebirth into new life in Christ by participation in his resurrection. Properly,

840-475: A day earlier than it would normally be, in order to keep Easter before April 26, as explained below. In the year 2100, the difference will increase by another day. The epacts are used to find the dates of the new moon in the following way: Write down a table of all 365 days of the year (the leap day is ignored). Then label all dates with a Roman numeral counting downwards, from "*" (0 or 30), "xxix" (29), down to "i" (1), starting from 1 January, and repeat this to

960-403: A formal declaration of an ecumenical council. Lack of formality does not imply lack of authority within holy tradition. As the church increased in size through the centuries, the logistic dynamics of operating such large entities shifted: patriarchs, metropolitans, archimandrites, abbots and abbesses, all rose up to cover certain points of administration. Lesser cycles also run in tandem with

1080-656: A general term for any sort of calculation, although he refers to the Easter cycles of Theophilus as a "Paschal computus ." By the end of the 8th century, computus came to refer specifically to the calculation of time. The calculations produce different results depending on whether the Julian calendar or the Gregorian calendar is used. For this reason, the Catholic Church and Protestant churches (which follow

1200-691: A great deal between cultures. The Eastern Orthodox Church places emphasis and awards a high level of prestige to traditions of monasticism and asceticism with roots in Early Christianity in the Near East and Byzantine Anatolia . The most important centres of Christian Orthodox monasticism are Saint Catherine's Monastery in the Sinai Peninsula ( Egypt ) and Mount Athos in Northern Greece . All bishops are monks; if

1320-633: A great deal to 14th-century Hesychast mysticism and the wood-carving genius of the Russian Orthodox Church . The first ceiling-high, five-leveled Russian iconostasis was designed by Andrey Rublyov in the cathedral of the Dormition in Vladimir in 1408. The small top crossbar represents the sign that Pontius Pilate nailed above Christ's head. It often is inscribed with an acronym, "INRI", Latin for " Jesus of Nazareth, King of

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1440-557: A little longer than 235 lunations. The difference accumulates to one day in about 308 years, or 0.00324 days per year. In one cycle, the epact decreases due to the solar correction by 19 × 0.0075 = 0.1425 on average, so a cycle is equivalent to 235−0.1425/30 = 234.99525 months, whereas there are actually 19 × 365.2425 / 29.5305889 ≈ 234.997261 synodic months. The difference of 0.002011 synodic months per 19-year cycle, or 0.003126 days per year, necessitates an occasional lunar correction to

1560-528: A man who is not a monk is elected a bishop, he must be tonsured a monk before he may be consecrated. Customarily, also, a man must either be a monk or be married to be ordained. Aspects of the iconography borrow from the pre-Christian Roman and Hellenistic art . Henry Chadwick wrote, "In this instinct there was a measure of truth. The representations of Christ as the Almighty Lord on his judgment throne owed something to pictures of Zeus. Portraits of

1680-442: A multiple of 30. This is a problem if compensation is only done by adding months of 30 days. So after 19 years, the epact must be corrected by one day for the cycle to repeat. This is the so-called saltus lunae ("leap of the moon"). The Julian calendar handles it by reducing the length of the lunar month that begins on 1 July in the last year of the cycle to 29 days. This makes three successive 29-day months. The saltus and

1800-404: A new cycle. At the time of the reform, the epacts were changed by 7, even though 10 days were skipped, in order to make a three-day correction to the timing of the new moons. The solar and lunar corrections work in opposite directions, and in some century years (for example, 1800 and 2100) they cancel each other. The result is that the Gregorian lunar calendar uses an epact table that is valid for

1920-471: A new life of salvation through repentance whose purpose is to share in the life of God through the work of the Holy Spirit. The Eastern Orthodox Christian life is a spiritual pilgrimage in which each person, through the imitation of Christ and hesychasm , cultivates the practice of unceasing prayer. Each life occurs within the life of the church as a member of the body of Christ . It is then through

2040-423: A period of from 100 to 300 years. The epact table listed above is valid for the 20th, 21st and 22nd century. As explained below, the dates of Easter repeat after 5.7 million years, and over this period the average length of an ecclesiastical month is 2,081,882,250/70,499,183 ≈ 29.5305869 days, which differs from the current actual mean lunation length (29,5305889 d: see Lunar month#Synodic month ) in

2160-487: A person dies the soul is temporarily separated from the body. Though it may linger for a short period on Earth, it is ultimately escorted either to paradise ( Abraham's bosom ) or the darkness of Hades , following the Temporary Judgment . Orthodox do not accept the doctrine of Purgatory , which is held by Catholicism. The soul's experience of either of these states is only a "foretaste"—being experienced only by

2280-614: A process based on the 19-year Metonic cycle was first proposed by Bishop Anatolius of Laodicea around 277, the concept did not fully take hold until the Alexandrian method became authoritative in the late 4th century. The Alexandrian computus was converted from the Alexandrian calendar into the Julian calendar in Alexandria around 440, which resulted in a Paschal table (attributed to pope Cyril of Alexandria ) covering

2400-423: A slender crescent in the western sky after sunset) on the first day of the lunar month. The conjunction of Sun and Moon ("new moon") is most likely to fall on the preceding day, which is day 29 of a "hollow" (29-day) month and day 30 of a "full" (30-day) month. Historically , the paschal full moon date for a year was found from its sequence number in the Metonic cycle, called the golden number , which cycle repeats

