The Orthodox Liturgical Calendar
The Church year is not a list of anniversaries. Through feasts, fasts, hymns, and appointed readings, the Church enters the saving acts of Christ and offers every season of life to God. Dates below are calculated with the Alexandrian Paschalion kept by the whole Orthodox Church.
The Church year, 2026
Orthodox Pascha in 2026 falls on Sunday, April 12, 2026. Every movable feast and fast below is counted from that day.
The Paschal cycle
Movable — counted from Pascha.
Fasting season
February 1 – February 22
Ten weeks before Pascha
Opening of the Triodion
The pre-Lenten Sundays — the Publican and the Pharisee, the Prodigal Son, the Last Judgement, and Forgiveness Sunday — teach humility, repentance, mercy, and reconciliation before the fast begins.
Fasting season
February 23 – April 3
Clean Monday through the Friday before Lazarus Saturday
Great Lent
Forty days of fasting, prayer, almsgiving, and repentance. The Church reads Genesis, Proverbs, and Isaiah at Vespers, serves the Presanctified Liturgy, and prays the Great Canon of St Andrew of Crete.
Commemoration
April 4
The Saturday before Palm Sunday
Lazarus Saturday
Christ raises Lazarus after four days in the tomb, giving 'a common resurrection' as assurance before his own Passion.
Great Feast
April 5
One week before Pascha
Palm Sunday — the Entry into Jerusalem
One of the Twelve Great Feasts. Christ enters Jerusalem as king, greeted with palms and the cry Hosanna, on his way to the Cross.
Fasting season
April 6 – April 11
Great Monday through Great Saturday
Holy Week
The Bridegroom services, the Mystical Supper on Great Thursday, the Twelve Passion Gospels, the Lamentations at the Tomb, and the fifteen Old Testament readings of Great Saturday.
Feast of Feasts
April 12
The Feast of Feasts
Pascha — the Resurrection of Christ
The center of the entire Orthodox year. At midnight the Church proclaims: Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and upon those in the tombs bestowing life.
Commemoration
April 19
The eighth day of Pascha
Thomas Sunday (Antipascha)
The Apostle Thomas touches the wounds of the risen Christ and confesses, 'My Lord and my God.'
Great Feast
May 21
Forty days after Pascha (Thursday)
The Ascension of the Lord
Christ ascends in his risen humanity and is seated at the right hand of the Father, raising human nature into the life of God.
Great Feast
May 31
Fifty days after Pascha
Pentecost — the Descent of the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit descends upon the apostles and the Church is revealed. The kneeling prayers are read at Vespers, ending the paschal season.
Commemoration
June 7
The Sunday after Pentecost
Sunday of All Saints
The fruit of Pentecost: all the saints, known and unknown, who were sanctified by the Spirit in every generation.
Fasting season
June 8 – June 28
From the Monday after All Saints to the eve of Saints Peter and Paul (June 29)
The Apostles' Fast
A fast of variable length, ending at the feast of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul. Its length depends on the date of Pascha.
Fixed feasts and fasts
The same civil date each year.
Great Feast
January 6
January 6, with the Great Blessing of Waters
Theophany — the Baptism of the Lord
Christ is baptized in the Jordan, the Father bears witness and the Spirit descends: the Holy Trinity is revealed and the waters are sanctified.
Great Feast
February 2
February 2 — forty days after the Nativity
The Meeting of the Lord in the Temple
The infant Christ is received in the Temple by Simeon the God-receiver, who sings, 'Now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace.'
Great Feast
March 25
March 25 — celebrated even within Great Lent
The Annunciation to the Theotokos
The Archangel Gabriel announces the Incarnation, and the Virgin answers, 'Be it unto me according to thy word.'
Fasting season
August 1 – August 14
August 1–14, with the Paraklesis served each evening
The Dormition Fast
A short, strict fast in honour of the Theotokos, kept with the Supplicatory Canon and the veneration of the Cross on August 1.
Great Feast
August 6
August 6 — grapes and first fruits are blessed
The Transfiguration of the Lord
On Mount Tabor Christ shines with the uncreated light of his divinity before Peter, James, and John — a foretaste of the age to come.
Great Feast
August 15
August 15 — the last Great Feast of the Church year
The Dormition of the Theotokos
The Mother of God falls asleep and is received by her Son. Her repose is the Church's clearest icon of the Christian hope of resurrection.
Great Feast
September 8
September 8 — the first Great Feast of the Church year
The Nativity of the Theotokos
The birth of the Virgin Mary to Joachim and Anna begins the year of feasts, as the preparation for the Incarnation takes visible form.
Great Feast
September 14
September 14 — a strict fast day
The Exaltation of the Holy Cross
The Cross is lifted up in the midst of the church and venerated as the weapon of peace and the tree of life.
Fasting season
November 15 – December 24
November 15 – December 24 (forty days)
The Nativity Fast
Forty days of preparation for the Nativity of Christ, with the Sundays of the Forefathers and the Fathers recalling the ancestors who awaited the Messiah.
Great Feast
November 21
November 21
The Entry of the Theotokos into the Temple
The child Mary is brought to the Temple and dedicated to God — the one who will herself become the temple of the Word.
Great Feast
December 25
December 25 (New Calendar) — January 7 civil for Old Calendar churches
The Nativity of Christ
God the Word is born in the flesh of the Virgin. The Royal Hours, the Vigil with its Old Testament prophecies, and the Divine Liturgy proclaim the mystery.
Old and New Calendar. Fixed dates here follow the Revised Julian (New) Calendar used by most Orthodox jurisdictions. Churches keeping the Old (Julian) Calendar celebrate the same feasts thirteen days later on the civil calendar — the Nativity, for example, on January 7. Pascha is dated identically by both.
Local practice governs. Service schedules, fasting rules, and local commemorations vary by jurisdiction and parish. Follow the calendar and guidance of your own parish and its priest.