Knowledgebase

Overview

Feasts are special days in the liturgical calendar commemorating saints, events in the life of Christ, and major celebrations of the Church year. The Site Manager allows you to create and manage both fixed feasts (tied to calendar dates) and moveable feasts (calculated relative to Pascha or other major feasts).

Accessing Feast Management

1. Log into your Site Manager
2. Navigate to Components → Monthly Calendar → Manage Feasts
3. Feasts are organized by rank for easy browsing

Understanding Feast Ranks

Feasts are organized into nine ranks, from highest to lowest:

1. Feast of Feasts - Pascha (Easter)
2. Great Feasts of the Lord - Major celebrations like Nativity, Theophany, Transfiguration
3. Minor Feasts of the Lord - Lesser celebrations of Christ's life
4. Great Feasts of the Theotokos - Major Marian feasts like Dormition, Nativity of the Theotokos
5. Minor Feasts of the Theotokos - Lesser Marian celebrations
6. Sundays of the Year - Special Sundays like Sunday of Orthodoxy
7. Great Saints - Major saints like the Apostles, Church Fathers
8. Well Known Saints - Saints commonly known and celebrated
9. Lesser Known Saints - Other saints in the Church calendar

The rank determines display priority and affects fasting rules on that day.

Creating a New Feast

Step 1: Access the Editor

1. Go to Components → Monthly Calendar → Manage Feasts
2. Click "Create feast"

Step 2: Basic Information

Rank (required)

• Select the appropriate rank from the dropdown
• This determines the feast's liturgical significance
• When in doubt, consult your parish priest or liturgical calendar

Name (required)

• Full formal name of the feast
• Example: "Nativity of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ"
• Example: "Holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian"

Display on Calendar

• Shorter version shown on the monthly calendar
• Automatically filled from Name if left blank
• Example: Full name "Saint John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople"
• Display: "St. John Chrysostom"
• Keep concise for readability on calendar cells

Step 3: Scheduling

Cycle

Choose between two types:

Fixed Feast

• Tied to a specific calendar date
• Examples: Nativity (December 25), Theophany (January 6)
• Select the month from the dropdown (January through December)
• Select the day (1-31)

Moveable Feast

• Calculated relative to Pascha, Pentecost, or Nativity
• Examples: Palm Sunday (1 week before Pascha), Pentecost (50 days after Pascha)

For moveable feasts, specify:

• Number - How many days or weeks (numeric value)
• Units - Days or Weeks
• Before/After - Whether it comes before or after the anchor feast
• Anchor Feast - Pascha, Pentecost, or Nativity

Moveable Feast Examples:

• Palm Sunday: 7 days before Pascha
• Pentecost: 50 days after Pascha
• Sunday of Orthodoxy: 35 days before Pascha (or 5 weeks before Pascha)
• Sunday of All Saints: 1 week after Pentecost

Step 4: Fasting Rules

Fast (required)

Choose when fasting rules apply:

• Never - This feast never affects fasting (most common for lesser saints)
• Sometimes - Fasting rules depend on when it falls (use for minor feasts)
• Always - This feast always modifies fasting rules (great feasts)

Rules (appears if Fast is not "Never")

Define what is permitted on this feast:

• Fast free - No fasting restrictions
• Fast: dairy, fish, wine, & oil - Everything except meat
• Fast: fish, wine, & oil - Fish and all accompaniments allowed
• Fast: wine & oil - Only wine and oil allowed during a fast period
• Fast: wine - Only wine allowed
• Fast - Regular fast (no fish, wine, oil, dairy, meat)
• Strict fast - No food or only bread and water

How Fasting Rules Work:

• If a Great Feast falls during a fasting period, it may allow fish or wine
• Example: Annunciation during Great Lent typically allows fish
• The system automatically applies these rules when displaying the calendar

Step 5: Tooltip (Optional)

Link this feast to a tooltip for interactive information:

1. Click the Tooltip dropdown
2. Search for an existing tooltip by typing the feast name
3. Select the appropriate tooltip from the results
4. If no tooltip exists, you can create one first in Components → Monthly Calendar → Manage Tooltips

When linked:

• Users can hover over or click the feast name on the calendar
• A popup appears with the icon/image, description, and optional "More information" link
• See the Calendar Tooltips Feature Guide for details

Step 6: Save

Click "Save" to create the feast. The system will:

• Add the feast to the database
• Calculate dates for the current and future years (if moveable)
• Display it on the monthly calendar
• Apply any fasting rules automatically

Editing an Existing Feast

1. Go to Components → Monthly Calendar → Manage Feasts
2. Find the feast you want to edit (organized by rank)
3. Click the "Edit" button next to the feast
4. Make your changes
5. Click "Save"

Important: After editing a feast:

• Changes appear immediately on the calendar
• If you changed fasting rules, they apply automatically
• If you changed the date or timing, moveable feasts recalculate
• Consider rebuilding the tooltip cache if you changed the feast name

Deleting a Feast

1. Go to Components → Monthly Calendar → Manage Feasts
2. Find the feast you want to remove
3. Click the "Delete" button
4. Confirm the deletion

Warning: Deleting a feast is permanent and cannot be undone. The feast will:

• Disappear from all calendar views
• Remove any fasting rule modifications
• Break any tooltip links that reference it

Only delete feasts if you're certain they should not appear on your calendar.

