Orthodox Church in America The first day of the Church New Year is also called the beginning of
the Indiction. The term Indiction comes from a Latin word meaning, “to
impose.” It was originally applied to the imposition of taxes in Egypt.
The first worldwide Indiction was in 312 when the Emperor Constantine
(May 21) saw a miraculous vision of the Cross in the sky. Before the
introduction of the Julian calendar, Rome began the New Year on
September 1. According to Holy Tradition, Christ entered the
synagogue on September 1 to announce His mission to mankind (Luke
4:16-22). Quoting Isaiah 61:1-2), the Savior proclaimed, “The spirit of
the Lord is upon me; because He has anointed me to preach the gospel to
the poor; He has sent me to proclaim release to captives, and recovering
of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to
proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord...” This scene [our note: orthodox image] is depicted in a
Vatican manuscript (Vatican, Biblioteca. Cod. Gr. 1613, p.1). Tradition says that the Hebrews entered the Promised Land in September.
Why Orthodox Christians Celebrate the New Year on the First of September
The
first day of September is celebrated as the Ecclesiastical or Church
New Year by Orthodox Christians. It is also a day marked by prayers
for the environment, reminding us to be good stewards of the world
around us.
So This is the New Year?
The old Roman term for this day is Indictio,
meaning “definition” or “order.” This was a day established as
the beginning of a fifteen year cycle, marking the redefinition of tax
obligations for Roman citizens (especially since Roman soldiers
served fifteen-year terms), likely from the time of Caesar Augustus.
One of the Emperor St. Justinian’s novellas (AD 537) decreed that
all official documents of the Empire should include the indiction
reference. When attempting to date manuscripts from this era, it can
be helpful to know the year of the indiction (1–15), as exact dates or
years are less commonly found. And when a date is found, it usually corresponds to Anno Mundi(Hebrew: לבריאת העולם) or “the year of the world” since the date of Creation.
Anno Mundi (AM) served as the beginning point for calendars until
the modern era in many parts of the world, and is still a liturgical
point of reference for both modern Judaism and Christians. (Jews also
mark the New Year in September, but on a floating date.)
The date of the creation of the world—as discerned by a literal
reading of the Patriarchal histories of the Greek Septuagint—was
determined to be around 5500 BC on our modern calendar, with
variations here and there. On the Julian calendar, the date of
creation was said to be September 1, 5509 (BC), with the birth of
Jesus Christ taking place in 5509 AM–that is, 5,509 years from the
foundation of the world.
In 1597, Patriarch Theophanes I Karykes of Constantinople first utilized a date based on theChristian Era.
Instead of marking dates based on the foundation of the world, the
Incarnation of Jesus Christ became the crux of human history—and thus
the distinction between BC (Before Christ) and AD (Anno Domini or “in the year of our Lord”).
This became official in Constantinople in 1728 and in Russia (by
Peter the Great) in 1700, with the Julian calendar still serving as
the underlying reckoning of days and months.
While the Anno Mundi calendar is no longer mainstream (or part of
the civil calendars of predominately Orthodox nations), it still
serves as the basis of our liturgical calendar.
By marking the start of a new year in September, the Empire—and
later, the Orthodox Church—was associating the new year with
harvesting crops. As preparations for winter were being made, so too
were preparations for the upcoming year.
For Christians, it was a time of thanksgiving, remembering the good
weather and abundant rain the Lord provided for that year’s
harvest—something we pray for at every Divine Liturgy.
This draws close parallels with the Feast of Trumpets for the pre-Incarnation people of God (Lev. 23:23–25):
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘The seventh month, on the first of the month, rest will be yours, a memorial of trumpets; it will be a holy assembly to you. You will not perform any servile work, and you will bring a whole burnt offering to the Lord.’”
As the Synaxarion notes, this was also the day Christ entered a synagogue and read from the scroll of Isaiah (cf. Luke 4:16–30).
By marking the new year at harvest time, we remind ourselves
annually of our dependence on both hard work and the blessings of God.