2520-762: A union that transcends time and space and joins heaven to earth. This unity of the Church is sometimes called the communion of the saints . Pre-eminent among the saints is the Virgin Mary (commonly referred to as Theotokos or Bogorodica : " Mother of God "). In Eastern Orthodox theology , the Mother of God is the fulfillment of the Old Testament archetypes revealed in the Ark of the Covenant (because she carried

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2640-664: Is a psalm, and is in the book of psalms, it is not classified as being within the Psalter (the first 150 psalms). Eastern Orthodoxy does not subscribe to the doctrine of sola scriptura . Rather, Eastern Orthodoxy teaches that its church has defined what Scripture is, and therefore, its church also interprets the meanings of Scripture. Scriptures are understood by Eastern Orthodox interpretation to contain historical fact, poetry, idiom, metaphor, simile, moral fable, parable, prophecy and wisdom literature , and each bears its own consideration in its interpretation. While divinely inspired,

2760-404: Is about 11 days shorter than the calendar year, which is either 365 or 366 days long. These days by which the solar year exceeds the lunar year are called epacts ( ‹See Tfd› Greek : ἐπακταὶ ἡμέραι , translit.   épaktai hēmérai , lit.  "intercalary days"). It is necessary to add them to the day of the solar year to obtain the correct day in the lunar year. Whenever

2880-478: Is also believed that her virginity was not compromised in conceiving God-incarnate, that she was not harmed and that she remained forever a virgin. Scriptural references to "brothers" of Christ are interpreted as kin. Due to her unique place in salvation history according to Eastern Orthodox teaching, Mary is honoured above all other saints in this religion and especially venerated for the great work that God accomplished through her. The Eastern Orthodox Church regards

3000-472: Is an exception. The month ending in March normally has 30 days, but if 29 February of a leap year falls within it, it contains 31. As these groups are based on the lunar cycle , over the long term the average month in the lunar calendar is a very good approximation of the synodic month , which is 29.530 59 days long. There are 12 synodic months in a lunar year, totaling either 354 or 355 days. The lunar year

3120-729: Is eternal, neither begotten nor proceeding from any, the Son is eternal and begotten of the Father, and the Holy Spirit is eternal and proceeds from the Father. Eastern Orthodox doctrine regarding the Trinity is summarised in the Greek edition of the Nicene Creed , which notably does not affirm the Filioque . Eastern Orthodox Christians believe in a monotheistic conception of God (God

3240-472: Is given by the formula That is, the year number Y in the Christian era is divided by 19, and the remainder plus 1 is the golden number. (Some sources specify that you add 1 before taking the remainder; in that case, you need to treat a result of 0 as golden number 19. In the formula above we take the remainder first and then add 1, so no such adjustment is necessary.) Cycles of 19 years are not all

3360-507: Is known as holy tradition . Holy tradition does not change in the Eastern Orthodox Church because it encompasses those things that do not change: the nature of the one God in Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the history of God's interactions with his peoples, the Law as given to the Israelites, all Christ's teaching as given to the disciples and Jews and recorded in scripture, including

3480-664: Is located partly in northern Greece and the east); sometimes they overlap (the case of Moldova where the jurisdictions of the patriarchs of Bucharest and of Moscow overlap). The spread of Eastern Orthodoxy began in the eastern area of the Mediterranean Basin within Byzantine Greek culture . Its communities share an understanding, teaching and offices of great similarity, with a strong sense of seeing each other as parts of one Church. Adherents of Eastern Orthodox Christianity sees their year punctuated by

3600-406: Is no problem since they are the same. This does not move the problem to the pair "25" and "xxvi", because the earliest epact 26 could appear would be in year 23 of the cycle, which lasts only 19 years: there is a saltus lunae in between that makes the new moons fall on separate dates. The Gregorian calendar has a correction to the tropical year by dropping three leap days in 400 years (always in

3720-563: Is one day less: in years 1, 6, and 17 of the cycle the date is only 18 days later, and in years 7 and 18 it is only 10 days earlier than in the previous year. In the Eastern system , the Paschal full moon is usually four days later than in the West. It is 34 days later in 5 of the 19 years, and 5 days later in years 6 and 17, because in those years, the Gregorian system puts the Paschal full moon

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3840-411: Is only one), which is both transcendent (wholly independent of, and removed from, the material universe) and immanent (involved in the material universe). In discussing God's relationship to His creation, Eastern Orthodox theology distinguishes between God's eternal essence, which is totally transcendent, and His uncreated energies , which is how He reaches humanity. The God who is transcendent and

3960-515: Is still formed in the image of God; humans are still God's creation, and God has never created anything evil, but fallen nature remains open to evil intents and actions. It is sometimes said among the Eastern Orthodox that humans are "inclined to sin"; that is, people find some sinful things attractive. It is the nature of temptation to make sinful things seem the more attractive, and it is the fallen nature of humans that seeks or succumbs to

4080-460: Is the first one in the year to have its fourteenth day (its formal full moon ) on or after 21 March. Easter is the Sunday after its 14th day (or, saying the same thing, the Sunday within its third week). The paschal lunar month always begins on a date in the 29-day period from 8 March to 5 April inclusive. Its fourteenth day, therefore, always falls on a date between 21 March and 18 April inclusive (in

