Does Sunday begin or end the week?

[Doug Barber]

This is not an old calendar/new calendar question, I don't think.

I am not Orthodox so please pardon my ignorance. I've noticed that two sites I use to follow the Orthodox calendar agree that yesterday, Sunday, was the Sunday of the Pharisee and the Publican. However, one of them regards today as I type (the next day) as Monday of the Pharisee and the Publican, while the other regards today as Monday of the Prodigal Son.

I understand that Prodigal Son is the week after Pharisee and Publican in the Triodion.

Do some jurisdictions regard Sunday as the first day of the liturgical week, and others regard it as the last day?

I'm sure that on the terrible day of judgment I won't be asked how well I understood calendars, there's much I should be busy with, but this little thing is bugging me.

You would do me a kindness if you read this to ever so briefly say a prayer for me, as one who has been an "enquirer" for ever so long.

Thanks!

[Anthony Stokes]

Do some jurisdictions regard Sunday as the first day of the liturgical week, and others regard it as the last day?

Thanks!

Sunday is the first day of the week. With regards to music, the tone that begins on Saturday night is the tone for the next week. Just think of the gospel that we read at Pascha, that the myrrhbearers went to the tomb on the first day of the week (Sunday).

Sbdn. Anthony

[Vasiliki D.]

Sunday is the first day of the week. With regards to music, the tone that begins on Saturday night is the tone for the next week. Just think of the gospel that we read at Pascha, that the myrrhbearers went to the tomb on the first day of the week (Sunday).

Sbdn. Anthony

The irony is for the purposes of Liturgical practise it IS the first day of the week, however, it is not just the Alpha, but it is also the Omega!

... in that, it is also the "last day" of the "Genesis week" but the "start of" eternity (yes, very weird to write).

Sunday is the Resurrectional day which actually not only begins a week but it ends a week! It is the day that links the circle of eternity ... many of our Saints believe it WILL be a Sunday that Christ returns, as described in Revelations ...

Do you have any thoughts on this Sbdn Anthony?

[Doug Barber]

But my original question is still not answered.

I have an old copy of the *Orthodox Study Bible* back when it was New Testament and Psalms only. It has a lectionary in the back, and that lectionary if I'm reading it right would have Sunday of the Pharisee and Publican be the 7'th and last in a series of Pharisee and Publican days.

That's the way the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese for North America has it. However, a very good (as best I can tell) website for a USA church of the Russian Patriarch has Sunday of the Pharisee and Publican as the 1'st in a series of Pharisee and Publican days extending through the following week.

This may be a distinction which makes no difference, as all the readings assigned to any given date that I can find on either site agree.

I suspect, though, that the canon at Matins, or whatever takes its place, may differ for these two churches on the weekdays in question, but I surely don't know.

My thanks to all who keep this site vibrant, especially Mr. Steenberg (if he has a clerical title I don't know it, and apologize for excessive familiarity).

[Father David Moser]

But my original question is still not answered.

If we are to be consistent with the rest of the octoechos (book of 8 tones), the triodion (the service book for the lenten services) and the pentecostarian (service book for the Paschal season) we would have to see the Sunday as the beginning of the week. The resurrectional tone for the Sunday begins the week and all the days of the week draw from the octoechos hymns for that same tone. The Sunday of the Cross begins a week wherein the cross is honored in the weekday services, with the veneration of the Cross which was done at Sat evening Vigil being repeated at the first hour on Mon, Wed and Fri. Great Lent ends on the friday before the saturday of Lazarus and Palm Sunday marks the beginning of Holy Week. Pascha is the beginning of Bright Week - not the end of Holy Week (we even switch from the Triodion for the Saturday services to the Pentecostarion for the Pascha Sunday Service). The Liturgical witness is clear, I think, that Sunday begins the week.

I'm not certain from where the OSB drew the terminology for their lectionary, however, the lectionary in the English Altar Gospel published by Holoviak the readings are set forth with the Sunday of the Publican and Pharisee beginning the readings for the next week which end with the Saturday reading. The Sunday of the Prodigal begins a new week. It is possible that the OSB was simply mistaken due to the fact that its compilers were new converts themselves at the time. (Why the GOA follows this custom I can't say, but I do certainly welcome enlightenment from someone more familiar with Byzantine custom. It was suggested that the matins canons would be different, but that is not the case as the English translations of the Triodion drawn from both sources match)

One of the things I have noticed over the years is that people often think that the first Sunday of pre-lent is Zacchaeus - however this is not the case. Zacchaeus is the last Sunday of the regular lectionary and the weekly readings that follow are attached to Zaccheus, not the Publican and Pharisee (which is the actual first Sunday of the pre-lenten period in the Triodion). This confusion may contribute to the impression that the weekday readings are actually linked to the Sunday following.

