Undoubtedly one of the most “strange” events of the last century in Greece was the implementation of the Gregorian Calendar. Greek citizens went to sleep on Wednesday, February 15, 1923, and woke up on Thursday, March 1. The last thirteen days of February seemed to disappear. No one was born or died in those days, no political or military events occurred. And yet, behind this “strange” transition to March there is logic.
At the instigation of Pope Gregory XIII, Catholic countries established the New or Gregorian Calendar at the end of the 16th century. The Old or Julian Calendar, which had been in effect since the time of Julius Caesar, was now considered obsolete. According to the Julian Calendar, the vernal equinox shifts by one day every 128 years, while according to the calculations that led to the implementation of the Gregorian Calendar, the vernal equinox shifts by one day only every 3,300 years. By the end of the 18thu century, the example of the Catholic countries in the adoption of the New Calendar had also been followed by the Protestant countries.
Until the beginning of the 20th century, the Orthodox Church had not studied in depth the possibility of adopting the New Calendar. While the heads of the Orthodox Church in Constantinople and Greece were in consultation about the transition to the Gregorian Calendar, the Greek state took the decision on January 18, 1923 to establish the new measurement of the year. It was determined that its implementation would take place from February 16, which would be replaced from March 1. A year later, the Church of Greece introduced the Revised Julian Calendar for church use only.
“Each hour of February 16 will mean a sunrise and its corresponding sunset. In such a way that around lights we will enter the political salon of March, while God’s believers will in vain ask the closed Churches when at least they celebrate?” was the first comment of “Kathimerini” on the legislative initiative of the revolutionary government of Stylianos Gonatas.
On the 1the March, the first day of the implementation of the Gregorian Calendar, “Kathimerini” wrote: “The Greek world, which went to sleep yesterday with the unshakable belief that Wednesday was the tenth Thursday of February, will be informed that it is indeed Thursday, the day after Wednesday, but 1the Of March. Because from today, as you know, the implementation of the new calendar begins. The elegant world is therefore advised to wear the traditional “marten” to neutralize the supposed sun of its first day. The saints, however, remain in their positions”.
There are several Orthodox Churches, which have not adopted the Gregorian Calendar until today. However, they do not cease to be in communication with the rest of the Orthodox Christian world.
Column Editor: Myrto Katsigera, Vassilis Minakakis, Antigone-Despina Poimenidou, Athanasios Syroplakis