4200-480: Is too late: The full moon would fall on 19 April, and Easter could be as late as 26 April. In the Julian calendar the latest date of Easter was 25 April, and the Gregorian reform maintained that limit. So the paschal full moon must fall no later than 18 April and the new moon on 5 April, which has epact label "xxv". 5 April must therefore have its double epact labels "xxiv" and "xxv". Then epact "xxv" must be treated differently, as explained in

4320-531: Is used in services, which bishops preside, and which of the typica is followed by specific congregations . In the Middle East, Orthodox Christians are usually referred to as Rum ("Roman") Orthodox, because of their historical connection with the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire . Those things which in the West are often termed sacraments or sacramentals are known among the Eastern Orthodox as

4440-493: The Gregorian modes in the West, and to other ancient Christian musical systems, is used. Byzantine music is microtonal . Northern Slavs, however, have used simpler tonal systems evolved through the sundry local types of Znamenny chant ; today Western music , often with four-part harmony , and the "tones" are simply sets of melodies. There are numerous versions and styles that are traditional and acceptable and these vary

4560-600: The Metonic cycle (to find the date of Easter) and another column for the dominical letters (to find the date of Sunday each week). January 31 and the month of February have an additional column to be used for finding the beginning of Lent , while March and April have an additional column to assist with finding the date of Easter . The author used a similar system of rune replacements for the Latin letters and Roman numerals as those commonly found in other runic calendars, including

4680-481: The Western Hemisphere . Locality is also expressed in regional terms of churchly jurisdiction, which is often also drawn along national lines. Many Orthodox churches adopt a national title (e.g. Albanian Orthodox , Bulgarian Orthodox , Georgian Orthodox , Greek Orthodox , Romanian Orthodox , Russian Orthodox , Serbian Orthodox , Ukrainian Orthodox , etc.) and this title can identify which language

4800-871: The liturgical calendar of the church on which they depend. Eastern Orthodoxy holds that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and rejects the Filioque clause ("and the Son ") added to the Nicene Creed by the Latin Church , on the grounds that no council was called for the addition. Eastern Orthodox Christians believe in the Trinity , three distinct, divine persons ( hypostases ), without overlap or modality among Them, Who each fully share in one divine essence ( ousia , Greek: οὐσία)—uncreated, immaterial, and eternal . These three persons are typically distinguished by their relation to each other. The Father

4920-589: The pope . By the early third century, however, communications in the Roman Empire had deteriorated to the point that the church put great value in a system that would allow the clergy to determine the date for themselves, independently yet consistently. Additionally, the church wished to eliminate dependencies on the Hebrew calendar , by deriving the date for Easter directly from the March equinox. In The Reckoning of Time (725), Bede uses computus as

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5040-511: The previous section . Eastern Orthodoxy Eastern Orthodoxy , otherwise known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity or Byzantine Christianity , is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity , alongside Catholicism and Protestantism . Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or " canonical ") Eastern Orthodox Church is organised into autocephalous churches independent from each other. In

5160-554: The solar year , while also accounting for the month, date, and weekday of the Julian or Gregorian calendar . The complexity of the algorithm arises because of the desire to associate the date of Easter with the date of the Jewish feast of Passover which, Christians believe, is when Jesus was crucified. It was originally feasible for the entire Christian Church to receive the date of Easter each year through an annual announcement by

5280-577: The "sacred mysteries". While the Roman Catholic Church numbers seven sacraments, and many Protestant groups list two (baptism and the Eucharist) or even none, the Eastern Orthodox do not limit the number. However, for the sake of convenience, catechisms often speak of the seven great mysteries. Among these are Holy Communion (the most direct connection), baptism , Chrismation , confession , unction , matrimony , and ordination . But

5400-434: The 14th day fall between 21 March and 18 April inclusive, thus spanning a period of (only) 29 days. A new moon on 7 March, which has epact label "xxiv", has its 14th day (full moon) on 20 March, which is too early (not following 20 March). So years with an epact of "xxiv", if the lunar month beginning on 7 March had 30 days, would have their paschal new moon on 6 April, which

5520-565: The 16th century the lunar calendar was out of phase with the real Moon by four days. The Gregorian Easter has been used since 1583 by the Roman Catholic Church and was adopted by most Protestant churches between 1753 and 1845. German Protestant states used an astronomical Easter between 1700 and 1776, based on the Rudolphine Tables of Johannes Kepler , which were in turn based on astronomical positions of

5640-446: The 21st century, the number of mainstream autocephalous churches is seventeen ; there also exist autocephalous churches unrecognized by those mainstream ones . Autocephalous churches choose their own primate . Autocephalous churches can have jurisdiction (authority) over other churches, some of which have the status of " autonomous " which means they have more autonomy than simple eparchies . Many of these jurisdictions correspond to

5760-467: The 30) epact labels assigned to it. The reason for moving around the epact label "xxv/25" rather than any other seems to be the following: According to Dionysius (in his introductory letter to Petronius), the Nicene council, on the authority of Eusebius , established that the first month of the ecclesiastical lunar year (the paschal month) should start between 8 March and 5 April inclusive, and

