The Western calendar had its origin in the desire for a solar calendar that kept in step with the seasons and possessed fixed rules of intercalation.
The Gregorian calendar is increasingly used for commerce world-wide. It is based upon the earlier Julian calendar which was designed by priests in Rome circa 50 BCE. Julius Caesar had asked them to design a calendar that was more accurate than the ones which were in use at the time.
With the rise of Christianity the calendar was adjusted so that 25th December of the year 1 BCE coincided with what was believed to be the birthday of Jesus Christ. Today, most authorities believe that Jesus was born sometime between 4 and 7 BCE, perhaps in the autumn of the year.
It also had to provide a method of dating moveable religious feasts such as Easter, which were based on lunar reckoning. To reconcile the lunar and solar schemes features of both the Roman Republican calendar and the Egyptian Calendar were used.
Unfortunately, the Julian calendar was too long by about 11 minutes and 14 seconds each year, or one day every 128 years. By the late 16th century, this error had accumulated to an intolerable 10 days. In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII commissioned a study to decide how to correct it and how to prevent it from drifting in the future. The solution was to make most of the century years into non-leap years; only those which were evenly divisible by 400 (e.g. 1600, 2000, 2400 etc.) were to be leap years.
The reform measures also laid down the rules for calculating the date of Easter each year. Easter was, and, still is, the most important feast of the Christian Church and its place in the calendar determined the position of the rest of the Church's movable feasts. Its timing depends on both the moon's phases and the vernal equinox.
Easter was primarily designated a spring festival, and the earliest Christians celebrated it at the same time as the Jewish Passover festival, that is during the night of the first full moon of the first month of spring (14 and 15 Nissan).
By the middle of the second century, most Churches had transferred this celebration to the Sunday after the Passover feast. The Council of Nicea observed the feast on a Sunday. Yet many disparities remained in fixing the date of Easter. Today the Eastern Churches follow the Julian calendar and the Western Churches the Gregorian calendar, so that in some years there may be a month's difference in the times of celebration.
The Gregorian calendar was adopted exactly according to the mandate of the Pope in France, Spain, Portugal and Italy in 1582. The Protestant countries, however, were slow to adopt it. In Britain it was not adopted until almost 200 years later in 1752. Greece did not convert to the Gregorian calendar until 1923.
Roman Catholic countries corrected the calendar by making 15th October1582 CE follow 4th October. In England, they made an 11 day correction; the day following 2nd September 1752 was 14th September.
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Fixed days:
Epiphany:-6th January
Epiphany celebrates the visitation of the 3 wise men to Jesus after his birth. In the East, where it originated, the Epiphany celebrates the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist in the River Jordan.
Candlemas:- 2nd February
Candlemas commemorates the purification of the Virgin Mary and the presentation of Christ at the temple.
Annunciation:-25th March
Annunciation, also known as Lady Day, marks the Angel Gabriel's message to Mary that she would give birth to The Christ. It also celebrates the incarnation itself as the date falls 9 months before Christmas.
Assumption:- 15th August
Assumption celebrates the reception of the Virgin Mary bodily into Heaven.
Michaelmas:- 29th September
Michaelmas is the feast of Saint Michael.
All Saints Day:- 1st November
All Saints Day is in honour of God and all His Saints, known and unknown.
All Souls Day:- 2nd November
All Souls Day is for prayers and alms giving to assist all souls in purgatory.
Christmas:- 25th December
Christmas is the day associated with Jesus' birth. It is celebrated on 25th December by Western churches and on 7th January by Eastern Orthodox churches.
Saints days:
Saint Valentine:- 14th FebruarY
Saint David:- 1st March
Saint Patrick:- 17th March
Saint George:- 23rd April
Saint Swithen:- 15th July
Saint Francis of Assisi:- 4th October
Saint Andrew:-30th November
Moveable days:
Lent
Lent is a period of fasting and prayer which begins on Ash Wednesday, 40 days before Easter Sunday.
Shrove Tuesday
The Day before Ash Wednesday is also called Pancake Day and Mardi Gras. The British name of "Pancake Day" comes from the tradition of making pancakes to use up all the food that could not be eaten during Lent.
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Ash Wednesday
Is the first day of Lent for Western Christian churches. Lent is the season marking the time Jesus spent in the wilderness.
Mothering Sunday
Mothering Sunday is the 4th Sunday of Lent.
Passion Sunday
Passion Sunday, the 5th Sunday in Lent. The word 'passion' originally meant the period in which Jesus was treated as an object, passive, and exposed to whatever the hands of men chose to do to him.
Palm Sunday
Is 7 days before Easter Sunday. It is the beginning of Holy Week and marks the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem.
Maundy Thursday
Also called Holy Thursday, Christians remember this as the day of the Last Supper, when Jesus washed the feet of his disciples and established the ceremony known as the Eucharist.
Good Friday
Also called Holy Friday, commemorates the execution of Jesus by the Roman army.
Easter Sunday
Christians celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, his return from death after Crucifixion. This is the most important Christian festival.
Rogation Sunday
This is the Sunday preceding Ascension.
Ascension Thursday
Also called Ascension Day, occurs 40 days after Easter Sunday; it commemorates the ascension of Jesus into heaven.
Pentecost
Also known as Whit Sunday is the 7th Sunday after Easter, the day when the Holy Spirit is reported as having descended upon the Apostles.
Trinity Sunday
This is the Sunday after Pentecost. Christians meditate on the nature of God as "Three in one".
Corpus Christi,
A feast commemorating the Eucharist [Last Supper], observed on the Thursday following Trinity Sunday
Advent Sunday
Also called the First Sunday of Advent is the Sunday on or after 27th November.
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