Great Feasts Of The Orthodox Church
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Great Feasts Of The 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. History and overview The Twelve Great Feasts are as follows (note that the liturgical year begins with the month of September): # The Nativity of the Theotokos, # The Exaltation of the Cross, # The Presentation of the Theotokos, # The Nativity of Christ (Christmas), # The Baptism of Christ (Theophany, also called Epiphany), # The Presentation of Jesus at the Temple (Candlemas), # The Annunciation, # The Entry into Jerusalem (Flowery/Willow/Palm Sunday), ...
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Eastern Orthodox Church
The Eastern Orthodox Church, officially the Orthodox Catholic Church, and also called the Greek Orthodox Church or simply the Orthodox Church, is List of Christian denominations by number of members, one of the three major doctrinal and jurisdictional groups of Christianity, with approximately 230 million baptised members. It operates as a Communion (Christian), communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its Bishop (Orthodox Church), bishops via local Holy Synod, synods. The church has no central doctrinal or governmental authority analogous to the pope of the Catholic Church. Nevertheless, the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople is recognised by them as ''primus inter pares'' (), a title held by the patriarch of Rome prior to 1054. As one of the oldest surviving religious institutions in the world, the Eastern Orthodox Church has played an especially prominent role in the history and culture of Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeastern Europe. Since 2018, the ...
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Annunciation
The Annunciation (; ; also referred to as the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Annunciation of Our Lady, or the Annunciation of the Lord; ) is, according to the Gospel of Luke, the announcement made by the archangel Gabriel to Mary that she would conceive and bear a son through a virgin birth and become the mother of Jesus Christ, the Messiah and Son of God, marking the Incarnation. According to the Annunciation occurred in the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy with John the Baptist. Many Christians observe this event with the Feast of the Annunciation on 25March, an approximation of the northern vernal equinox nine full months before Christmas, the traditional birthday of Jesus. The Annunciation is a key topic in Christian art in general, as well as in Marian art in the Catholic Church, having been especially prominent during the Middle Ages and Renaissance. A work of art depicting the Annunciation is sometimes itself called an ''Annunciation'' ...
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Byzantine Art
Byzantine art comprises the body of artistic products of the Eastern Roman Empire, as well as the nations and states that inherited culturally from the empire. Though the empire itself emerged from the decline of Rome, decline of western Rome and lasted until the Fall of Constantinople in 1453, the start date of the Byzantine period is rather clearer in art history than in political history, if still imprecise. Many Eastern Orthodox states in Eastern Europe, as well as to some degree the Islamic states of the eastern Mediterranean, preserved many aspects of the empire's culture and art for centuries afterward. A number of contemporary states with the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire were culturally influenced by it without actually being part of it (the "Byzantine commonwealth"). These included Kievan Rus', as well as some non-Orthodox states like the Republic of Venice, which separated from the Byzantine Empire in the 10th century, and the Norman-Arab-Byzantine culture, Kingdom o ...
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Intercession Of The Theotokos
The Intercession of the Theotokos, or the Protection of Our Most Holy Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary, is a Christian feast of the Mother of God celebrated in the Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Catholic Churches on October 14 (Julian calendar: October 1). The feast celebrates the protection afforded the faithful through the intercessions of the Theotokos (''lit.'' Mother of God, one Eastern title of the Virgin Mary). The feast is commemorated in Eastern Orthodoxy as a whole, but by no means as fervently as it is in Russia, Belarus, and, especially, Ukraine. In the Slavic Orthodox Churches it is celebrated as the most important solemnity besides the Twelve Great Feasts and Pascha. In Ukraine, it has a special meaning through its connection to the spirituality of the Ukrainian Cossacks and, accordingly and more recently, to Defenders of Ukraine Day. Etymology The Protection of the Theotokos or the Intercession of the Theotokos (, Pokrov, , Pokrova), like the (, Sképē) ...
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Beheading Of St John The Baptist
The beheading of John the Baptist, also known as the decollation of Saint John the Baptist or the beheading of the Forerunner, is a biblical event commemorated as a Liturgical year, holy day by various Christianity, Christian churches. According to the New Testament, Herod Antipas, ruler of Galilee under the Roman Empire, had imprisoned John the Baptist because he had publicly wikt:reprove, reproved Herod the Great, Herod for divorcing his first wife and unlawfully taking his sister-in-law (his brother's wife) as his second wife Herodias. He then ordered him to be killed by Decapitation, beheading. As a non-Biblical source, Jewish historian Josephus also recounts that Herod had John imprisoned and killed due to "the great influence John had over the people", which might persuade John "to raise a rebellion". Josephus also writes that many of the Jews believed that Herod's later military disaster was God's punishment for his treatment of John. Traditional accounts According to ...
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Feast Of Saints Peter And Paul
The Feast of Saints Peter and Paul or Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul is a liturgical feast in honor of the martyrdom in Rome of the apostles Saint Peter and Saint Paul, which is observed on 29 June. The celebration is of ancient Christian origin, the date selected being the anniversary of either their death or the translation of their relics. Eastern Christianity For Eastern Orthodox and some Eastern Catholic Christians this feast also marks the end of the Apostles' Fast (which began on the Monday following All Saints' Sunday, i.e., the second Monday after Pentecost). While not considered among the twelve great feasts, it is one of five additional feasts ranked as a great feast in the Eastern Orthodox tradition and is often celebrated with an all-night vigil starting the evening before. In the Julian calendar, 29 June falls on the Gregorian calendar date of 12 July from 1900 to 2099, inclusive. In the Russian Orthodox tradition, Macarius of Unzha's Miracle of ...