5880-486: The 6th figure after the decimal point. This corresponds to an error of less than a day in the phase of the moon over 40,000 years, but in fact the length of a day is changing (as is the length of a synodic month), so the system is not accurate over such periods. See the article ΔT (timekeeping) for information on the cumulative change of day length. This method of computation has several subtleties: Every other lunar month has only 29 days, so one day must have two (of

6000-450: The Alexandrian criteria. Thereafter, the computus would be the procedure of determining the first Sunday after the first ecclesiastical full moon falling on or after 21 March. The earliest known Roman tables were devised in 222 by Hippolytus of Rome based on eight-year cycles. Then 84-year tables were introduced in Rome by Augustalis near the end of the 3rd century. Although

6120-596: The British Isles. The British tables used an 84-year cycle, but an error made the full moons fall progressively too early. The discrepancy led to a report that Queen Eanflæd , on the Dionysian system – fasted on her Palm Sunday while her husband Oswiu , king of Northumbria, feasted on his Easter Sunday. As a result of the Irish Synod of Magh-Lene in 630, the southern Irish began to use

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6240-474: The Church Fathers, though, the authority of interpretation grows, and full patristic consensus is very strong. With canon law (which tends to be highly rigorous and very strict, especially with clergy) an unalterable validity also does not apply, since canons deal with living on earth, where conditions are always changing and each case is subject to almost infinite variation from the next. By tradition,

6360-556: The Dionysian tables, and the northern English followed suit after the Synod of Whitby in 664. The Dionysian reckoning was fully described by Bede in 725. It may have been adopted by Charlemagne for the Frankish Church as early as 782 from Alcuin , a follower of Bede. The Dionysian/Bedan computus remained in use in western Europe until the Gregorian calendar reform, and remains in use in most Eastern Churches, including

6480-626: The Eastern Orthodox Church, when faced with issues that are larger than a single bishop can resolve, holds a local council. The bishops convene (as St. Paul called the Corinthians to do) to seek the mind of the church . A council's declarations or edicts then reflect its consensus (if one can be found). An ecumenical council is only called for issues of such importance, difficulty or pervasiveness that smaller councils are insufficient to address them. Ecumenical councils' declarations and canons carry binding weight by virtue of their representation across

6600-471: The Eastern Orthodox Church. As baptism is a person's participation in the death and resurrection of Christ, so Chrismation is a person's participation in the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost . A baptised and chrismated Eastern Orthodox Christian is a full member of the church and may receive the Eucharist regardless of age. Anointing with chrism substitutes for the laying-on of hands described in

6720-745: The Forerunner and Baptist of the Lord ; Wednesday is consecrated to the Cross and recalls Judas' betrayal; Thursday honors the holy apostles and hierarchs, especially St. Nicholas, Bishop of Myra in Lycia ; Friday is also consecrated to the Cross and recalls the day of the Crucifixion; Saturday is dedicated to All Saints, especially the Mother of God , and to the memory of all those who have departed this life in

6840-452: The God who touches mankind are one and the same. That is, these energies are not something that proceed from God or that God produces, but rather they are God himself: distinct, yet inseparable from God's inner being. This view is often called Palamism . In understanding the Trinity as "one God in three persons", "three persons" is not to be emphasised more than "one God", and vice versa. While

6960-484: The Gregorian Easter, were delayed one week so they were on the same Sunday as the Gregorian Easter. Germany's astronomical Easter was one week before the Gregorian Easter in 1724 and 1744. Sweden's astronomical Easter was one week before the Gregorian Easter in 1744, but one week after it in 1805, 1811, 1818, 1825, and 1829. Two modern astronomical Easters were proposed but never used by any Church. The first

7080-418: The Gregorian calendar) celebrate Easter on a different date from that of the Eastern and Oriental Orthodoxy (which follow the Julian calendar). It was the drift of 21 March from the observed equinox that led to the Gregorian reform of the calendar , to bring them back into line. Easter commemorates the resurrection of Jesus , which Christians believe to have occurred on the third day (inclusive) after

7200-457: The Gregorian or Julian calendar, for the Western and Eastern system, resp.), and the following Sunday then necessarily falls on a date in the range 22 March to 25 April inclusive. However, in the Western system Easter cannot fall on 22 March during the 300-year period 1900–2199 (see below). In the solar calendar Easter is called a moveable feast since its date varies within a 35-day range. But in

7320-445: The Holy Spirit forms Christ in our hearts, and thus God the Father is glorified." Their "communion of essence" is "indivisible". Trinitarian terminology—essence, hypostasis, etc.—are used "philosophically", "to answer the ideas of the heretics", and "to place the terms where they separate error and truth". When Eastern Orthodox Christians refer to "fallen nature", they do not mean that human nature has become evil in itself. Human nature

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7440-706: The Jews " or "INBI", Greek Ἰησοῦς ὁ Ναζωραῖος ὁ βασιλεύς τῶν Ἰουδαίων for "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews". Other crosses associated with the Eastern Orthodox Church are the more traditional single-bar crosses, budded designs, the Greek cross , the Latin cross , the Jerusalem cross (cross pattée), Celtic crosses , and others. A common symbolism of the slanted foot stool is the foot-rest points up, toward Heaven, on Christ's right hand-side, and downward, to Hades, on Christ's left. "Between two thieves Thy Cross did prove to be

