2008 Feasts & Fasts

According to the Liturgical Calendar of the Armenian Apostolic Church[1]

The Liturgical Calendar[2] of the Armenian Church is divided into three
categories:
I. Dominical Feasts
II. Days of Fasting/Abstinence
III. Feasts of the Saints

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I. Dominical Feasts
Dominical feasts are divided into three groups:
A. Feasts of Christ
B. Feasts of the Holy Mother of God (“Sourp Asdvadzadzin”, “Theotokos”)
C. Feasts of the Holy Cross and the Holy Church

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A. Feasts of Christ
1. Theophany
i. Nativity (Christmas) and Baptism, January 6
ii. Naming of our Lord, January 13
iii. Presentation of the Lord to the Temple, February 14
2. Transfiguration: June 29
3. Resurrection: March 23
      Celebrations related to the resurrection of Christ include: The Resurrection of Lazarus,
      Palm Sunday, Holy Week, the 40-day period from Easter Sunday to Ascension, and
      Pentecost (10 days after Ascension)

 

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B. Feasts of the Holy Mother of God  (“Sourp Asdvadzadzin,” “Theotokos”)
1. Annunciation – April 7 (fixed)
2. Discovery of the Box (Fifth Sunday after Pentecost) – June 15
3. Assumption (observed on the Sunday closest to August 15) – August 17
4. Discovery of the Belt (Second Sunday after the Assumption) – August 31
5. Birth – September 8 (fixed)
6. Presentation to the Temple – November 21 (fixed)
7. Conception –  December 9 (fixed)

 

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C. Feasts of the Holy Cross & Feasts of the Holy Church
1. Feasts of the Holy Cross
i. Apparition of the Holy Cross (Fourth Sunday of Easter) – April 20
ii. Exaltation of the Holy Cross (observed on the Sunday closest to September 14) – September 14
iii. Holy Cross of Varak (Third Sunday of the Exaltation) – September 28
iv. Discovery of the Cross (Seventh Sunday of the Exaltation) – October 26

 

2. Feasts of the Holy Church
i. New Sunday (Second Sunday of Easter) – March 30
ii. Green Sunday (Third Sunday of Easter) – April 6
iii. Red Sunday (Fourth Sunday of Easter) – April 13
iv. Holy Etchmiadzin (Second Sunday after Pentecost) – May 25
v. Ark of the Covenant (Saturday preceding Transfiguration, “Vartavar”) – June 28
vi. Shoghagat (the Saturday preceding Assumption) – August 16

 

Fixed feast days in the Armenian Church Calendar:
1. Nativity (Christmas) and Theophany – January 6
2. Presentation of the Lord to the Temple – February 14
3. Annunciation – April 7
4. The Birth of St. Mary the Theotokos –  September 8
5. Presentation of the Holy Mother of God – November 21
6. Conception of the Virgin Mary – December 9

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II. Fasting[3] or Abstinence days
There are approximately 160 fasting days prescribed by the Armenian Apostolic Church. Fasting days are classified as follows:
1. Daily fast – Wednesdays and Fridays. However, there is a dispensation from fasting during the forty days after Easter (until Ascension) and during the octave of the Theophany (January 6-13).
2. The Fast of Great Lent (7 weeks): February 4 – March 22
3. Weeklong Fasts. There are ten weeklong fasts. These fasts are observed from Monday through Friday, except the fast of Nativity which is a 6-day fast:
i. Fast of  Nativity/Theophany: December 30 - January 4
ii. Fast of the Catechumens: January 14 - February 18
iii. Fast of Elijah: May 12 – May 16
iv. Fast of our Holy Father St. Gregory the Illuminator: June 2 - 6
v. Fast of Transfiguration: June 23 - 27
vi. Fast of the Assumption of the Holy Mother of God: August 11 - 15
vii. Fast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross: September 8 - 12
viii. Fast of the Holy Cross of Varak: September 22 - 26
ix. Fast of Advent: November 19 - 23
x. Fast of St. Hagop: December 8 - 12

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III. Feasts of the Saints[4]
January – February
  • St. Basil the Great
  • St. John the Baptist / Forerunner
  • St. Gregory the Theologian
  • The Twelve Prophets
  • St. Thaddeus the Apostle and St. Santookhd
  • St. Sarkis
  • St. Sahag Bartev
  • Sts. Ghevond and priests
  • Sts. Vartanank
  • The 150 Fathers of the (Ecumenical) Council of Constantinople (381 A.D.)
March – April – May
  • St. Cyril of Jerusalem
  • St. John of Otsoon (Hovnan Otsnetsi), St John of Vorodn (Hovnan Vorodnetsi), and  St. Gregory of Datev (Krikor Datevatsi)
  • Forty Martyrs of Sebastia
  • St. Gregory the Illuminator
June – July – August
  • Sts. Hripsimiank
  • Sts. Gayaniank
  • St. Nerses the Great
  • Sts. Drtad, Queen Ashkhen, and Khosrovidookht
  • 12 Apostles of Christ and St. Paul the 13th Apostle
  • Sts. Thaddeus and Santookht
  • The 200 Fathers of the Holy Council of Ephesus (431 A.D.)
  • Sts. Joachim and Anna (parents of the Holy Mother of God)
September – October
  • 318 Fathers of the Holy Council of Nicea (325 A.D.)
  • St. George the General
  • Seventy-two Disciples of Christ
  • Holy Translators – Mesrob, Yeghishe, Moses (Movses) the Poet, David (Tavit) the Philosopher, Gregory of Nareg, Nerses of Kla (grace-filled)
  • Holy Apostles: Ananias, Mathias, Barnabas, Philip, John, Silas, and Silvanus
  • Holy Evangelists: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John
  • The Twelve Teachers (Vartabeds) of the Church: Hierotheus of Athens, Dionysius the Areopagite, Sylvester of Rome, Athanasius of Alexandria, Cyril of Jerusalem, Ephraim the Syrian, Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of Nyssa, Gregory the Theologian, Epiphanius of Cyprus, John Chrysostom, and Cyril of Alexandria
November – December
  • Holy Archangels Gabriel and Michael
  • Sts. Gregory the Wonderworker, Nicholas and Bishop Myron
  • Holy Apostles and first Illuminators Thaddeus and Bartholomew
  • St. Nicholas the Wonderworker
  • Sourp Hagop (of Nisibis)
  • Sts. David the Prophet and James the Apostle
  • St. Stephen the Proto-Deacon and the First Martyr
  • Apostles Peter and Paul
  • James the Apostle and John the Evangelist, Sons of Thunder

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[1]  Prepared by AREC.
[2]  For information about feasts and saints, see Saints and Feasts of the Armenian Church by Patriarch Torkom Koushagian (in Armenian and an abridged version in English); Feasts of the Armenian Church and National Traditions by Garo Bedrosian (in Armenian and English); Domar by the Armenian Orthodox Theological Institute (AOTI).
[3] There are two kinds of fasting: 1) abstinence from meat and animal products –“bahk” and  2) total abstinence – “dzom”.
[4] Here we have listed merely those saints that our Sunday School students should be familiar with by the time they graduate. In the Armenian Church, saints are commemorated on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Normally more than one saint is commemorated on a given day.

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