St. Melany Byzantine Catholic Church
2008 Liturgical Calendar

2008 Liturgical Calendar

Major Fasts and Feasts

January 1Feast of the Circumcision of Our Lord 
Feast of St. Basil the Great
January 6Feast of the Theophany of Our Lord, God and Savior, Jesus Christ
January 13Sunday after Theophany
Sunday of the Publican and Pharisee
  (The Sunday of Zacchaeus is omitted this year)
January 20Sunday of Prodigal Son
January 28Sunday of the Second Coming of Christ (MeatFare)
January 29

Three Holy Hierarchs, Saints Basil, Gregory and John Chrysostom (Advanced one day due to Cheesefare Wednesday)

February 2Feast of the Encounter of Our Lord with Simeon and Anna  (Presentation of Our Lord into the Temple)
1st All Souls Saturday (Memorial Saturday)
February 3Forgiveness Sunday (Cheesefare)
February 4Beginning of the Holy Forty Days Fast
February 101st Sunday of Great Lent - Sunday of Orthodoxy
February 162nd All Souls Saturday
February 172nd Sunday of Great Lent - St. Gregory Palamas
February 233rd All Souls Saturday
February 243rd Sunday of Great Lent - Veneration of the Holy Cross
March 14th All Souls Saturday
March 24th Sunday of Great Lent - St. John Climacus
March 6Canon of St. Andrew of Crete
March 8Akathistos Saturday
March 95th Sunday of Great Lent
The Forty Holy Martyrs of Sebaste
March 15-23Great and Holy Week
March 15Lazarus Saturday
March 16Flowery Sunday - Entrance into Jerusalem
March 17Holy and Great Monday
March 18Holy and Great Tuesday
March 19Holy and Great Wednesday
March 20Holy and Great Thursday
March 21Holy and Great Friday
March 22Holy and Great Saturday
March 23PASCHA - The Resurrection of Christ
March 23-30Bright Week
March 25Feast of the Annunciation to the Mother of God / Bright Tuesday
March 302nd Sunday of Pascha - St. Thomas
April 63rd Sunday of Pascha - Ointment Bearing Women
April 134th Sunday of Pascha - Healing of the Paralytic
April 16Mid-Pentecost
April 205th Sunday of Pascha - Samaritan Women
April 23Feast of St. George the Great-Martyr
April 276th Sunday of Pascha - Man Born Blind
May 1Day 40 - Ascension of Our Lord
May 47th Sunday of Pascha - Holy Fathers of the 1st Nicean Council
May 105th All Souls Saturday (Memorial Saturday)
May 11Day 50 - Pentecost
Feast of SS Cyril & Methodius
May 18All Saints Sunday
May 19 - June 28The Apostles' Fast 
June 24Nativity of St. John the Baptist
June 29Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul
July 13Sunday of the Holy Fathers of the First Six Ecumenical Councils
July 20The Holy Prophet Elias
August 1-14Dormition Fast
August 6Feast of the Transfiguration of Our Lord, God and Savior, Jesus Christ
August 15Feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God
August 29Feast of the Beheading of St. John the Baptist
September 1Liturgical New Year
September 8Feast of the Nativity of the Mother of God
September 14Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross
October 1Feast of the Protection of the Mother of God
October 19Sunday of the Holy Fathers of the Seventh and Final Ecumenical Council
November 8Feast of St. Michael and All the Heavenly Hosts
November 15- 
December 24
Philip's Fast (Nativity Fast)
November 21Feast of the Entrance of the Theotokos into the Temple
November 27Thanksgiving Day (USA)
December 6Feast of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker - Patron of the Byzantine Catholic Church
December 9Feast of the Conception of the Mother of God in the Womb of St. Anne (some Churches celebrate this feast on December 8th)
December 12Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe
(Also: Our Venerable Father Spiridon the Wonder-worker, Bishop of Tremithus)
December 14Second Sunday Before Christmas 
Holy Forefathers
December 21

Sunday Before Christmas - Holy Fathers

December 25Nativity of Our Lord, God, and Savior, Jesus Christ (Christmas)
December 26Feast of the Synaxis of the Mother of God
December 27Feast of St. Stephen, the First-Martyr
December 28

Sunday After Christmas - Commemoration of the Holy and Just Joseph, King David, and James, Brother of the Lord  


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 elsewhere follow the Julian date. In the year AD 2008 Pascha will be celebrated on March 23 on Gregorian calendar and on April 27 on the Julian and Revised Julian calendars.
Last Updated ( 2008-05-03 )