Common Tasks

Adding Saints Days

Most parishes add saints that are:

• Parish patron saints
• Name days for clergy and staff
• Locally venerated saints
• Saints particularly meaningful to your community

Steps:

1. Create feast with appropriate rank (usually 6, 7, or 8)
2. Set as Fixed feast with the calendar date
3. Set Fast to "Never" (most saint days don't modify fasting)
4. Create a tooltip with the saint's icon and brief biography
5. Link the tooltip to the feast

Adding a Moveable Feast

Example: Adding Sunday of the Prodigal Son

1. Create feast, Rank: Sundays of the Year
2. Name: Sunday of the Prodigal Son
3. Display on Calendar: Prodigal Son
4. Cycle: Moveable
5. Formula: 21 days before Pascha (or 3 weeks before Pascha)
6. Fast: Never
7. Add tooltip explaining the parable and its significance

Modifying Fasting for Great Feasts

Example: Annunciation during Great Lent

1. Edit the Annunciation feast
2. Fast: Always
3. Rules: Fast: fish, wine, & oil
4. Save

Now whenever Annunciation falls during Great Lent, the calendar will show that fish is permitted.

Best Practices

Naming Conventions

For Saints:

• Use full liturgical names in the Name field
• Example: "Holy Hieromartyr Ignatius the God-bearer, Bishop of Antioch"
• Use shortened versions for Display on Calendar
• Example: "St. Ignatius of Antioch"

For Feasts:

• Use the formal liturgical name
• Example: "Nativity of Our Most Holy Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary"
• Shorter display name: "Nativity of the Theotokos"

Rank Selection

When in doubt about rank:

• Consult your liturgical calendar
• Ask your parish priest
• Check the typikon for your jurisdiction
• Higher ranks take precedence when multiple feasts fall on the same day

Fasting Rules

Be conservative:

• Only set fasting rules for feasts you're certain about
• When unsure, set Fast to "Never"
• Great Feasts typically have clearly defined fasting dispensations
• Lesser saints rarely modify fasting rules

Consult resources:

• Your parish priest
• Official liturgical calendars from your jurisdiction
• Published typikons

Moveable Feast Formulas

Common calculations from Pascha:

• Zacchaeus Sunday: 70 days before
• Publican and Pharisee: 70 days before
• Prodigal Son: 63 days before (9 weeks)
• Meatfare Sunday: 56 days before (8 weeks)
• Cheesefare Sunday: 49 days before (7 weeks)
• Sunday of Orthodoxy: 35 days before (5 weeks)
• Palm Sunday: 7 days before (1 week)
• Holy Friday: 2 days before
• Bright Week: 0-6 days after
• Thomas Sunday: 7 days after (1 week)
• Myrrhbearers: 14 days after (2 weeks)
• Mid-Pentecost: 25 days after
• Blind Man: 35 days after (5 weeks)
• Ascension: 39 days after
• Pentecost: 49 days after (7 weeks)
• All Saints: 56 days after (8 weeks)

Tooltip Integration

Create tooltips for:

• All Great Feasts
• Parish patron saint
• Commonly asked-about feasts
• Feasts unique to your jurisdiction or parish

Tooltip content should include:

• Brief explanation of the feast
• Historical context
• Why it's celebrated
• Icon or image when available
• Link to full article for more information

Troubleshooting

Feast not appearing on calendar

Checklist:

• Verify the feast was saved successfully
• Check the date formula for moveable feasts
• Ensure you're viewing the correct year
• For fixed feasts, confirm the month and day are correct
• Make sure you haven't filtered the calendar to hide this rank

Wrong date for moveable feast

• Double-check your formula (days/weeks, before/after)
• Verify you selected the correct anchor feast (Pascha/Pentecost/Nativity)
• Remember: calculations are from Pascha according to the Julian calendar if your parish uses Old Calendar

Fasting rules not applying

• Confirm Fast is set to "Sometimes" or "Always" (not "Never")
• Verify the Rules setting is correct
• Check that the feast rank is high enough to override normal fasting
• Remember: the system shows fasting for the day, not specifically "because of this feast"

Duplicate feasts appearing

• Check if the feast exists in both fixed and moveable forms
• Some feasts transfer when they conflict - you may need only one entry
• Review your feast list for duplicates and delete extras

Tooltip not appearing

• Verify the tooltip is marked as Active in Manage Tooltips
• Check that you selected the correct tooltip in the dropdown
• Ensure the tooltip has include terms that match the feast name
• Rebuild the tooltip cache after making changes