Are the Eastern Catholic Churches on the Julian calendar?

[jimkhong]

Personally and IMHO, fasting is something the West would do well to re-establish. Advent shouldn’t be about celebrating Christ’s birth but about preparing for it. I admit I hear about it from time to time in homilies when I attend a Roman Mass but truth be told unless there is some “obligation under pain of mortal sin” attached, very few follow that.

From the Nativity to Theophany it is a fast free time and then we can truly celebrate Christ’s birth!

Have a Happy Feast of St. Nicholas of Myra …we are half way through Advent!

You know, in the consumerist West, we have given Christmas back to the pagans.

You mentioned the Julian calendar: are the Eastern Catholic Churches on the Julian calendar? And is Easter calculated differently?

 

[Angel_Gabriel]

You know, in the consumerist West, we have given Christmas back to the pagans.

You mentioned the Julian calendar: are the Eastern Catholic Churches on the Julian calendar? And is Easter calculated differently?

some Eastern Catholic Churches are…even within the same Eparchy. Some are totally on the Gregorian and some are on the Revised Julian as well.

Yes, Easter is calculated a bit differently (which can make them up to 5 weeks apart some years)… although this next year Gregorian and Julian Easter will be on the same date

 

[jimkhong]

some Eastern Catholic Churches are…even within the same Eparchy. Some are totally on the Gregorian and some are on the Revised Julian as well.

Yes, Easter is calculated a bit differently (which can make them up to 5 weeks apart some years)… although this next year Gregorian and Julian Easter will be on the same date

Wow, how then does the bishop manage if part of his eparchy celebrates feastdays on different days? It is difficult enough for different churches or diocese follows different calendars! How does the bishop then celebrate Chrism mass - I believe you distribute it on the DL on Holy Thursday. If different parts of eparchy have different Holy Thursday, is the chrism then distributed twice? Sounds a bit contradictory to me as it is supposed to symbolise the communion of all parishes with the bishop.

 

[Angel_Gabriel]

Wow, how then does the bishop manage if part of his eparchy celebrates feastdays on different days? It is difficult enough for different churches or diocese follows different calendars! How does the bishop then celebrate Chrism mass - I believe you distribute it on the DL on Holy Thursday. If different parts of eparchy have different Holy Thursday, is the chrism then distributed twice? Sounds a bit contradictory to me as it is supposed to symbolise the communion of all parishes with the bishop.

As to that I cannot say as I don’t know how bishops manage their eparchies. I do know that up in Chicago there is a parish on the Julian and the sole reason for it’s existence is b/c of the calendar…IIRC they separated from the Cathedral (UGCC) some time ago and formed their own parish.

Also, FWIW, the 3 OPrthodox Churches in my city (Greek, OCA and Antiochian) are all on the Revised Julian.

 

[jimkhong]

As to that I cannot say as I don’t know how bishops manage their eparchies. I do know that up in Chicago there is a parish on the Julian and the sole reason for it’s existence is b/c of the calendar…IIRC they separated from the Cathedral (UGCC) some time ago and formed their own parish.

Also, FWIW, the 3 OPrthodox Churches in my city (Greek, OCA and Antiochian) are all on the Revised Julian.

Yes, the Orthodox have a multiplicity of calendars - Julian, Revised Julian and Gregorian. Plus you have the Armenians who still celebrate Christmas on Epiphany (and multiply that with different calendars!!).

Anyway, I thought there was something recently about Ukrainians (I think it was the Major Archbishop) accepting the Gregorian calendar.

 

[Angel_Gabriel]

Yes, the Orthodox have a multiplicity of calendars - Julian, Revised Julian and Gregorian. Plus you have the Armenians who still celebrate Christmas on Epiphany (and multiply that with different calendars!!).

Anyway, I thought there was something recently about Ukrainians (I think it was the Major Archbishop) accepting the Gregorian calendar.

yes I remember reading something about that on here a while back…I think it was about the fact that parishes didn’t need to follow the Gregorian calendar if they didn’t want to. I don’t’ think the churches over in Ukraine are on the Gregorian…I think they are all still Julian same as the Orthodox. (the only Orthodox church that I know of which uses the Gregorian is the Church in Finland…the rest are either Julian or Revised Julian)

 

[babochka]

Anyway, I thought there was something recently about Ukrainians (I think it was the Major Archbishop) accepting the Gregorian calendar.

There was something a while back… the Ukrainian Major Archbishop said that they would not be following the Gregorian calendar in Ukraine anytime soon.

My priest is from Slovakia. They are all on the Gregorian calendar now, but a few years ago, it was mixed. He tells stories of substituting in other parishes that were on different calendars. Occasionally, he would go from Lent to Easter on the same day.

 

[5Loaves]

How does the bishop then celebrate Chrism mass - I believe you distribute it on the DL on Holy Thursday. If different parts of eparchy have different Holy Thursday, is the chrism then distributed twice? Sounds a bit contradictory to me as it is supposed to symbolise the communion of all parishes with the bishop.

I can’t speak for various Eastern Catholic Churches sui uris. For Orthodox the Holy Myrrh/Holy Chrism is sanctified when it is needed, not annually. Given the number of days it takes to complete the services it’s not surprising it’s not done annually. I’m sorry to learn if things are done differently in ECCs.

I have assisted at the Chrism Mass at the Latin Church cathedral a number of years and it’s a very beautiful Mass. I do find it kind of sad that parishes tend to take home much more Chrism than they will use and then when the next Chrism Mass comes pour what is left into the ground. We burned Chrism from the Latin Cathedral in our lampadas at my parish, they had such quantities left and needed to dispose of it and asked if we could take some to burn. The chrism doesn’t burn as well as pure olive oil so we had to dilute it quite a bit.

In my parish it’s been many years since we last got new Chrism.

Here’s a piece from the OCA on consecration of Chrism, and another from the The Ecumenical Patriarchate.

My parish is on the revised Julian calendar as are the local Greek Orthodox and all but a couple OCA parishes.

 

[shlomo3amrooh]

Syriac Patriarch Nemmet Allah was one of the few scholars who helped devise the Gregorian calendar (this was before the union)

 

[Zekariya]

There was something a while back… the Ukrainian Major Archbishop said that they would not be following the Gregorian calendar in Ukraine anytime soon.

My priest is from Slovakia. They are all on the Gregorian calendar now, but a few years ago, it was mixed. He tells stories of substituting in other parishes that were on different calendars. Occasionally, he would go from Lent to Easter on the same day.

I know a Greek Orthodox woman who attends Melkite Pascha during Orthodox Lent and then attends Julian Pascha at her Greek Orthodox parish. If it were Lent at my parish, I would personally feel weird celebrating Pascha at another parish.

 

[jimkhong]

I know a Greek Orthodox woman who attends Melkite Pascha during Orthodox Lent and then attends Julian Pascha at her Greek Orthodox parish. If it were Lent at my parish, I would personally feel weird celebrating Pascha at another parish.

So, she fasts, then celebrate and then fast again? Must do funny things to her mental wellbeing!