IN THE MODERN AGE the world has come to accept one civil calendar which originated in Western Europe centuries ago. Many of us are aware that some groups still maintain an attachment to their historic calendars. The Chinese and Vietnamese, for example stage their own New Year’s celebrations according to their ancient calendars, usually in late winter. The Islamic New Year may begin anywhere from mid-October to mid-December. And the Jewish New Year, Rosh Ha-shanah, regularly begins in September. Starting in the last half of the fifth century (probably ad 462), the Byzantine Empire designated September 1 as the first…

Archpriest Peter Galadza, PhD is Kule Family Professor of Liturgy at the Sheptytsky Institute of Eastern Christian Studies at Saint Paul University in Ottawa, Canada. He is immediate past president of the Society for the Study of Oriental Liturgy. In 2003-2004 he was a research fellow at Harvard University’s Dumbarton Oaks Byzantine Research Center, and has recently been elected to the Board of Fellows of McGill University’s Centre for Research on Religion. This podcast is presented on Ancient Faith Radio as part of the Searching for the Sacred Symposium - co-sponsored by St. Nicholas Orthodox Church in Ft. Wayne and the…