7560-476: The Mother of God were not wholly independent of a pagan past of venerated mother-goddesses. In the popular mind the saints had come to fill a role that had been played by heroes and deities." Icons can be found adorning the walls of churches and often cover the inside structure completely. Most Eastern Orthodox homes have an area set aside for family prayer, usually an eastern facing wall, where are hung many icons. Icons have been part of Orthodox Christianity since

7680-524: The New Covenant in the person of Christ) and the burning bush that appeared before Moses (symbolising the Mother of God's carrying of God without being consumed). The Eastern Orthodox believe that Christ, from the moment of his conception, was both fully God and fully human. Mary is thus called the Theotokos or Bogorodica as an affirmation of the divinity of the one to whom she gave birth. It

7800-485: The Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed—possess a verified authority that endures forever, irrevocably. However, with local councils and patristic writings, the church applies a selective judgement. Some councils and writers have occasionally fallen into error, and some contradict each other. In other cases, opinions differ, no consensus is forthcoming, and all are free to choose. With agreement among

7920-607: The Sun and Moon observed by Tycho Brahe at his Uraniborg observatory on the island of Ven , while Sweden used it from 1739 to 1844. This astronomical Easter was the Sunday after the full moon instant that was after the vernal equinox instant using Uraniborg time ( TT + 51 ) . However, it was delayed one week if that Sunday was the Jewish date Nisan   15, the first day of Passover week, calculated according to modern Jewish methods. This Nisan   15 rule affected two Swedish years, 1778 and 1798, that instead of being one week before

8040-467: The annual ones. A weekly cycle of days prescribes a specific focus for each day in addition to others that may be observed: Each day of the Weekly Cycle is dedicated to certain special memorials. Sunday is dedicated to Christ's Resurrection ; Monday honors the holy bodiless powers (angels, archangels, etc.); Tuesday is dedicated to the prophets and especially the greatest of the prophets, St. John

8160-404: The astronomical Easter one month before the Gregorian Easter in 1924, 1943, and 1962, but one week after it in 1927, 1954, and 1967. The 1997 version would have placed the astronomical Easter on the same Sunday as the Gregorian Easter for 2000–2025 except for 2019, when it would have been one month earlier. The Easter cycle groups days into lunar months, which are either 29 or 30 days long. There

8280-538: The attraction. Eastern Orthodox Christians reject the Augustinian position that the descendants of Adam and Eve are actually guilty of the original sin of their ancestors. The Eastern Orthodox Church understands the death and resurrection of Jesus to be real historical events, as described in the gospels of the New Testament . Church teaching is that Eastern Orthodox Christians, through baptism, enter

8400-464: The authority that Christ bestowed on his disciples when he made them apostles. Holy tradition is firm, even unyielding, but not rigid or legalistic; instead, it lives and breathes within the church. For example, the New Testament was entirely written by the early church (mostly the apostles). The whole Bible was accepted as scripture by means of holy tradition practised within the early church. The writing and acceptance took five centuries, by which time

8520-429: The beginning of Passover . In the Hebrew lunisolar calendar, Passover begins at twilight on the 14th day of Nisan . Nisan is the first month of spring in the northern hemisphere , with the 14th corresponding to a full moon. By the 2nd century, many Christians had chosen to observe Easter only on a Sunday. The Hebrew calendar does not have a simple relationship with the Christian calendars : it resynchronizes with

8640-462: The beginning of the church. An iconostasis , also called the templon , is a wall of icons and religious paintings, separating the nave from the sanctuary in a church . Iconostasis also refers to a portable icon stand that can be placed anywhere within a church. The modern iconostasis evolved from the Byzantine templon in the 11th century. The evolution of the iconostasis probably owes

8760-573: The bodies of all saints as holy because of their participation in prescribed rituals called holy mysteries . Physical items connected with saints are also regarded as holy, through their participation in the earthly works of those saints. According to Eastern Orthodox church teaching and tradition, God himself bears witness to this holiness of saints' relics through the many miracles connected with them that have been reported throughout history since biblical times, often including healing from disease and injury. Eastern Orthodox Christians believe that when

8880-510: The church as embracing all Christ's members, those now living on earth, and also all those through the ages who have passed on to the heavenly life. The church includes the Christian saints from all times, and also judges, prophets and righteous Jews of the first covenant, Adam and Eve, even the angels and heavenly hosts. In Eastern Orthodox services, the earthly members together with the heavenly members worship God as one community in Christ, in

9000-402: The cycle in use since 1900 and until 2199), then an epact of 25 puts the ecclesiastical new moon on April 4 (having the label "25"), otherwise it is on April 5 (having label "xxv"). An epact of 25 giving April 4 can only happen if the golden number is greater than 11. In which case it will be 11 years after a year with epact 24. So for example, in 1954 the golden number was 17, the epact was 25,

9120-419: The day of the full moon . It is the day of the lunar month on which the moment of opposition ("full moon") is most likely to fall. The Gregorian method derives new moon dates by determining the epact for each year. The epact can have a value from * (0 or 30) to 29 days. It is the age of the moon in days (i.e. the lunar date) on 1 January reduced by one day. The "new moon" is most likely to become visible (as

