The Calendar Controversy
The Orthodox Church is internally divided over
the issue of the Church calendar. A minority of Orthodox churches worldwide,
beginning in 1923, decided to follow the so-called "New" (Gregorian) Calendar.
This is the same calendar used by the Roman Catholics and Protestants, except
for the period of Great Lent and Pascha (known as the Paschalion). Most Orthodox
churches still adhere to the traditional Church (Julian) calendar (although this does
not necessarily mean they oppose ecumenism or are "traditionalists").
The Church calendar lags the "New" Calendar by thirteen days. The controversy does not,
however, constitute a mere quibbling over time, as Dr. Constantine Cavarnos
points out in the conclusion of his article "The New Papal Calendar and Its Fruits":
It should be added
that the New Calendar was introduced into the Orthodox Church not for
the sake of astronomical correctness, but as the first step in achieving
a forced, false union of the Orthodox Church with non-Orthodox New Calendarist
Christian bodies [i.e., Roman Catholic, Protestant, etc.], for the sake
of certain secular advantages which such a union was expected to have.
This was to be the beginning of the Orthodox Churchs participation
in the 'Ecumenical Movement'a movement which has further divided
the Orthodox Church into mutually hostile parties: the Ecumenists and
the anti-Ecumenists. All the Greek Old Calendarists are anti-Ecumenists,
while some of the New Calendarists are Ecumenists and others are anti-Ecumenists.
Thus, the evil fruits of the introduction of the New Calendar, which
the Blessed Elder [Philotheos Zervakos] clearly foresaw, keep growing
in number.
Showing both calendars on this site's home page is merely an acknowledgement that both calendars do, unfortunately, exist
in the Church today. It should in no way be seen as a tacit endorsement of the "New" Calendar. Many Orthodox Christians who
are in New Calendar parishes lament the fact that there are two calendars. Pious Orthodox Christians who understand the effect
this change has had on the Church long for the return of the New Calendar churches to the traditional calendar. In the meantime,
this site—which has a diverse readership from Orthodox churches all over the world—will continue to provide, as a
courtesy, the Saints and readings of the day according to both calendars.
General Articles
The New Papal Calendar and Its Fruits:
by Prof. Constantine Cavarnos. His synopsis of the 40-page pamphlet written
by the Blessed Elder Philotheos Zervakos (+ 1980) of Greece.
Foreward to A Scientific Examination
of the Orthodox Church Calendar, by Archbishop Chrystostomos
of Etna.
The Essence of the Church Calendar, Chapter
4 from A Scientific Examination of the Orthodox Church Calendar.
Liturgical Havoc Wreaked By the "New Julian"
Calendar, Chapter 9 from A Scientific Examination of the Orthodox
Church Calendar.
Not on the New Calendar: The Repose of the
Blessed Elder Philotheos Zervakos, an excerpt from the life of the
Elder by Dr. Constantine Cavarnos.
The Traditional Calendar of the Orthodox Church:
Observations About its Meaning, by Archpriest Alexander Lebedeff.
The Patristic Church Calendar: An Indissoluble
Element of Universal Church Tradition, by Bishop Photii of Triaditza
The Julian Calendar: In Response to the
Misapprehensions of Nicolas Ossorgin,
by the Right Reverend Dr. Auxentios, Bishop of Photiki (Orthodox Tradition,
XI, 1).
The Orthodox Calendar and the Future of Old Calendarism,
by Fr. Andrew Phillips.
The Appearance of the Sign of the Cross of Our
Lord Jesus Christ Near Athens in 1925. A modern miracle and testimony
to God's disapproval of the calendar revision.
A Letter on the Calendar Issue: by Holy Transfiguration
Monastery (1975 [1968])
The Calendar Question, by Andrew Bond.
Written on the occasion of the OCA's adoption of the Papal Calendar.
On the Old and New
Calendars, and the Resulting Divisions: from St. John Cathedral, ROCA,
Washington, DC.
The Julian Calendar:
from St. John Cathedral, ROCA, Washington, DC.
The 70th Anniversary of the
Pan-Orthodox Congress in Constantinople:
A Major Step on the Path Towards Apostasy (Part I), by Bishop Photius
of Triaditsa. Part
II. This is a lengthy and scholarly treatise
outlining the historical road of Constantinople's fall to the heresy of
ecumenism. It proves that the issue of the Church Calendar is not
a matter of a "fanatic adherence to thirteen days" but rather
the tip of the ecumenist spear.
Anathema Against the Papal Calendar:
The Sigillon of 1583
The
Calendar Innovation, by the Blessed
Elder Gabriel, former Abbot of Dionysiou Monastery, Mount Athos. This
is an excerpt from the new Vol. 13 of the Modern Orthodox Saints series
published by the Institute for Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies.
The Proposed Common Easter in the Year 2000
A Common "Easter":
in response to the World Council of Churches (WCC) recent [March 25, 1997]
statement entitled, "The date of Easter: Science Offers Solution
to Ancient Religious Problem."
The Proposal for a Common Date to Celebrate
Pascha and Easter, by Father Luke Luhl, Greek Archdiocese of North
America, Denver Diocese
The First Ecumenical Synod and the Feast
of Pascha:
"...not with the Jews", by
Archimandrite Sergius. He sheds new light on the curious penchant
of some Orthodox (e.g., Archbishop Peter L'Huillier of the OCA) for attacking
this element of our Traditional Paschal calculation. This new proposal
for a common Paschal celebration is based on the Roman Catholic rendering
of the Nicene formula, which, in turn, ignores the mandate not to celebrate
with the Jews.
The Calendar Question and the Proposed
Common Celebration of Pascha By the Orthodox and Roman Catholics
Catholic-Orthodox Consultation Urges Common Easter
Date, by Jerry Filteau, Catholic News Service
How to Distort History and Logic
Simultaneously: Some Comments on the Orthodox-Lutheran Endorsement of
a Common Easter Celebration, by the Center for Traditionalist Orthodox
Studies.
Recommended Books
A Scientific Examination of the Orthodox
Church Calendar, by Hieromonk Cassian. Published by the Center
for Traditionalist Orthodox Studies. This brilliant book not only
eloquently lays to rest the spurious claims of modernists that the "New"
Calendar is more accurate, but also strengthens the faith of the pious
True Orthodox who have resisted the Calendar
change by demonstrating how wonderfully the findings of science comport
with Holy Tradition.
 "That whoever does not follow the customs of the Church as the Seven Holy Ecumenical
Councils decreed, and Holy Pascha, and the Menologion with which they
did well in making it a law that we should follow it, and wishes to follow
the newly-invented Paschalion and the New Menologion of the atheist astronomers
of the Pope, and opposes all those things and wishes to overthrow and
destroy the dogmas and customs of the Church which have been handed down
by our fathers, let him suffer anathema and be put out of the Church of
Christ and out of the Congregation of the Faithful."
From the Sigillon
of 1583
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