Going beyond material blessings and healthy crops, this applied (as
do many of our hymns) to Imperial concerns, including prayers for
protection from our enemies:
Creator of the universe, setting times and seasons by Your sole authority, bless the cycle of the year of Your grace, O Lord, guarding our rulers and Your nation in peace, at the intercession of the Theotokos, and save us. —Apolytikion (Second Tone) You who created all things in Your infinite wisdom, and set the times by Your own authority, grant Your Christian people victories. Blessing our comings and goings throughout this year, guide our works according to Your divine will. —Kontakion (Fourth Tone)
And if one considers the increasing natural disasters, droughts,
floods, wildfires (especially here in the Pacific Northwest),
hurricanes, and famines, we should be all the more mindful in this
modern era of technology and abundance to pray for such things—not
less so.
We
have not engineered our way out of dependence on God. If anything,
the more our abilities increase, the more we have shown need for God’s
favor and mercy.
Ecological Stewardship
And that leads to my final point: the Ecclesiastical New Year is
now a day marked by prayers for the care of the environment.
Patriarch Demetrios of Constantinople issued an encyclical on the
environment in 1989, calling all Orthodox Christians to both pray for
and protect the world around us. His encyclical also established
September 1—the beginning of the new Church year—as “a day of prayer
for the protection of the environment” for the Ecumenical
Patriarchate, something adopted soon after by the rest of the
canonical Orthodox churches. (The Vatican has recently followed suit.)
Since his
elevation to Ecumenical Patriarch, an encyclical has been issued each
year on September 1 by Patriarch Bartholomew on the environment.
Bartholomew is affectionately known as “the Green Patriarch,” and he
often speaks on an international stage regarding the protection of
Creation.
And this all makes perfect sense.
The beginning of the New Year was for centuries a commemoration of
the foundation of the world (Anno Mundi). It is a day for giving
thanks to God for plentiful harvest. It is a day that recognizes God’s
protection over and providence for the world, along with our
responsibility and stewardship towards the same.
This all goes back naturally to the story of Creation itself, and a
story where mankind—represented by Adam and Eve—is given the awesome
responsibility of caring for every living creature. A restoration of
peace between mankind and the created order lies at the heart of
redemption and deification, and that is ultimately what the
Ecclesiastical New Year is all about.
Conclusion
As I’ve mentioned in other articles, our Church Year begins and
ends with the life of Mary. The Nativity of Mary is the first Great
Feast of the year, while her Dormition or “falling asleep” is the
last.
In
this cycle we see the Incarnation of the God-Man Jesus Christ at the
heart of our story as God’s people. And in between those two reference
points we have this feast that could, at first glance, seem a
peculiar or even irrelevant holdover from the Roman Empire.
Rather, the Ecclesiastical New Year serves as the crux for our entire liturgical life each and every year.
We say goodbye to the old and welcome the new. We give thanks for
what the Lord has done, and petition his lovingkindness and protection
for the days yet to come. We take a moment to consider our impact on
the world around us, and whether our actions proceed from hearts of
selfishness or hearts of compassion.
This is a feast day that points to the very core of Christ’s
message of true, Christian spirituality: prayer, fasting, and
almsgiving. Prayers for blessings seen and unseen, fasting for the
sake of the world and our own mortification, and almsgiving for the
care of others. Self-sacrifice and promise, beauty and self-restraint.
So pop open a bottle of champagne and bring your petitions to the Lord. It’s the start of a new year.
Saint Simeon the Stylite was born in the
Cappadocian village of Sisan of Christian parents, Sisotian and Martha.
At thirteen years of age he began to tend his father’s flock of sheep.
He devoted himself attentively and with love to this, his first
obedience. Once, after he heard the…
Saint Martha lived in Cilicia of Asia Minor
during the fourth and fifth centuries, and came from a poor family. She
and her husband Sisotion were the parents of Saint Simeon the Stylite.
At the age of eighteen, Simeon received the monastic tonsure without his
parents’ knowledge. Many years…
Holy Forty Women Martyrs and Martyr Ammon the Deacon, their teacher, at Heraclea in Thrace
The 40 Holy Virgins and Saint Ammoun the
Deacon, were from Adrianopolis in Macedonia. Deacon Ammoun was their
guide in Christian Faith. They were captured by Baudos the governor, and
were tortured because they would not offer sacrifice to idols. The
holy martyrs endured many cruel torments, which…
Martyrs Callista and her brothers, Evodius and Hermogenes, at Nicomedia
The Holy Martyrs Callista and her brothers
Evodus and Hermogenes, with other Christians of Nicomedia, were brought
to trial before the pagan governor for confessing their faith in Christ.