9240-562: The doctrinal definitions and statements of faith of the seven ecumenical councils, including the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed , and some later local councils, patristic writings, canon law , and icons. Not all portions of holy tradition are held to be equally strong. Some—the holy scriptures foremost, certain aspects of worship, especially in the Divine Liturgy, the doctrines of the ecumenical councils,

9360-579: The eastern fringes of the Roman empire, by the tenth century all had adopted the Alexandrian Easter, which still placed the vernal equinox on 21 March, although Bede had already noted its drift in 725 – it had drifted even further by the 16th century. Worse, the reckoned Moon that was used to compute Easter was fixed to the Julian year by the 19-year cycle. That approximation built up an error of one day every 310 years, so by

9480-411: The ecclesiastical new moon was reckoned on April 4, the full moon on April 17. Easter was on April 18 rather than April 25 as it would otherwise have been, such as in 1886 when the golden number was 6. This system automatically intercalates seven months per Metonic cycle. Label all the dates in the table with letters "A" to "G", starting from 1 January, and repeat to the end of the year. If, for instance,

9600-425: The end of the year. However, in every second such period count only 29 days and label the date with xxv (25) also with xxiv (24). Treat the 13th period (last eleven days) as long, therefore, and assign the labels "xxv" and "xxiv" to sequential dates (26 and 27 December respectively). Add the label "25" to the dates that have "xxv" in the 30-day periods; but in 29-day periods (which have "xxiv" together with "xxv") add

9720-405: The epact for the year is entered. If the epact for the year is for instance 27, then there is an ecclesiastical new moon on every date in that year that has the epact label "xxvii" (27). If the epact is 25, then there is a complication, introduced so that the ecclesiastical new moon will not fall on the same date twice during a Metonic cycle. If the epact cycle in force includes epact 24 (as does

9840-515: The epact reaches or exceeds 30, an extra intercalary month (or embolismic month) of 30 days must be inserted into the lunar calendar: then 30 must be subtracted from the epact. Charles Wheatly provides the detail: "Thus beginning the year with March (for that was the ancient custom) they allowed thirty days for the moon [ending] in March, and twenty-nine for that [ending] in April; and thirty again for May, and twenty-nine for June &c. according to

9960-434: The epact. In the Gregorian calendar, this is done by adding 1 eight times in 2,500 (Gregorian) years (slightly more than 2500 × 0.003126, or about 7.8), always in a century year: this is the so-called lunar correction (historically called "lunar equation"). The first one was applied in 1800, the next is in 2100, and will be applied every 300 years except for an interval of 400 years between 3900 and 4300, which starts

10080-405: The epacts only from 8 March to 5 April. As an example, if the epact is 27, an ecclesiastical new moon falls on every date labeled xxvii . The ecclesiastical full moon falls 13 days later. From the table above, this gives new moons on 4 March and 3 April, and so full moons on 17 March and 16 April. Then Easter Day is the first Sunday after the first ecclesiastical full moon on or after 21 March. In

10200-474: The essence of God but rather participating in His energies. This would mean that we do not become "divine", we still remain human but become "gods" by grace, or in other words "icons of the living God" as many call it. The Eastern Orthodox Church, in understanding itself to be the Body of Christ , and similarly in understanding the Christian life to lead to the unification in Christ of all members of his body, views

10320-441: The example, this paschal full moon is on 16 April. If the dominical letter is E, then Easter day is on 20 April. The label " 25 " (as distinct from "xxv") is used as follows: Within a Metonic cycle, years that are 11 years apart have epacts that differ by one day. A month beginning on a date having labels "xxiv" and "xxv" written side by side has either 29 or 30 days. If the epacts 24 and 25 both occur within one Metonic cycle, then

10440-487: The fire of God's love in the action of the Holy Spirit that each member becomes more holy, more wholly unified with Christ, starting in this life and continuing in the next. The church teaches that everyone, being born in God's image, is called to theosis , fulfillment of the image in likeness to God. God the creator, having divinity by nature, offers each person participation in divinity by cooperatively accepting His gift of grace. This isn't to be mistaken as participating in

10560-498: The first Sunday of the year is on 5 January, which has letter "E", then every date with the letter "E" is a Sunday that year. Then "E" is called the dominical letter (DL) for that year – from dies dominica (Latin for 'the Lord's day'). The dominical letter cycles backward one position every year. In leap years, after 24 February, the Sundays fall on the previous letter of the cycle, so leap years have two dominical letters:

10680-419: The first for before, the second for after the leap day. In practice, for the purpose of calculating Easter, this need not be done for all 365 days of the year. For the epacts, March comes out exactly the same as January, because 31+28 days = 30+29 epacts, so one need not calculate January or February. To avoid the need to calculate the dominical letters for January and February, start with D for 1 March. You need

10800-488: The holy scriptures themselves had become in their entirety a part of holy tradition. But holy tradition did not change, because "that faith which has been believed everywhere, always, and by all" remained consistent, without additions, and without subtractions. The historical development of the Divine Liturgy and other worship services and devotional practices of the church provide a similar example of extension and growth "without change". Besides these, holy tradition includes

10920-572: The hope of resurrection and eternal life. The main service offered in the Church is the Divine Liturgy . Most parishes offer this service on Sunday mornings and on major feast days, though it can be offered almost any day of the year. Additional services include Orthros and Vespers ; prayer services in the morning and evening, respectively. For the composition of religious chant, the Octoechos , an eight- tone (mode) system, analogous to

