Timing Is Everything

The astronomical significance behind the dates underlying the church calendar's main feasts is as follows:

• The year's shortest and longest days are the two solstices, closely corresponding to the births of Jesus Christ and John the Baptist.


• The days whose length lies precisely midway between the two solstices are the two equinoxes, closely corresponding to the conceptions of Jesus Christ and John the Baptist. They also happen to coincide with the days equally distanced from the two solstices.


• The days whose length lies precisely midway between the two solstices and equinoxes closely correspond to the feasts of Saint Valentine in late winter, Saint George in late spring, the Assumption of Mary in late summer, and Saint Demetrius in late autumn. They do not, however, coincide with the days equally distanced from the two solstices and equinoxes, the latter closely corresponding to feasts of the Presentation and Transfiguration of Christ in late winter and summer, and that of the Holy Archangels Michael and Gabriel in late autumn.