[M.C. Steenberg]

Dear Mr Barbour and others,

In 'normal time', this question is rather straightforward. As others have already mentioned, the tonal system and services of the octoechos (weekly services in the eight tones) and menaia (monthly services, day-by-day) make it quite clear that Sunday begins the new week. The subsequent weekdays are in the tone of the Sunday, and so remain until the arrival of the new tone at the next Sunday (which, in practical terms, takes place on Saturday evening).

I think the confusion arises simply over the ascetical pattern of Great Lent. Lent itself begins on a Monday, not a Sunday; and so the first week of Great Lent takes place before the first Sunday of Lent. This appears to set up a pattern that is the opposite of the norm: with the Sunday concluding, rather than beginning, the week (since the first week of the Fast culminates in the first Sunday of Lent). However, this is not really the case; it is simply that the Lenten ascetical practice begins at that time. The actual weekly themes remain tied into the normal pattern of the weeks beginning on Sunday. So the themes of the first week of Lent (which takes place, as I mentioned, before the first Sunday of Lent) are in fact tied into the preceding Sunday: that of the expulsion of Adam and Eve from paradise. The first Sunday in Lent then takes place, and the services of the following week trace out its broader themes, following its basic tone: so that week properly takes Sunday as its beginning, as do all others (even though that Sunday is called the 'first' and the week called 'second', in reference to the calendar of Lent specifically).

As muddled as that was, I hope it might actually clarify things!

INXC, Dcn Matthew

[Effie Ganatsios]

Perhaps understanding the Greek words for the week will make things clearer.

Sunday Kiriaki The Lord's Day
Monday Deutera The Second (Day)
Tuesday Treti The Third (Day)
Wednesday Tetarti The Fourth (Day)
Thursday Pempti The Fifth (Day)
Friday Paraskevi Day of Preparation
Saturday Sabbato The Sabbath

Does anyone know why we call Friday the Day of Preparation?

Effie

[Olga]

Does anyone know why we call Friday the Day of Preparation?

In Jewish tradition, the day before the Shabat' (Sabbath), the day of rest (arghia, as the Greeks call it) and prayer, including going to the synagogue, is the Day of Preparation, where all "work" is carried out, such as cooking, cleaning, and many other duties, so that the Shabat' itself is kept free.

[Fr Raphael Vereshack]

Fr Dn Matthew wrote:


I think the confusion arises simply over the ascetical pattern of Great Lent. Lent itself begins on a Monday, not a Sunday; and so the first week of Great Lent takes place before the first Sunday of Lent. This appears to set up a pattern that is the opposite of the norm: with the Sunday concluding, rather than beginning, the week (since the first week of the Fast culminates in the first Sunday of Lent). However, this is not really the case; it is simply that the Lenten ascetical practice begins at that time. The actual weekly themes remain tied into the normal pattern of the weeks beginning on Sunday. So the themes of the first week of Lent (which takes place, as I mentioned, before the first Sunday of Lent) are in fact tied into the preceding Sunday: that of the expulsion of Adam and Eve from paradise. The first Sunday in Lent then takes place, and the services of the following week trace out its broader themes, following its basic tone: so that week properly takes Sunday as its beginning, as do all others (even though that Sunday is called the 'first' and the week called 'second', in reference to the calendar of Lent specifically).

Consider also how the numbering system for the weeks begins in the week after Pascha.

Thus St Thomas Sunday is also officially called the Second Sunday after Pascha and the week which follows this particular Sunday is officially called the Second Week after Pascha. This numbering system for the Sundays and weeks following continues until Pentecost which is the 8th Sunday after Pascha.

However from this point on in the numbering system two things must be kept in mind:
first- the week after Pentecost is called the 1st Week after Pentecost (ie not the 8th Week after Pascha). Then- the Sunday which follows this week is called the First Sunday after Pentecost.

It is from this point on (until the next Pascha) that the anomaly occurs that even though Sunday is the first day of the week that the 1st Sunday after Pentecost is followed by Week 2 after Pentecost; the 2nd Sunday is followed by the 3rd Week; and so on all of the way until a maximum of 33 Sundays after Pentecost and 34 Weeks (which was two Sundays ago).

This pattern also follows in Great Lent. As Fr Dn Matthew points out even though Sunday is the first day of the week Forgiveness Sunday is not the first day of Great Lent, rather the Monday following is so that we again have: the 1st Week of Great Lent is followed by 1st Sunday of Great Lent; followed by the 2nd Week of Great Lent, with thematically the Sunday with its following week being tied together. This accounts for how even though there is a numbering anomaly between a Sunday and its following week these are both still thematically tied together with Sunday providing a true beginning of this particular week.

