Frequently Asked Questions

When does the calendar start and end?

The Old Calendar starts January 1st and ends January 7th. The New Calendar starts December 25th and ends December 31st.

Why does the calendar start near the civil new year, instead of on September 1st, the Church New Year?

Great question. There are several reasons we decided to design the calendar to align with the civil year.

First, because our goal is to offer this as an alternative to the popular wall calendars that many people like to hang in their kitchens, bedrooms, or office. Our calendar is ready to put up as the existing calendar comes to an end. Likewise, if someone wants to transition to another calendar the following year, they can trust that our calendar will carry them through to the end of the year.

Second, because calendars are a popular gift to share with others at Christmas, it’s a natural fit to have it ready to enjoy immediately, beginning with the Christmas season.

Similarly, people are most accustomed to buying new calendars and planners during the holiday months, rather than during the summer months.

Finally, because the Church also sanctifies the civil new year with prayer, and the feast of St. Basil and the Circumcision of Christ, it is a fitting time to open a fresh new calendar.

Do people still use paper calendars?

Our first wall calendar--2020--was met with incredible enthusiasm! People who purchase paper calendars are attracted to them for a variety of reasons. First, because they love the visual overview of time that a wall calendar provides. Others appreciate how a wall calendar can collect and organize all family activity in one, concrete place that every member has access to view. Some simply love the opportunity to go analog and enjoy the feel of a paper calendar.

While our calendar has both male and female fans, we’ve noticed that wives and mothers are particularly fond of the Calendar of Liturgical Seasons. Whoever has taken on the job of keeping the family organized loves using the calendar as a hub of information for the family. They have long been training their family members to “check the calendar.” Now they have a calendar that is designed in such a way to prioritize the spiritual life as they write in their temporal obligations. Some families begin the year by writing in birthdays and namedays of the family and extended family. Others use a distinct pen color for each person's activities. Some friends use the calendar exclusively for menu planning.

Why would a film company make a calendar?

Shortly after we entered the field of visual media, we realized there was more than one medium through which to share the beautiful images we captured.

Meanwhile, we have often longed for an Orthodox calendar that would be nearly as helpful, thought-provoking, or lovely to look at as some of the exquisite photography calendars offered on the market. The Church offers the Christ-centered way to view the world, with true beauty and wisdom, but the only calendars we found featured icons. This is problematic for a disposable item like a calendar, plus we already have icons on our walls. We wanted a calendar that would introduce us to a wider array of Orthodox Christian life and practice and invite us to contemplate the beauties of the spiritual and sacramental life.

What kind of paper is the calendar printed on?

The calendar is printed on uncoated paper, which is easy to write on with both pen and pencil and withstands erasing.

Why don’t you list a saint for every day of the year?

The vision for this calendar is to offer a tool for setting appointments, meals, and celebrations within the context of the Christian life. This eliminates the need to enter all of the Church feasts and celebrations onto another blank calendar. In other words, this calendar represents the reality of the Christian life, and we have the opportunity to begin planning with it in mind, rather than the other way around. The form of the calendar shapes the way the user moves through the year.

Above all, we want each user to have space to write in their activities. While the commemorations included are extensive, we hold back from including a commemoration every day, in favor of more space for planning. We know that many Orthodox Christians will use other calendars and apps available for reference.

Why are certain saints listed and not others?

The Orthodox Church commemorates dozens, and sometimes hundreds, of saints each day. Our original vision was to include only the most prominent saints, as well as those especially beloved. During each revision of the calendar, we discovered more saints whom we couldn’t bear to leave out. In general, the rare and unusual saints we included fall into one of the following categories:

Saints for whom our family members or godchildren are named.
Saints for whom we have a personal veneration for due to a pilgrimage or experiences in our lives.
Saints whom one our reviewers felt strongly about including.

Why do you include the leave-takings of Pascha and Dormition, but not the leave-takings of other feasts?

We included the Leave-taking of Dormition in order to further emphasize how the entire month of August is dedicated to the Mother of God. We include the Leave-taking of Pascha because it is the only leave-taking of the year for which parishes commonly schedule a liturgy, and also because it marks the conclusion of the extraordinary Paschal season. For the sake of simplicity we decided to omit the other festal leave-takings.

Have you considered a visual way to communicate that the entire forty days of Pascha are of the same festal nature?

We considered various ways to signify this and decided to err on the side of simplicity for now. We may consider a way to "elevate" the Pascha period in future designs.

Will you print a calendar next year?

Our hope is to print a new Calendar of Liturgical Seasons every year indefinitely. May it be blessed!