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The Coptic Calendar

Madonna_2006Madonna_2006
edited December 1969 in Coptic Orthodox Church
Hi everyone,

I would like to know more about the coptic calendar and its roots. I remember my priest once told me why we celebrate on the 7th and not the 25th but i forgot so if anyone could clarify that for me.


I want to know if the Julian calendar the same as the coptic calendar. I don't think so because our coptic calendar can be traced back to the pharoahs but the julian calendar was mostly used in the west. is that right?

and what is the gregorian calendar , isnt it just the everyday calendar that we use?

if anyone has any idea what i am talking about , then please enlighten me because i am a little confused.


Thank you

Comments

  • jydeaconjydeacon
    Actually both calenders are basically the same. what happened is (i can't remember who)
    some one told the emperor of the time that the current calender is two weeks behind what it should be and at that rate it will be even farther behind later. so the emperor pushed the calender back two weeks while we didn't to preserve tradition. We celebrate the Nativity on the seventh of January which is the 25 of Kiahk if i am not mistaken. which if pushed back two weeks would coincide with the 25 of December. so basically its really the same calender with some differences such as when it starts like September 11 and stuff like that. Please some one correct me if i am wrong

    God Bless and Pray for me and my weakness
  • ethanolethanol
    The Gregorian Calendar was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII of the Catholic Church in 1582. To account for the inaccuracies of the old Julian calendar that was in use at the time, ten days were skipped in the month of October in 1582. The Gregorian Calendar was at first only adopted by predominantly Catholic countries in Europe, but gradually became the most widely used calendar in the secular world.

    Predominantly Eastern Orthodox nations retained the old Julian calendar for religious feast and fast dates until 1923, when a synod of the Eastern Orthodox Church proposed a reform which synchronised their calendar with the Gregorian Calendar…with one significant exception: whilst most feasts with fixed dates including Christmas were synchronised, the Eastern Orthodox retained the dates for Pascha as determined by the Julian Calendar. This new calendar is called the “Revised Julian Calendar”.

    Not all Eastern Orthodox churches adopted these reforms and until this date is a point of contention within the Eastern Orthodox communion. As is not an issue of relevance to the Oriental Orthodox Church, I will leave it at that.

    I am unlearned in the matter of the Coptic Calendar, however to the best of knowledge the dates of Pascha and Christmas are the same for both the Copts and Eastern Orthodox who follow the old Julian calendar (at least in this decade). There is a thirteen day difference between the Coptic/Julian and Gregorian Calendars because the old calendars are "slower". This discrepency will increase by 3 days every 400 years.
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