Refusing to offer sacrifice to idols, they were cut down by the sword.
Saint Joshua (Jesus), the son of Navi, was
leader of the Israelites after the death of the Prophet Moses. He was
born in Egypt around 1654 B.C. and succeeded Moses when he was
eighty-five. He ruled the Israelites for twenty-five years. Joshua
conquered the Promised Land, and led the Hebrew nation…
Finding of the Icon of the Mother of God at the Miasena Monastery
The Miasena Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos
was thrown into Lake Zagura in the ninth century in an effort to save it
from the iconoclasts. After a long time, the wonderworking icon emerged
from the water unharmed and was brought to the Miasena Monastery.
The Chernigov-Gethsemane Icon of the Mother of
God is a copy of the famed Ilyin-Chernigov Icon of the Mother of God
(April 16), which was to be found at the Trinity-Ilyin monastery near
Chernigov on Mount Boldina, and where in the eleventh century Saint
Anthony of the Kiev Caves struggled in…
Saint Meletius the New was born in Cappadocia
in 1035. Many people regarded him as an imbecile, but God “hath made
foolish the wisdom of this world” (I Cor. 1:20), and it has also pleased
Him “by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe” (I Cor.
1:21). So the…
(New Monastery of the Transfiguration of the
Savior) The original “All Blessed” (Pammakaristos) Icon of the Most Holy
Theotokos is in Constantinople in the patriarchal cathedral. It is a
mosaic icon dating from the middle of the eleventh century. In 1905,
Patriarch Joachim III presented…
The Holy Great Martyr Mamas was born in
Paphlagonia, Asia Minor in the third century of pious and illustrious
parents, the Christians Theodotus and Rufina. The parents of the saint
were arrested by the pagans for their open confession of their faith and
locked up in prison in Caesarea in…
Martyrs Theodotus and Rufina of Caesarea, in Cappadocia
The holy martyrs Theodotus and Rufina were the
parents of Saint Mamas. They came from patrician families, and were
honored by all for their Christian piety. Alexander, the magistrate of
the city of Gangra, summoned them because they refused to obey the
imperial decree requiring all citizens to…
Saint John the Faster, Patriarch of Constantinople
Our Holy Father John was born in
Constantinople, the Queen of Cities. At first he worked as a goldsmith,
and everyone expected him to continue in that occupation. From his
youth, however, he was inclined toward the monastic life. He also
possessed a rare gift for continence and a natural love for…
The 3,628 Martyrs in Nicomedia suffered under
the emperors Diocletian (284-305) and Maximian (305-311). These were
Christians who had come from Alexandria. They had come to believe in
Christ following the martyrdom of Saint Peter, Archbishop of Alexandria
(November 25). Taking their wives and…
Saint Anthony of the Kiev Caves was born in
the year 983 at Liubech, not far from Chernigov, and was named Antipas
in Baptism. Possessing the fear of God from his youth, he desired to be
clothed in the monastic schema. When he reached a mature age, he
wandered until he arrived on Mt. Athos, burning…
Saint Theodosius of the Caves, was the Father
of monasticism in Russia. He was born at Vasilevo, not far from Kiev.
From his youth he felt an irresistible attraction for the ascetic life,
and led an ascetic lifestyle while still in his parental home. He
disdained childish games and attractions, and…
The Kaluga Icon of the Mother of God appeared
in 1748 in the village of Tinkova, near Kaluga, at the home of the
landowner Basil Kondratevich Khitrov. Two servants of Khitrov were
cleaning out junk from the attic of his home. One of them, Eudokia,
noted for her temper, was given to rough and even…
And that leads to my final point: the Ecclesiastical New Year is
now a day marked by prayers for the care of the environment.
And that leads to my final point: the Ecclesiastical New Year is
now a day marked by prayers for the care of the environment. 
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