On the Church Feasts of the End of Summer
Augustin Sokolovski, Doctor of Theology, Priest
«You, Orthodox Christians, have a holiday every day,» people far from the Church sometimes say to believers. This is how they usually react when they hear congratulations on a holiday from church people. Often, especially in the recent Soviet past, when atheism was officially promoted, believers were offended by this. They probably thought that the phrase «every day is a holiday in your Church» was nothing more than a reproach for laziness and idleness. But, in fact, there is truth in these words. They were said by those who look at Christians from the outside. And from the outside it is often better to see. And, in this case, regarding holidays, you couldn’t say it better.
How many holidays are there in the Church? The main holiday of all Christians on earth is Easter. In Orthodoxy, Easter is solemnly called «The Bright Resurrection of Christ».
In Western Christianity, the Nativity of Jesus is celebrated very solemnly. That is why Orthodox Christians sometimes think that for Catholics and Protestants, Christmas is more important than Easter. Some polemicists even highlight this point and criticize, for example, Catholics, saying: «They celebrate Christmas more than Easter, because for the Catholic Church this world, the earthly world, and not the heavenly world, is much more important. But Orthodoxy is an exalted and heavenly faith.» In fact, the impression that Christmas is more important for Western Christians than Easter is not true. And this is a rare case when an outside view is deceptive. Easter, and for all Christians, is «the Feast of all Feasts and the Triumph of all Triumphs.» This is what the Church Father Saint John of Damascus (675-749) wrote about Easter. He was a great liturgical poet, hymnographer. Poets are rarely wrong.
Easter is the main Christian holiday. In this statement all the Churches of the world agree. In the early Church, there were several different principles for calculating the date of Easter. Christians in different parts of the world celebrated Easter differently. In 325, at the Ecumenical Council of Nicaea, a single principle for celebrating Easter was formulated, which is still in effect today. This year, 2025, marks exactly 1700 years since the Council of Nicaea.
Easter is the main Christian holiday. In this statement, all the Churches of the world agree. Apart from Easter, the other holidays of the Christian world, in Orthodoxy, Catholicism and Protestantism, are often different. Here, in this essay we will talk about Orthodoxy.
After Easter, there are 12 greatest holidays in Orthodoxy, and they are called the great feasts of the Orthodox Church.
The great theologian and thinker of the fifth century, known as Dionysius the Areopagite, spoke much about church life and spiritual reality in terms of heavenly hierarchies. Perhaps, if we try to translate this speech about the twelve main holidays of Orthodoxy into the language of his texts, we could call them «twelve-story holidays.» At least, this way it is easier to remember this principle and the name itself.
«Grant that with our entrance there may be an entrance of the Holy Angels serving with us and glorifying Your goodness,» says one of the prayers of the Orthodox liturgy. Divine service in the Orthodox understanding is the joy of angels. Orthodox Christians are convinced of this.
Twelve is a biblical symbolic number. It is the number of the twelve tribes of Israel, the number of assistants of the prophet Moses, and finally, the Assembly of the Apostles. In this sense, the concept of «the twelve main Orthodox holidays» is quite easy to remember.
Of the twelve holidays, seven are dedicated to the Lord Jesus, and three holidays are the holidays of the Virgin Mary. These are the so-called «Lord’s» holidays and «Mariological» holidays. Two of the twelve holidays, the Annunciation and the Presentation, are dedicated to Mary and Jesus equally.
After the twelve major holidays there are four holidays, which in Orthodoxy are also called great. Two of them are dedicated to John the Baptist, one to the Apostles Peter and Paul, and one to the Circumcision of Jesus, according to the customs of the Israeli people in the Bible.
In the Russian Church, the Orthodox Churches, connected with it by common origin and tradition, a fifth holiday is added to these four. This is the Feast of the Protection of the Theotokos.
Let us not forget that every Sunday in the Orthodox Church is also a great holiday. Traditionally, it is called «Little Easter». This name is probably connected with the fact that in ancient times, before the Council of Nicaea, some Christian Churches celebrated Easter not once a year, but every week. Sunday is the first day of the week. Thus, the ancient Christians celebrated Easter every week, because they were convinced that Jesus would soon return, and they simply would not have time to wait until the next year to celebrate the Great Easter again.
The ancient Christians could receive communion every day but celebrate the Eucharistic liturgy once a week. Thus, every time the Eucharist was Little Easter and the Feast of the Resurrection of the Lord. How can one not recall the writer Walter Benjamin (1892–1940), who said: “Never close a door completely, for the Messiah may enter through it.” Perhaps few people remember that this Jewish philosopher also translated into German the great Orthodox prophet and mystic, Simeon the New Theologian (949–1022)!
Since we have mentioned Jewish thought and tradition, let us also say that in the Orthodox Church every Saturday is also a holiday. Contrary to the generally accepted opinion that in Christianity Sunday has completely supplanted or replaced Saturday, Saturday has not lost its significance at all. Saturday services in Orthodoxy differ from everyday services, and some Saturdays during the year are specially dedicated to special prayer for the departed. These are the so-called universal parental Saturdays of remembrance, like the day, November 2, when the Catholic Church commemorates the departed on the feast of All Souls. «All Souls Day» is how our contemporary, the Dutch writer Cees Noteboom (born 1933), called his sad novel, filled with touching hopelessness.