11040-447: The label "25" to the date with "xxvi". The distribution of the lengths of the months and the length of the epact cycles is such that each civil calendar month starts and ends with the same epact label, except for February and, one might say, for August, which starts with the double label "xxv"/"xxiv" but ends with the single label "xxiv". This table is called the calendarium . The ecclesiastical new moons for any year are those dates when

11160-407: The lunar calendar, Easter is always the third Sunday in the paschal lunar month, and is no more "moveable" than any holiday that is fixed to a particular day of the week and week within a month, such as Thanksgiving . As reforming the computus was the primary motivation for the introduction of the Gregorian calendar in 1582, a corresponding computus methodology was introduced alongside

11280-430: The lunar month took the name of the Julian month in which it ended. The nineteen-year Metonic cycle assumes that 19 tropical years are as long as 235 synodic months. So after 19 years the lunations should fall the same way in the solar years, and the epacts should repeat. Over 19 years the epact increases by 19 × 11 = 209 ≡ 29 ( mod 30) , not 0 (mod 30) . That is, 209 divided by 30 leaves a remainder of 29 instead of being

11400-445: The lunar phase on January 1 every 19 years. This method was modified in the Gregorian reform because the tabular dates go out of sync with reality after about two centuries. From the epact method, a simplified table can be constructed that has a validity of one to three centuries. The date of the Paschal full moon in a particular year is usually either 11 days earlier than in the previous year, or 19 days later. In 5 out of 19 years it

11520-428: The mystery of baptism is administered by bishops and priests; however, in emergencies any Eastern Orthodox Christian can baptise . Chrismation (sometimes called confirmation ) is the mystery by which a baptised person is granted the gift of the Holy Spirit through anointing with Holy Chrism . It is normally given immediately after baptism as part of the same service, but is also used to receive lapsed members of

11640-419: The new (and full) moons would fall on the same dates for these two years. This is possible for the real moon but is inelegant in a schematic lunar calendar; the dates should repeat only after 19 years. To avoid this, in years that have epacts 25 and with a Golden Number larger than 11, the reckoned new moon falls on the date with the label 25 rather than xxv . Where the labels 25 and xxv are together, there

11760-466: The new calendar. The general method of working was given by Clavius in the Six Canons (1582), and a full explanation followed in his Explicatio (1603). Easter is the Sunday following the Paschal full moon date. The Paschal full moon date is the ecclesiastical full moon date on or after the ecclesiastical equinox on 21 March. The fourteenth day of the lunar month is ecclesiastically considered

11880-585: The old verses: Impar luna pari, par fiet in impare mense; In quo completur mensi lunatio detur. "For the first, third, fifth, seventh, ninth, and eleventh months, which are called impares menses , or unequal months, have their moons according to computation of thirty days each, which are therefore called pares lunae , or equal moons: but the second, fourth, sixth, eighth, tenth, and twelfth months, which are called pares menses , or equal months, have their moons but twenty nine days each, which are called impares lunae , or unequal moons." Thus

12000-400: The parables, the prophecies, the miracles, and his own example to humanity in his extreme humility. It encompasses also the worship of the church, which grew out of the worship of the synagogue and temple and was extended by Christ at the last supper, and the relationship between God and his people which that worship expresses, which is also evidenced between Christ and his disciples. It includes

12120-433: The primary and authoritative written witness of holy tradition and is essential as the basis for all Orthodox teaching and belief. Once established as holy scripture, there has never been any question that the Eastern Orthodox Church holds the full list of books to be venerable and beneficial for reading and study, even though it informally holds some books in higher esteem than others, the four gospels highest of all. Of

12240-414: The same length, because they may have either four or five leap years. But a period of four cycles, 76 years (a Callippic cycle ), has a length of 76 × 365 + 19 = 27,759 days (if it does not cross a century division). There are 235 × 4 = 940 lunar months in this period, so the average length is 27759   /   940 or about 29.530851 days. There are 76 × 6 = 456 usual nominal 30-day lunar months and

12360-457: The same number of usual nominal 29-day months, but with 19 of these lengthened by a day on leap days, plus 24 intercalated months of 30 days and four intercalated months of 29 days. Since this is longer than the true length of a synodic month, about 29.53059 days, the calculated Paschal full moon gets later and later compared to the astronomical full moon, unless a correction is made as in the Gregorian system (see below). The paschal or Easter-month

12480-416: The seven extra 30-day months were largely hidden by being located at the points where the Julian and lunar months begin at about the same time. The extra months commenced on 1 January (year 3), 2 September (year 5), 6 March (year 8), 3 January (year 11), 31 December (year 13), 1 September (year 16), and 5 March (year 19). The sequence number of the year in the 19-year cycle is called the " golden number ", and

12600-427: The solar year by intercalating a leap month every two or three years, before the lunar new year on 1  Nisan . Later Jews adopted the Metonic cycle to predict future intercalations . A possible consequence of this intercalation is that 14 Nisan could occur before the equinox, which some third-century Christians considered unacceptable (this cannot happen in the fixed calendar in use today). Consequently, it

