The Great Feasts of the Orthodox Church are the major celebrations throughout the liturgical year. While various saints and events are celebrated at the local level, the entire Church celebrates together certain feasts above all the rest: Pascha and the Twelve Great Feasts.

Pascha

The feast of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, called Pascha, is the greatest of the feasts of the Orthodox Church. It is not counted among the twelve major feasts of the Church since it is considered by itself as the “Feast of Feasts.”

Twelve Great Feasts

There are other days of great importance in the life of the Church: the Twelve Great Feasts, which commemorate and make present to us the major events in the lives of the Lord Jesus Christ, His mother the Theotokos, and the Church.

• September 8: the Nativity of the Theotokos
• September 14: the Elevation of the Holy Cross
• November 21: the Presentation of the Theotokos
• December 25: The Nativity of Christ
• January 6: Theophany (the baptism of Christ)
• February 2: the Presentation of Christ
• March 25 Feast of the Annunciation
• The Sunday before Pascha: Palm Sunday
• Forty Days after Pascha: the Ascension of Christ
• Fifty Days after Pascha: Pentecost
• August 6: Feast of the Transfiguration of Christ
• August 15: Dormition of the Theotokos