This still leaves the question though of what we call the preparatory weeks before Great Lent. In the printed church calendars they usually are not referred to according to the liturgical theme of the Sunday mainly because in the service book for Great Lent (the Lenten Triodion) there are no services for these weekdays until one gets to the last preparatory week which is called Cheesefare (but this is due to the dietary regime of that week more than in reference to a liturgical theme). Thus the week we are presently in is not usually called anything at all either Publican and Pharisee or Prodigal Son. But if it had to be called something I think it would make more sense to call it the week of the Publican and Pharisee.

In Christ- Fr Raphael

[Fr Raphael Vereshack]

Doug Barber wrote:


However, a very good (as best I can tell) website for a USA church of the Russian Patriarch has Sunday of the Pharisee and Publican as the 1'st in a series of Pharisee and Publican days extending through the following week.

I think I know which online calendar you mean. From my contact with them a few months ago I found out that they translate from Russian MP calendars.

The answer to your question then could relate to a translation issue. I think that instead of translating the word Nedelya as 'Sunday' which is what this word means in Slavonic they translated it as 'week' which is its meaning in modern Russian. From 'Sunday of the Publican and Pharisee' what is printed in the official MP calendar instead is read as 'week of the Publican and Pharisee.' This is a mistake in translation which has probably then been carried through the entire week.

On the Russian version of this calendar- Pravoslavnii Kalendar- this week is called 'Fast Free'; next week has no name; and the next week is called 'Cheesfare'.

In Christ- Fr Raphael

[Doug Barber]

Thank you to each of you who answered my question "Why have I found the day after the Sunday of the Pharisee and the Publican called 'Monday of the Pharisee and Publican' in one place and 'Monday of the Prodigal Son' in another".

Subdeacon Anthony's observation that "With regards to music, the tone that begins on Saturday night is the tone for the next week" was echoed in almost every post.

Fascinating, that the liturgical week is held together not only by an overriding text, argument or theme, but by a melody, and that questions about the liturgical significance of a particular day of the week can be answered with reference to the tone. I missed the significance of that the first time I read your post, Anthony, but it's become food for thought since then.

Vasiliki D's note that Sunday is both a beginning and an end, and "links the circle of eternity" was also a welcome and poetic insight and Vasiliki I thank you for taking time to help me.

Father David Moser answered my question clearly, citing Octoechos, Triodion, Pentecostarian, and concluding from them that "The Liturgical witness is clear, I think, that Sunday begins the week."

I was especially interested to learn this: "It was suggested that the matins canons would be different, but that is not the case as the English translations of the Triodion drawn from both sources match." So truly the distinction I originally noted
between one place calling Monday "of the Publican and Pharisee" and another place calling it "of the Prodigal Son" was a distinction without a difference, since on that day the Church invites her members in both places to reflect on the same texts.

Father Deacon Professor M. C. Steenberg explained that the ascetical pratices of Lent begin on the Monday before the first Sunday of Lent, which seems to set up a pattern making Sunday follow the theme of the preceding week, when in fact liturgically even Lenten Sundays stand at the head of new weeks: "the themes of the first week of Lent (which takes place, as I mentioned, before the first Sunday of Lent) are in fact tied into the preceding Sunday: that of the expulsion of Adam and Eve from paradise.

"The first Sunday in Lent then takes place, and the services of the following week trace out its broader themes, following its basic tone: so that week properly takes Sunday as its beginning, as do all others".

Effie Ganatsios wrote something I hadn't known and was fascinated to learn, that the Greek names for Monday through Thursday actually count the days from Sunday (Monday being "second", and so forth). This is especially interesting in combination with Father Vereshack's later post noting that the old Slavonic word for "Sunday" is the modern Russian word for "week".

Effie asked why the Greek word for Friday means "day of preparation" and Olga suggested the usage preserves the Jewish understanding of Friday as the day of preparation for the Jewish sabbath.

Father Raphael Vereshack really tied it all together to my mind by noting that "the week after Pentecost is called the 1st Week after Pentecost....Then- the Sunday which follows this week is called the First Sunday after Pentecost.

"It is from this point on (until the next Pascha) that the anomaly occurs that even though Sunday is the first day of the week that the 1st Sunday after Pentecost is followed by Week 2 after Pentecost; the 2nd Sunday is followed by the 3rd Week; and so on all of the way until a maximum of 33 Sundays after Pentecost and 34 Weeks (which was two Sundays ago).

"This pattern also follows in Great Lent. As Fr Dn Matthew points out...

"Thus the week we are presently in is not usually called anything at all either Publican and Pharisee or Prodigal Son. But if it had to be called something I think it would make more sense to call it the week of the Publican and Pharisee."

Fr. Rafael also notes in a "second thought" if I may call it that, that this week is usually called "fast-free" - which I suspect is good practical knowledge.

Thank each of you.