The Eastern Orthodox Church, officially the Orthodox Catholic Church, and also called the Greek Orthodox Church or simply the Orthodox Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 230 million baptised members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops via local synods. The church has no central doctrinal or governmental authority analogous to the pope of the Roman Catholic Church. Nevertheless, the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople is recognised by them as primus inter pares, a title formerly given to the patriarch of Rome. As one of the oldest surviving religious institutions in the world, the Eastern Orthodox Church has played an especially prominent role in the history and culture of Eastern and Southeastern Europe.
Bartholomew is the current Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople since 2 November 1991. In accordance with his title, he is regarded as the primus inter pares in the Eastern Orthodox Church, and as a spiritual leader of the Eastern Orthodox Christians worldwide.
Gregory Palamas was a Byzantine Greek theologian and Eastern Orthodox cleric of the late Byzantine period. A monk of Mount Athos and later archbishop of Thessalonica, he is famous for his defense of hesychast spirituality, the uncreated character of the light of the Transfiguration, and the distinction between God's essence and energies. His teaching unfolded over the course of three major controversies, (1) with the Italo-Greek Barlaam between 1336 and 1341, (2) with the monk Gregory Akindynos between 1341 and 1347, and (3) with the philosopher Gregoras, from 1348 to 1355. His theological contributions are sometimes referred to as Palamism, and his followers as Palamites.
The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context does not mean "a large meal, typically a celebratory one", but instead "an annual religious celebration, a day dedicated to a particular saint".
The history of Christianity in Ukraine dates back to the earliest centuries of the history of Christianity, to the Apostolic Age, with mission trips along the Black Sea and a legend of Andrew the Apostle even ascending the hills of Kiev. The first Christian community on territory of modern Ukraine is documented as early as the 4th century with the establishment of the Metropolitanate of Gothia, which was centered in the Crimean peninsula. However, on territory of the Old Rus in Kiev, Christianity became the dominant religion since its official acceptance in 989 by Vladimir the Great, who brought it from Byzantine Crimea and installed it as the state religion of medieval Kievan Rus (Ruthenia), with the metropolitan see in Kiev.
The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) is a major archiepiscopal sui iuris ("autonomous") Eastern Catholic church that is based in Ukraine. As a particular church of the Catholic Church, it is in full communion with the Holy See. It is the third-largest particular church in the Catholic Church after the Latin Church and the Syro-Malabar Church. The major archbishop presides over the entire Church but is not distinguished with the patriarchal title. The incumbent Major Archbishop is Sviatoslav Shevchuk.
The Byzantine Rite, also known as the Greek Rite or the Rite of Constantinople, is a liturgical rite that is identified with the wide range of cultural, devotional, and canonical practices that developed in the Eastern Christian church of Constantinople.
Sergius of Radonezh was a spiritual leader and monastic reformer in the Principality of Moscow. Together with Seraphim of Sarov, he is one of Eastern Orthodoxy's most highly venerated saints in Russia.
The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, known in the East as The Entry of the Most Holy Theotokos into the Temple, is a liturgical feast celebrated on November 21 by the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and some Anglo-Catholic Churches.
In the Eastern Orthodox Church, the feast of the death and Resurrection of Jesus, called Pascha (Easter), is the greatest of all holy days and as such it is called the "feast of feasts". Immediately below it in importance, there is a group of Twelve Great Feasts. Together with Pascha, these are the most significant dates on the Orthodox liturgical calendar. Eight of the great feasts are in honor of Jesus Christ, while the other four are dedicated to the Virgin Mary—the Theotokos.
Anthony of Kiev, also called Anthony of the Caves, was a monk and the founder of the monastic tradition in Kievan Rus'. Together with Theodosius of Kiev, he co-founded the Kiev Pechersk Lavra.
Saint Philip II of Moscow was the Metropolitan of Moscow and all Rus' from 1566 to 1568. He was the thirteenth Metropolitan of Moscow to be appointed without the approval of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople as had been the norm.
Simeon at the Temple is the "just and devout" man of Jerusalem who, according to Luke 2:25–35, met Mary, Joseph, and Jesus as they entered the Temple to fulfill the requirements of the Law of Moses on the 40th day from Jesus' birth, i.e. the presentation of Jesus at the Temple.
In Christianity, the Nativity Fast—or Fast of the Prophets in Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church and Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church—is a period of abstinence and penance practiced by the Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodox Church and Catholic Church in preparation for the Nativity of Jesus on December 25. Ethiopian and Eritrean Orthodox Churches commence the season on November 24 and end the season on the day of Ethiopian Christmas, which falls on January 7. The corresponding Western season of preparation for Christmas, which also has been called the Nativity Fast and St. Martin's Lent, has taken the name of Advent. The Eastern fast runs for 40 days instead of four or six weeks and thematically focuses on proclamation and glorification of the Incarnation of God, whereas the Western Advent focuses on three comings of Jesus Christ: his birth, reception of his grace by the faithful, and his Second Coming or Parousia.
Christianity is the predominant religion in Ukraine, with 85% of the population identifying as Christian according to a 2022 survey conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS). Seventy-two percent of the population avowed fidelity to an Eastern Orthodox Church: 54% of Ukrainians proclaimed adherence to the autocephalous Orthodox Church of Ukraine; 14% identified as Orthodox Christian without specifying a church affiliation; 4% associated with the Moscow Patriarchate. Another 9% of Ukrainians professed devotion to the Catholic Church in Ukraine: 8% Ukrainian Greek Catholics and 1% Latin Catholics. Two percent of the population declared affiliation to a mainstream Protestant Church, and a further 2% identified with some alternative sect of Christianity.
The Menaion is the liturgical book used by the Eastern Orthodox Church containing the propers for fixed dates of the calendar year, i.e. entities not dependent on the date of Easter.
In Ukraine, Christmas celebrations traditionally start on Christmas Eve, which is celebrated from December 24 to January 6, the date of the celebration of the baptism of Jesus, known in Ukraine as Vodokhreshche or Yordan, according to the Gregorian calendar and Revised Julian calendar by the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), the Catholic Church in Ukraine and Ukrainian Protestants.
The Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Przemyśl–Warsaw is an ecclesiastical territory or ecclesiastical province of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church — a particular Eastern Catholic Church, that is located in the south-eastern part of Poland. It was erected in 1996. Its Byzantine Rite services are conducted in the Ukrainian language. As a metropolitan see, it has two suffragan sees: Olsztyn–Gdańsk and Wrocław-Koszalin. The incumbent ordinary of the archeparchy is Eugeniusz Popowicz. It is assisted and protected by the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches in Rome. The cathedral church of the archeparchy is the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, in the city of Przemyśl. Although the national capital of Warsaw was added to its title, there is no co-cathedral.
The following are 11 public holidays in Ukraine.
The Orthodox Church of Ukraine, also called the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, is a partially recognized Eastern Orthodox Church in Ukraine. It was granted autocephaly by the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople on 6 January 2019.