What a pity that theology has become simply an academic science. Because of this, its most important and most interesting part, reflection in regret, had to «move» to literary creativity. A grandiose example of this is Russian literature! But let’s return to liturgy…
Easter, the twelve most important holidays, the four (or five) great holidays, every Sunday and every Saturday – all these are holidays in Orthodoxy. Are there other holidays? Yes, there are, and there are many. No matter how paradoxical it may sound.
After all, every day of the year there is a celebration in honour of one or another saint. Almost every day there are quite a few such saints whose memory is celebrated. Every day there is a celebration in honour of one or another icon of the Theotokos, or an icon of the Saviour. Finally, every day when the Eucharist is celebrated for Orthodoxy is a holiday. Therefore, on weekdays of Lent, unlike Catholicism, in the Orthodox Church, the Eucharistic liturgy is not celebrated. After all, Lent is not a holiday, but a time of repentance.
Let us add to these historical memories in gratitude for the consecration of the greatest churches of historical Christianity, in praise of God for deliverance from those other disasters or misfortunes. For example, there are still many holidays of thanksgiving for the deliverance of Constantinople from enemy invasions and natural disasters in Russian Orthodoxy.
This is, for example, the historical origin of the Feast of the Intercession, which was preserved in the Russian, and not in the Greek tradition, in which it seems to have appeared originally.
Some saints must be remembered especially solemnly according to the liturgical charter. The same applies to historical memories of gratitude. Some of them, for unknown reasons, were forgotten. Others, on the contrary, despite their calendar insignificance, are celebrated solemnly.
The combination of the great and the small, the prescribed and the forgotten, the rules and spontaneity, the popular piety and dogma gives the Orthodox calendar a stunning charismatic spontaneity. Indeed, it seems as if the Orthodox have their own holiday every day.
What are the main holidays of August? There are four such August celebrations. The Procession of the Holy Cross, the Transfiguration, the Dormition, and the Holy Image “Note-Made-By-Hands” of Jesus. One of them, the Dormition, is the Feast of Mary. The other three relate to Christ the Saviour.
Procession of the Honourable Wood of the Life-Giving Cross of the Lord
The Procession of the Holy Cross is one of the «Constantinopolitan feasts» of the Russian Church. That’s what we call liturgical memories that owe their origin to historical events in the city of Constantinople. Ancient Rus’ received baptism from the Constantinople. In 1439, at one of the significant Councils, the Church of Constantinople restored its unity with the Roman Church. This event went down in history under the name of the «Ferraro-Florence Union between the Orthodox and Catholics».
By the will of the Moscow Grand Duke Basil II the Blind (1625–1652), the Russian Church did not recognize this and separated. But until that moment it was «only» a huge metropolitanate of Constantinople. Therefore, the Constantinople church holidays were recorded in the Russian liturgical calendar. Historians still argue about whether all of them were celebrated in Constantinople itself. But the Russian Church was an obedient daughter of its Mother Church and therefore celebrated them. Most of them have remained to this day. Each of these holidays is a precious pearl of historical information and spiritual life from ancient times. It is noteworthy that it is the Russian Church that celebrates events and “restores meanings” that the Orthodox Greeks who once founded them have forgotten. In church language, this feast of the Procession of the Cross is also called the “the Bringing Forth of the Honourable Wood”.
The Feast of the Procession of the Cross is not one of the twelve or great feasts. But it has an forefeast, which, however, lasts only one day. In the language of the writer Andrei Platonov, this feast has a little brother. It is March 19, when the Church remembers how in 326 in Jerusalem, Empress Helena found the Holy Cross, on which Jesus was once crucified. Since that time, parts of that historical Cross have been scattered throughout the world. One of them was kept in Constantinople.
The second half of the summer was a time of epidemics in the Byzantine capital. To protect against all harmful things, the Holy Cross was carried through the streets of the city. It was obvious to the believers that it was not they who carried the Cross in the sacred procession, but the Cross that went ahead and led others. Orthodox worship often addresses the Cross of Christ as a person. The reason for this is not only the special poetic form of liturgical addresses, but also the obvious truth that in the deep dogmatic understanding the Holy Cross is one of the names of the Lord Jesus.
The Russian Church adheres to the Julian calendar in worship. Therefore, the first day of August, on which the Holy Cross was carried out in Constantinople, falls on the 14th day of the month. The Dormition Fast also begins on this day. Finally, in the past it was considered the historical day of the baptism of Rus. Nowadays, the Baptism of Russian people is symbolically celebrated on the day of memory of St Vladimir, July 28.
In true remembrance of this former meaning of the Feast, on this day in all Orthodox churches it is customary to perform the blessing of water. The blessing of the new honey harvest is also celebrated. Therefore, in popular piety, the Feast of the Holy Cross bears the wonderful name of «Honey Saviour”.