12720-637: The soul—until the Final Judgment , when the soul and body will be reunited. The Eastern Orthodox believe that the state of the soul in Hades can be affected by the love and prayers of the righteous up until the Last Judgment. For this reason the Church offers a special prayer for the dead on the third day, ninth day, fortieth day, and the one-year anniversary after the death of an Eastern Orthodox Christian. There are also several days throughout

12840-531: The subgroups significant enough to be named, the " Anagignoskomena " (ἀναγιγνωσκόμενα, "things that are read") comprises ten of the Old Testament books rejected in the Protestant canon , but deemed by the Eastern Orthodox worthy to be read in worship services, even though they carry a lesser esteem than the 39 books of the Hebrew canon . The lowest tier contains the remaining books not accepted by either Protestants or Catholics, among them, Psalm 151 . Though it

12960-400: The term also properly applies to other sacred actions such as monastic tonsure or the blessing of holy water , and involves fasting, almsgiving, or an act as simple as lighting a candle, burning incense, praying or asking God's blessing on food. Baptism is the mystery which transforms the old and sinful person into a new and pure one; the old life, the sins, any mistakes made are gone and

13080-586: The territories of one or more modern states; the Patriarchate of Moscow , for example, corresponds to Russia and some of the other post-Soviet states . They can also include metropolises , bishoprics , parishes , monasteries , or outlying metochions corresponding to diasporas that can also be located outside the country where the primate resides (e.g., the case of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople whose canonical territory

13200-509: The text still consists of words in human languages, arranged in humanly recognisable forms. The Eastern Orthodox Church does not oppose honest critical and historical study of the Bible. In Eastern Orthodoxy, " that faith which has been believed everywhere, always, and by all ", the faith taught by Jesus to the apostles, given life by the Holy Spirit at Pentecost , and passed down to future generations without additions and without subtractions,

13320-412: The three persons are distinct, they are united in one divine essence, and Their oneness is expressed in community and action so completely that They cannot be considered separately. For example, Their salvation of mankind is an activity engaged in common: "Christ became man by the good will of the Father and by the cooperation of the Holy Spirit. Christ sends the Holy Spirit who proceeds from the Father, and

13440-431: The translation by Theodotion . The Patriarchal Text is used for the New Testament . Orthodox Christians hold that the Bible is a verbal icon of Christ, as proclaimed by the 7th ecumenical council . They refer to the Bible as holy scripture , meaning writings containing the foundational truths of the Christian faith as revealed by Christ and the Holy Spirit to its divinely inspired human authors. Holy scripture forms

13560-468: The use of the extra runes Arlaug, Tvimadur, and Belgthor to represent the Golden Numbers 17, 18, and 19. This Danish history article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This Swedish history -related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Computus As a moveable feast , the date of Easter is determined in each year through

13680-778: The vast majority of Eastern Orthodox Churches and Non-Chalcedonian Churches . The only Eastern Orthodox church which does not follow the system is the Finnish Orthodox Church, which uses the Gregorian. Having deviated from the Alexandrians during the 6th century, churches beyond the eastern frontier of the former Byzantine Empire, including the Assyrian Church of the East , now celebrate Easter on different dates from Eastern Orthodox Churches four times every 532 years. Apart from these churches on

13800-426: The whole church, by which the mind of the church can be readily seen. However, not all issues are so difficult as to require an ecumenical council to resolve. Some doctrines or decisions, not defined in a formal statement or proclaimed officially, nevertheless are held by the church unshakably and unanimously without internal disturbance, and these, also reflecting the mind of the church, are just as firmly irrevocable as

13920-697: The year that are set aside for general commemoration of the departed, sometimes including nonbelievers. These days usually fall on a Saturday, since it was on a Saturday that Christ lay in the Tomb . The Eastern Orthodox believe that after the Final Judgment: The official Bible of the Eastern Orthodox Church contains the Septuagint text of the Old Testament , with the Book of Daniel given in

14040-531: The years 437 to 531. This Paschal table was the source which inspired Dionysius Exiguus , who worked in Rome from about 500 to about 540, to construct a continuation of it in the form of his famous Paschal table covering the years 532 to 616. Dionysius introduced the Christian Era (counting years from the Incarnation of Christ) by publishing this new Easter table in 525. A modified 84-year cycle

14160-496: Was adopted in Rome during the first half of the 4th century. Victorius of Aquitaine tried to adapt the Alexandrian method to Roman rules in 457 in the form of a 532-year table, but he introduced serious errors. These Victorian tables were used in Gaul (now France) and Spain until they were displaced by Dionysian tables at the end of the 8th century. The tables of Dionysius and Victorius conflicted with those traditionally used in

14280-584: Was decided to separate the dating of Easter from the Hebrew calendar, by identifying the first full moon following the March equinox. By the time of the First Council of Nicaea (AD 325), the Church of Alexandria had designated 21 March as an ecclesiastical date for the equinox, irrespective of actual astronomical observation. In 395, Theophilus published a table of future dates for Easter, validating

14400-684: Was proposed as part of the Revised Julian calendar at a Synod in Constantinople in 1923 and the second was proposed by a 1997 World Council of Churches Consultation in Aleppo in 1997. Both used the same rule as the German and Swedish versions but used modern astronomical calculations and Jerusalem time ( TT + 2 21 ) without the Nisan   15 rule. The 1923 version would have placed

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