Orthodox Religious Calendar. Within the orthodox church feast days and fast days are reckoned according to two distinct calendars, the julian calendar and the gregorian calendar. Following are the major orthodox calendar dates, starting from jan 1 (the civil new year).
On january 19, orthodox believers in russia celebrate epiphany, or the baptism of the lord, one of the 12 major christian holidays (along with easter) dogmatically connected. Nearly all orthodox churches follow the julian calendar for their liturgical years.