The Liturgical Year
The total of all our common tasks during a year in the Church is called the “liturgical year." The church year formally begins September 1. While monasteries can celebrate all services, most parishes follow a weekly cycle that includes Vespers, Matins or Orthros, and the Divine Liturgy. The Church year offers festive times for celebration and also quiet times for fasting and reflection. These special fasting and feasting periods are part of our life in the Church over the course of a year. There are twelve major feast days of the Church which are universally celebrated.