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Christian Calendar is a Calendar associated with the Catholic Church and the Papacy (Government of the Roman Catholic Church). The Gregorian Solar Calendar is an Arithmetical Calendar. It counts days as the basic unit of time, grouping them into Years of 365 or 366 Days; and repeats completely every 146,097 Days, which fill 400 Years, and which also happens to be 20,871 Seven-Day Weeks. Of these 400 Years, 303 (the "common years") have 365 Days, and 97 (the leap years) have 366 Days. This gives an average Calendar-Year length of exactly 365.2425 Days, or 365 days, 5 hours, 49 minutes and 12 seconds. The Calendar though represents Christian Events and Celebrations, it has over the years become an Internationally accepted Civil Calendar. Many Christian Festivals like Christmas are celebrated all over the world irrespective of the religion of a particular country. The Christian Calendar followed in modern times is also known as the Gregorian Calendar. It was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII, after whom the Calendar was named, by a decree signed on 24 February 1582. Before the Gregorian Calendar, Julian Calendar was commonly used. Julian Calendar was a reform of the Roman calendar and was introduced by Julius Caesar in 46 BC. The need for the Gregorian Calendar stemmed from the fact that the Julian Calendar System assumes time between vernal equinoxes as 365.25 days, when in fact it is about 11 minutes less. The Accumulated Error between these values was about 10 days when the reform was made, resulting in the equinox occurring on March 11 and moving steadily earlier in the Calendar. Since the Equinox was tied to the celebration of Easter, the Reform in the Calendar was undertaken by the Roman Catholic Church.
The Gregorian Calendar Reform contained two parts, a Reform of the Julian Calendar as used up to Pope Gregory's time, together with a Reform of the Lunar Cycle used by the Church along with the Julian Calendar for calculating dates of Easter. The Reform was a modification of a proposal made by the Calabrian doctor Aloysius Lilius (or Lilio). Lilius' proposal included reducing the number of Leap Years in Four Venturies from 100 to 97, by making 3 out of 4 Centurial Years common instead of Leap Years: this part of the Proposal had been suggested before by, among others, Pietro Pitati. Lilio also produced an original and practical scheme for adjusting the Epacts of the Moon for completing the calculation of Easter Dates, solving a long-standing difficulty that had faced proposers of Calendar Reform. The Gregorian Calendar continues the previous year-numbering system based on the Anno Domini system, which counts years from the traditional Incarnation of Jesus, and which had spread throughout Europe during the Middle Ages.
The Julian Months were formed by adding ten days to a regular Pre-Julian Roman year of 355 days, creating a regular Julian Year of 365 days: Two extra days were added to Ianuarius, Sextilis (Augustus) and December, and one extra day was added to Aprilis, Iunius, September and November, setting the lengths of the months to the values they still hold today:
Julian Months
|
Months |
Lengths before 45 BC |
Lengths as of 45 BC |
|
Ianuarius (January) |
29 |
31 |
|
Februarius (February) |
28 (leap years: 23 or 24) |
28 (leap years: 29) |
|
Martius (March) |
31 |
31 |
|
Aprilis (April) |
29 |
30 |
|
Maius (May) |
31 |
31 |
|
Junius - Iunius (June) |
29 |
30 |
|
Quintilis - Iulius (July) |
31 |
31 |
|
Sextilis - Augustus (August) |
29 |
31 |
|
September |
29 |
30 |
|
October |
31 |
