Tag: New Liturgical Year

A new liturgical year begins today, a new year of grace

“The beginning of the New Ecclesiastical Year urges us to sanctify the time of our earthly life as a time of salvation.”
– Patriarch Daniel

September 1st is known as the first day of the New Liturgical Year for those who follow the Byzantine Church. It’s an observance we had since the 4th century. Here is Father David Petras’ brief explanation:

We call this the “Church” New Year, but it was, of course, the civil New Year of the Byzantine Emperor. The book, Mapping Time, by E. G. Richards, says, “In AD 312 Constantine had instituted a 15-year cycle of indications (censuses of people’s ability to pay taxes). These started on 1 September …. The Byzantine year started on 1 September and this system was used by the supreme tribunal of the Holy Roman Empire until it was abolished by Napoleon in 1806.” The ancient Roman Empire began the year on January 1, and therefore September was the seventh month (from the Latin word for seven, “septem”). Of course, it is now the ninth month (!) Because of the interpolation of July (for Julius Caesar) and August (for August Caesar). Many seriously advocate making September 1 the New Year again, because, after all, this is the beginning of the school year and fall programs. It would also enable people to get home on dry roads rather than on snow and ice.

In any case, the gospel today has the blessing of our Lord on the New Year, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord” (Luke 4:18-19).

Blessings for a New Church Year, which we start today in our Greek Catholic Church!

Happy New Year 7531

September 1 is the New Year for the Greek Church; the Latin begin their new liturgical year on the first Sunday of Advent. Today, is also designated the Day of Prayer for the Protection of the Environment –an observance of many of the mainline Christians. More on this day of prayer in another post.

The point for today is to place our trust and dependance on the Lord of Life. As Christians we deeply realize that we don’t make ourselves, that someone greater than ourselves sustains and directs our being in faith, hope, love and reason. That’s God made us, we are His, and we live in relation to Him.

Together with the Church we pray:

“Maker of the universe, O Lord who alone have power over seasons and times: bless this year with your bounty, preserve our country in safety and keep your people in peace, through the prayers of the Mother of God save us.” (Troparion)

and

O Creator and Master of time and eternity, super substantial od of all, O Merciful One: bless the course of this year, and in your boundless mercy, save all those who worship You our one and on Master and who cry out to You in fear: “O Savior, grant a happy year to all mankind.” (Kondakion)

Archpriest David Petras offers this perspective for today:

We call this the “Church” New Year, but it was, of course, the civil New Year of the Byzanrine Emperor. The book, “Mapping Time, “ by E. G. Richards, says, “In AD 312 Constantine had instituted a 15-year cycle of indications (censuses of people’s ability to pay taxes). These started on 1 September …. The Byzantine year started on 1 September and this system was used by the supreme tribunal of the Holy Roman Empire until it was abolished by Napoleon in 1806.” The ancient Roman Empire began the year on January 1, and therefore September was the seventh month (from the Latin word for seven, “septem”). Of course, it is now the ninth month (!) Because of the interpolation of July (for Julius Caesar) and August (for August Caesar). Many seriously advocate making September 1 the New Year again, because, after all, this is the beginning of the school year and fall programs. It would also enable people to get home on dry roads rather than on snow and ice. In any case, the gospel today has the blessing of our Lord on the New Year, ““The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord. (Luke 4:18-19)”

How to celebrate the New Year in Faith

The previous post (see below) speaks of the new liturgical year. It’s a new year of Grace. Here are some suggestions as to “dig into our new year.”

~Build and/or grow the icon corner in your home

~Make it church frequently as possible

~Pray with Scripture, start with the Gospel of Matthew, reading only a paragraph at a time

~Give yourself an hour of quiet time —without cell phone or TV/radio/computer

~Engage in Byzantine prayer practices

  • pray before and after meals
  • say the Jesus prayer several times a day: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner”
  • say thank you to God upon waking and before closing your eyes at bedtime
  • get a Byzantine Hours prayer book and use it

~Do spiritual reading

~Do something charitable for someone in need.

New Liturgical Year September 1

Happy New Year!—The Beginning of the New Liturgical Year

For the maintenance of their armed forces, the Roman emperors decreed that their subjects in every district should be taxed every year. This same decree was reissued every fifteen years, since the Roman soldiers were obliged to serve for fifteen years. At the end of each fifteen-year period, an assessment was made of what economic changes had taken place, and a new tax was decreed, which was to be paid over the span of the fifteen years. This imperial decree, which was issued before the season of winter, was named Indictio, that is, Definition, or Order. This name was also adopted by the emperors in Constantinople.

At other times, the latter also used the term Epinemisis, that is, Distribution (Dianome). It is commonly held that Saint Constantine the Great introduced the Indiction decrees in A.D. 312, after he beheld the sign of the Cross in Heaven and vanquished Maxentius and was proclaimed Emperor in the West. Some, however (and this seems more likely), ascribe the institution of the Indiction to Augustus Caesar, three years before the birth of Christ. Those who hold this view offer as proof the papal bull issued in A.D. 781 which is dated thus: Anno IV, Indictionis LIII -that is, the fourth year of the fifty-third Indiction. From this, we can deduce the aforementioned year (3 B.C.) by multiplying the fifty-two complete Indictions by the number of years in each (15), and adding the three years of the fifty-third Indiction.

There are three types of Indictions: 1) That which was introduced in the West, and which is called Imperial, or Caesarean, or Constantinian, and which begins on the 24th of September; 2) The so-called Papal Indiction, which begins on the 1st of January; and 3) The Constantinopolitan, which was adopted by the Patriarchs of that city after the fall of the Eastern Empire in 1453. This Indiction is indicated in their own hand on the decrees they issue, without the numeration of the fifteen years.

This Indiction begins on the 1st of September and is observed with special ceremony in the Church. Since the completion of each year takes place, as it were, with the harvest and gathering of the crops into storehouses, and we begin anew from henceforth the sowing of seed in the earth for the production of future crops, September is considered the beginning of the New Year. The Church also keeps festival this day, beseeching God for fair weather, seasonable rains, and an abundance of the fruits of the earth. The Holy Scriptures (Lev. 23:24-5 and Num. 29:1-2) also testify that the people of Israel celebrated the feast of the Blowing of the Trumpets on this day, offering hymns of thanksgiving.

In addition to all the aforesaid, on this feast we also commemorate our Savior’s entry into the synagogue in Nazareth, where He was given the book of the Prophet Isaiah to read, and He opened it and found the place where it is written, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, for which cause He hath anointed Me…” (Luke 4:16-30).

It should be noted that to the present day, the Eastern Church has always celebrated the beginning of the New Year on September 1. September 1 is still festively celebrated as the New Year at the Patriarchate of Constantinople; among the Jews also the New Year, although reckoned according to a moveable calendar, usually falls in September. The liturgical service of the Menaion for January 1 is for our Lord’s Circumcision and for the memorial of Saint Basil the Great, without any mention of its being the beginning of a new year.

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