Askesis / Old and new calendar
Why Orthodox Christians keep feasts on two sets of dates, and what it changes for the fasts.
Orthodox churches keep their fixed feasts by one of two calendars. Churches on the new (Revised Julian) calendar keep fixed feasts such as the Nativity on 25 December. Churches on the old (Julian) calendar keep the same feast on the same church date, which today falls on 7 January.
Pascha, and everything counted from it, falls on the same day on both calendars. The Apostles’ Fast is the one season that is partly each: it begins on a day counted from Pascha and ends on 28 June, church date, so it runs 13 days longer on the old calendar, and in some years it is very short, or absent, on the new.
| Churches | |
|---|---|
| New (Revised Julian) | The Ecumenical Patriarchate, Alexandria, Antioch, Greece, Cyprus, Romania and Bulgaria, and most parishes of the Orthodox Church in America. |
| Old (Julian) | Russia, Serbia, Georgia, Jerusalem and Mount Athos, and parishes of many other churches. |
Parishes can differ from their church, so the calendar to follow is the one your own parish keeps.
Great Lent, Holy Week and Pentecost fall on the same day on both calendars. Fixed feasts and the Dormition and Nativity fasts move by 13 days: the Nativity Fast runs 15 November to 24 December on the new calendar and 28 November to 6 January on the old, in civil dates.
Calendar and fasting practice are separate things. Churches also differ in how the fast is kept on a given day, Greek practice against Slavic, and a parish on either calendar may keep either. Askesis asks for your church once and applies its calendar and its practice to every day.
Your priest’s guidance for you personally always comes first. This page states the general discipline of the Church.
Fixed feasts fall 13 days later on the civil calendar for churches on the old (Julian) calendar. Pascha and the feasts counted from it are the same on both.
25 December for churches on the new calendar and 7 January for churches on the old calendar.
Among others, the Russian, Serbian, Georgian and Jerusalem churches and Mount Athos.
Why do Orthodox Christians fast? and How is Askesis checked?