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Nativity Of St
Nativity or The Nativity may refer to: Birth of Jesus Christ * Nativity of Jesus, the Gospel stories of the birth of Jesus Christ * Nativity of Jesus in art, any depiction of the nativity scene ** ''Nativity'' (Barocci), a 1597 painting by Federico Barocci ** ''Nativity'' (Campin), a 1420 panel painting by Robert Campin ** ''Nativity'' (Christus), a devotional mid-1450s oil-on-wood panel painting by Petrus Christus ** ''Nativity'' (Correggio), a painting finished around 1529–1530 by Antonio da Correggio ** ''Nativity'' (El Greco), ** ''Nativity'' (Geertgen tot Sint Jans) or ''Nativity at Night'', a painting of about 1490 by Geertgen tot Sint Jans ** ''Nativity'' (Lanfranco), ** ''Nativity'' (Masaccio) or ''Desco da parto'', a birthing-tray painted by Masaccio ** ''Nativity'' (Master of the Brunswick Diptych), ** ''Nativity'' (Parmigianino), ** ''Nativity'' (Simone dei Crocifissi), ** ''The Nativity'' (Burne-Jones), 1888 ** ''The Nativity'' (Piero della Frances ...
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Circumcision Of Christ
The circumcision of Jesus is an event from the life of Jesus, according to the Gospel of Luke chapter 2, which states: And when eight days were fulfilled to circumcise the child, his name was called Jesus, the name called by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. The eight days after his birth is traditionally observed 1 January. This is in keeping with the Jewish law which holds that males should be circumcised eight days after birth during a Brit milah ceremony, at which they are also given their name. The circumcision of Christ became a very common subject in Christian art from the 10th century onwards, one of numerous events in the '' Life of Christ'' to be frequently depicted by artists. It was initially seen only as a scene in larger cycles, but by the Renaissance might be treated as an individual subject for a painting, or form the main subject in an altarpiece. The event is celebrated as the Feast of the Circumcision in the Eastern Orthodox Church on 1 January ...
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Dormition Of The Theotokos
The Dormition of the Mother of God is a Great Feast of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Eastern Catholic Churches (except the East Syriac churches). It celebrates the "falling asleep" (death) of Mary the '' Theotokos'' ("Mother of God", literally translated as ''God-bearer''), and her being taken up into heaven. The Feast of the Dormition is observed on August 15, which for the churches using the Julian calendar corresponds to August 28 on the Gregorian calendar. The Armenian Apostolic Church celebrates the Dormition not on a fixed date, but on the Sunday nearest 15 August. In Western Churches the corresponding feast is known as the Assumption of Mary, with the exception of the Scottish Episcopal Church, which has traditionally celebrated the Falling Asleep of the Blessed Virgin Mary on August 15. Christian canonical scriptures do not record the death or Dormition of Mary. Hippolytus of Thebes, a 7th- or 8th-century author, writes in his partially preserved c ...
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Transfiguration Of Jesus
The Transfiguration of Jesus is an event described in the New Testament where Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is Transfiguration (religion), transfigured and becomes radiant in Glory (religion), glory upon a mountain. The Synoptic Gospels (, , ) recount the occasion, and the Second Epistle of Peter also refers to it. In the gospel accounts, Jesus and three of his apostles, Saint Peter, Peter, James the Great, James, and John the Apostle, John, go to a mountain (later referred to as the Mount of Transfiguration) to pray. On the mountaintop, Jesus begins to shine with bright rays of light. Then the Old Testament figures Moses and Elijah appear, and he speaks with them. Both figures had eschatological roles: they symbolize Law of Moses, the Law and Prophets of Christianity, the prophets, respectively. Jesus is then called "Son of God, Son" by the voice of God the Father, as in the Baptism of Jesus. Many Christian traditions, including the Eastern Orthodox, Catholic, Lutheran and Ang ...
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Pentecost
Pentecost (also called Whit Sunday, Whitsunday or Whitsun) is a Christianity, Christian holiday which takes place on the 49th day (50th day when inclusive counting is used) after Easter Day, Easter. It commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit in Christianity, Holy Spirit upon the Apostles in the New Testament, Apostles of Jesus, Mary, mother of Jesus, Mary, and other followers of the Christ, while they were in Jerusalem during the Second Temple Period, Jerusalem celebrating the Feast of Weeks, as described in the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 2:1–31). Pentecost marks the "Birthday of the Church". Pentecost is one of the Great feasts in the Eastern Orthodox Church, a Solemnity in the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church, a Liturgical calendar (Lutheran)#Festivals, Festival in the Lutheranism, Lutheran Churches, and a Principal Feast in the Anglican Communion. Many Christian denominations provide a special liturgy for this holy celebration. Since its date depends on the date of Eas ...
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