Why not start the New Year off right? Mark your personal calendar with the Feasts, Fasts, and Saints days of the Church. Make a resolution to participate in the liturgical cycle of the Church.
GREAT idea! I was just commenting this week on how may feast days I have missed because I had work things that kept me away from home and the Divine Liturgy. I have control over some of my schedule...I just needed to know enough to plan around the feast days. But I had to learn the hard way in my first year in the Church...by making the mistakes myself.
Doesn't have to happen again. I am going to load up my Outlook calendar with these feasts for next year!
What a wonderful way to start off the new liturgical year - thank you for this post, Fr. J!
May our Lord bless us throughout the coming year and may He continue to have mercy on us all.
Many years, Father!
Happy new year, Father. Many more blessed ones.
The fact that Fr. Joseph is planning ahead is the result of him having finally gotten on the RIGHT calendar... Franklin-Covey! On this, all Orthodox can agree. 
Thanks so much for posting all the dates in one place. I will take your suggestion and mark these in my daybook. It is always a little joy to find that our Pascha falls on Western Easter - much easier to take Holy Week off work when we are bookended by stat holidays!
My best friend comes from India, he is a Malankar Orthodox, and entered here in a Coptic parish celebrating the Saint Basil Liturgy in French, with an Egyptian calendar.
When should I wish him the "happy new year", please?
Jean-Michel, going off his head as usual
ps : serious, do the Awrv parishes also have that New year now?
Hah! Fr John Whiteford is right! I have finally joined the Illuminati (aka Franklin-Covey planners). After years as a Cheap-O -- er, uh --Day-Timer or Day-Runner guy ... I have joined the enlightened movers and shakers of the world!
(Now if I could just learn to make realistic daily lists.)
Dear Father,
I may "seem funny" to start the new year in Sept. but it makes sense. Ever notice how the "new" school year starts, how the new cars used to come out and how the American calendar actually starts building up to Christmas (I know that it is sad but true-merchants start building up towards American Christmas NOW) Anyway, Happy New Year(you can wish me a Happy New Year in 13 days)
Love in Christ,
Sub-deacon Lawrence Most
September 1st, 2006
Noted, in my Franklin-Covey, September 14th: Revisit comments from Post dated September 1st to wish Sub-deacon Lawrence Most a Happy New Year.
Priority: C-3
I am a member of the Franklin-Covey world as well - but I do wish that there was an Orthodox version of thier planner. I like how things are laid out and designed, but wouldn't it be great to have quotes from the Fathers on each page? To already have all the Feast days noted - for both calendars? Sigh...
I know it's just one of those impossible dreams, and there aren't enough of us in this country for them to really sell, but it would be great
Catherine, the problem you pose is easy to fix. If you have a classic size Franklin-Covey planner, you just need to get a Vestal Calendar, punch the wholes for your planner, and they fit perfectly -- just put them right behind each monthly tab. Vestal produces both Julian and Gregorian calendars too, and so everybody can be happy.
Franklin Covey might one day be interested in doing an Orthodox version that would have all of our dates embedded in the text... if we could all agree on which calendar to present them with.
...it's a very interesting thing to see: the Jews begin their New Year on the first day of the Seventh month (Tishri), we do that also (September = the Seventh). They also hold their New Moons on the first day of each of their lunar months -- we do that also on (aprox.) the first day of each of our solar months (25 March, 23 April, 21 May, 24&29 June, 20 July, 29 August [the New Year in the Coptic Calendar, by the way -- though, it is the 29 August of the Julian Clendar, not ours], 23 September, 26 October, 30 November, 25 December, 30 January, [02 February?]). They also have the Feast of the "Purification of the Temple" on the 25th of their Ninth month; we have the "Entrance of the Holy Mother of God in the Temple" on the 21st of our Ninth Month, which, offcourse, is November. (And, offcourse, the Mother of God is the Temple of Christ & the Holy Spirit; and her whomb is, offcourse, the Holy of Holies)...
Obviously, Lucian, that should settle it. Now, as Fr John says, if we Orthodox could all agree on a Calendar, the Jews convert, and hey -- throw in right-believing Episcopalians and even Roman Catholics -- and ...
well ...
If nothing else, it'd be interesting!
Interesting, I DO have a classic size planner - and haven't heard of the Vestal calender before. Will need to check it out.
I do know someone who has been working on designing her own answer to Franklin Covey - but of course it is just for her use.
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