31 |
|
November |
29 |
30 |
|
December |
29 |
31 |
|
Intercalaris |
0 (leap years: 27) |
(abolished) |
Difference between Gregorian and Julian Calendar Dates
|
Gregorian Range |
Julian Range |
Difference |
|
From 15 October 1582 |
From 5 October 1582 |
10 Days |
|
From 11 March 1700 |
From 29 February 1700 |
11 Days |
|
From 12 March 1800 |
From 29 February 1800 |
12 Days |
|
From 13 March 1900 |
From 29 February 1900 |
13 Days |
|
From 14 March 2100 |
From 29 February 2100 |
14 Days |
Christian Calendar 2011
January
|
Occasion |
Held on |
Day |
Holiday Status |
|
1st January |
Saturday |
Restricted |
|
|
6th January |
Thursday |
Restricted |
|
|
Baptism of the Lord Jesus/1st Sunday after Epiphany |
9th January |
Sunday |
|
|
2nd Sunday after Epiphany |
16th January |
Sunday |
|
|
3rd Sunday after Epiphany |
23th January |
Sunday |
|
|
4th Sunday after Epiphany |
30st January |
Sunday |
February
|
Occasion |
Held on |
Day |
Holiday Status |
|
Presentation of Jesus in the Temple Candlemas |
2nd February |
Wednesday |
Restricted |
|
Saint Blase Day |
3rd February |
Thursday |
Restricted |
|
Saint Valentine's Day |
14th February |
Monday |
|
|
St. Matthew - Apostle and Evangelist Shrove Tuesday |
24th Feburary |
Thursday |
Restricted |
March
|
Occasion |
Held on |
Day |
Holiday Status |
|
Saint Patrick's Day |
March 17th |
Thursday |
Restricted |
|
Saint Joseph's Day |
March 19th |
Saturday |
Restricted |
April
|
Occasion |
Held on |
Day |
Holiday Status |
|
Palm Sunday |
17th April |
Sunday |
|
|
Maundy (Holy) Thursday |
21st April |
Thursday |
Restricted |
|
22nd April |
Friday |
Gazetted |
|
|
Saint George's Day |
23rd April |
Saturday |
|
|
24th April |
Sunday |
||
|
Easter Monday |
25th April |
Monday |
Restricted |
|
Saint James the Great Day |
30th April |
Saturday |
Restricted |
June
|
Occasion |
Held on |
Day |
Holiday Status |
|
Ascension of Jesus |
2nd June |
Thursday |
|
|
Pentecost |
12th June |
Sunday |
|
|
Trinity Sunday |
19th June |
Sunday |
|
|
Corpus Christi |
23rd June |
Thursday |
|
|
Saints Peter and Paul |
29th June |
Wednesday |
|
July
|
Occasion |
Held on |
Day |
Holiday Status |
|
Saint Vladimir |
15th July |
Friday |
Restricted |
August
|
Occasion |
Held on |
Day |
Holiday Status |
|
Lammas |
1st August |
Monday |
Restricted |
|
Beheading of St. John the Baptist |
29th August |
Monday |
September
|
Occasion |
Held on |
Day |
Holiday Status |
|
Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary |
8th September |
Thursday |
Restricted |
|
Holy Cross Day |
14th September |
Wednesday |
Restricted |
|
Michael and All Angels |
29th September |
Thursday |
Restricted |
October
|
Occasion |
Held on |
Day |
Holiday Status |
|
Milvian Bridge Day |
28th October |
Thursday |
Restricted |
|
Halloween Day |
31st October |
Monday |
|
November
|
Occasion |
Held on |
Day |
Holiday Status |
|
All Saints' Day |
1st November |
Tuesday |
Restricted |
|
All Souls' Day |
2nd November |
Wednesday |
Restricted |
|
Christ the King |
20th November |
Sunday |
|
|
Thanksgiving |
24th November |
Thursday |
Restricted |
|
Advent - first Sunday |
27th November |
Sunday |
|
|
Saint Andrew's Day |
30th November |
Wednesday |
Restricted |
December
|
Occasion |
Held on |
Day |
Holiday Status |
|
Saint Nicholas Day |
6th December |
Monday |
Restricted |
|
Feast of the Immaculate Conception |
8th December |
Thursday |
Restricted |
|
Hanukkah |
20-28th December |
Tuesday |
|
|
24th December |
Saturday |
Restricted |
|
|
25th December |
Sunday |
Gazetted |
|
|
Holy Innocents |
28th December |
Wednesday |
Restricted |
|
Watch Night |
31st December |
Saturday |
Restricted |
