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Dear Parish Faithful,
I just received this notice from our former parishioner Nicole Roccas:
I wanted to pass this along to you, you may want to share it with people. It's an infographic I made about the cycles of the Orthodox year. It basically explains some of the early history of our calendar, and why this is beneficial for our faith. It's something I worked on over the summer.
Some of you may remember Nicole better by her maiden name of Lyon. Nicole was part of our parish before marrying her husband Basil and moving to Toronto, Canada. (Nicole and Basil were first "betrothed" here in our parish, before their "crowning" in Toronto). Nicole's first encounter with the Orthodox Church was in our parish, when she attended a Lenten retreat with Fr. Thomas Hopko as our guest speaker. Following that Retreat, she became an enthusiastic inquirer, and was eventually catechized and chrismated in our parish. There is more information about Nicole and her current work at her blog reached by the link below.
Her infographic is both fascinating and highly informative. Please give it your attention, as it will prove to illuminate our liturgical year for you. You are all familiar with my phrase "the battle of the calendars." Here, then, is an excellent introduction to the Church calendar, a good balance if you are more familiar with the secular calendar. The calendar is about time - we can almost say about the "mystery of time" - and how time is both "redeemed" and "sanctified" in the Church. Thus, the Church calendar is not simply a succession of dates and commemorations, but a profound revelation of the meaning of time as it is now directed toward the Kingdom of God.
Cycles of the Orthodox calendar (and why they matter)