Transfiguration of The Lord
If the feast of the Procession of the Honourable Trees owes its origin to the history of the city of Constantinople, then the Transfiguration of the Lord has its basis in the New Testament biblical history. This event is from the earthly life of Jesus, and therefore, as a feast of the Church, it is one of the twelve greatest Orthodox feasts.
Just as the Procession has a «brother holiday» in March, when the Church remembers the discovery of the Cross by Empress Helena in Jerusalem, the Transfiguration is directly related to the Exaltation of the Cross. This is an exceptional case, because an event from the earthly life of the Lord Jesus, the Transfiguration, and two historical episodes from the history of Christianity, namely: the solemn hoisting of the historical Cross of the Lord under Constantine the Great, and then the return of the Cross to Jerusalem from Persian captivity under Heraclius, in the 4th and 7th centuries respectively: are located in a single semantic liturgical link. Let us recall that a single Feast of the Exaltation is dedicated to these two events.
The Transfiguration is always celebrated on August 19. According to the Gospel, the Lord Jesus ascended the Mountain with the Apostles Peter, James and John, and was transfigured before them. The prophets Moses and Elijah conversed with Him. The voice of God and the Father testified that the «Good Will of God» rested on Jesus. The subsequent revelation of the redemptive mystery showed that God’s Good Will to people is also Jesus Himself. The event of the Transfiguration is described in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke (Matt. 17:1-6; Mark 9:1-8; Luke 9:28-36), as well as in the Epistle of Peter (2 Pet. 1:17-18).
In the earthly life of Christ there were manifestations of glory. These included walking on water, healings and miracles, and, of course, the resurrection of the dead. However, Jesus Himself was somehow not entirely noticeable. «I am meek and humble of heart,» He says about Himself in the Gospel (Matthew 11:29). Sent by the Father, Jesus demonstrated the great creative art of God, in which He created this world in such a way that this world itself exists so independently that it seems not to need Him, its Creator! «My humble God,» exclaimed Simeon the New Theologian in his mystical reflections.
The Holy Scripture and the Faith of the Church testify that the Son of God, who became man in Jesus Christ, completely, finally and irrevocably reveals God the Father. The Holy Spirit in the same way and in the same final and irrevocable fullness reveals the Son of God. This is one of the main dogmatic meanings of the Descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles. This is the Christian understanding of divine being in the mystery of the Holy Trinity. «God loves the Trinity,» says the Russian proverb. Despite its seemingly harmless sonority, its content is not only absurd, but also sinful. After all, the Trinity is not about arithmetic or numbers. «Baptize all nations in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit» – this is the last commandment of the Risen Lord (Matthew 28:19). Faith in the Holy Trinity is contained in Scripture, formulated, and for the firmness of confession of this truth myriads of martyrs shed their blood.
The uniqueness of the Transfiguration is in the manifestation of the glory of God, which was directed at His Son. According to the Gospel, Elijah appeared to Jesus with Moses, and they talked with Him (Mark 7:4). «A voice came to Him from the magnificent glory: This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased,» writes Peter in his Epistle (2 Pet. 1:17). The Apostles were witnesses to this. Apparently, what they experienced during the Transfiguration was soon forgotten by them in the vicissitudes of the betrayal and crucifixion approaching Jesus, but after the Resurrection it was fully realized, moreover, it was experienced in a new way. The theology of the Church calls this the Easter reading of the life of Jesus.
Indeed, the final words of the Gospel account indicate that the Transfiguration is directly connected with the Cross of Christ. Then the Lord revealed His glory, after which He announced to the Apostles His upcoming Passion. “And as they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus forbade them, saying: Tell no man this vision until the Son of Man be risen from the dead. For the Son of Man will suffer” (cf. Matt. 17:9.12). That is why the Exaltation of the Cross is celebrated on the fortieth day after the Transfiguration.
If new honey is blessed on the Feast of the Procession of the Holy Cross, then apples are blessed on the Transfiguration. Depending on the climate and geographical location of the parish, grapes, watermelons and other fruits are added to apples in our time. As food globalizes, the range of fruit blessings expands, and this is an amazing example of Orthodox missionary inculturation.
In the church environment, there are many popular interpretations, proverbs and even just jokes on the topic of «Transfiguration apples». All this testifies to the important role that church traditions, even such simple ones as the biblical dedication of the new harvest to God, play in the formation of cultures and civilizations.
Although the Transfiguration falls during the Dormition Fast, the refusal to eat apples until the holiday has nothing to do with the Lenten rules about food. Everything first and important is dedicated to the One God, and the tradition of blessed apples, reminds people of this probably in the most harmless and delicate way.
In the Russian Orthodox tradition, in popular piety, the feast of the Transfiguration is called «Apple Saviour». Perhaps, teaching the Christian religion in school to the younger generation is necessary at least so as not to confuse what came first, apple technologies or apple church celebrations. Our great contemporary Umberto Eco (1932–2016) wrote about this, although using other examples.
In conclusion of this brief reflection, let us remember that in the liturgical calendar, both in Orthodoxy and in Western Christianity, August is the last month of the year. The time of the Church begins in autumn. Thanks to the church holidays, the days of August are transfigurated. They become keys to autumn sadness, nostalgia for time, liturgy and New Testament holiness.
