An Afterfeast is a period of celebration attached to one of the Great Feasts celebrated by the

Orthodox Christian Orthodoxy (from Greek: ) is adherence to correct or accepted creeds, especially in religion. Orthodoxy within Christianity refers to acceptance of the doctrines defined by various creeds and ecumenical councils in Antiquity, but different Churche ...

and

Eastern Catholic Churches The Eastern Catholic Churches or Oriental Catholic Churches, also called the Eastern-Rite Catholic Churches, Eastern Rite Catholicism, or simply the Eastern Churches, are 23 Eastern Christian autonomous (''sui iuris'') particular churches of th ...

(somewhat analogous to what in the West would be called an

Octave In music, an octave ( la, octavus: eighth) or perfect octave (sometimes called the diapason) is the interval between one musical pitch and another with double its frequency. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been refer ...

). The celebration of the Great Feasts of the church year is extended for a number of days, depending upon the particular Feast. Each day of an Afterfeast will have particular hymns assigned to it, continuing the theme of the Feast being celebrated. At each of the

divine services In the practice of Christianity, canonical hours mark the divisions of the day in terms of fixed times of prayer at regular intervals. A book of hours, chiefly a breviary, normally contains a version of, or selection from, such prayers. In t ...

during an Afterfeast, the troparion and

kontakion The kontakion (Greek , plural , ''kontakia'') is a form of hymn performed in the Orthodox and the Eastern Catholic liturgical traditions. The kontakion originated in the Byzantine Empire around the 6th century and is closely associated with Sain ...

of the feast are read or chanted. The canon of the feast will usually be chanted on every day of the Afterfeast (if two canons were chanted on the day of the feast, they will be alternated on the days of the afterfeast). Most of these Great Feasts also have a day or more of preparation called a Forefeast (most Feasts that are on the moveable Paschal Cycle do not have Forefeasts). Forefeasts and Afterfeasts will affect the structure of the services during the

Canonical Hours In the practice of Christianity, canonical hours mark the divisions of the day in terms of fixed times of prayer at regular intervals. A book of hours, chiefly a breviary, normally contains a version of, or selection from, such prayers. In ...

. Some of the Great Feasts of the Lord have a special canon composed of only three odes, called a ''

Triodion The Triodion ( el, Τριῴδιον, ; cu, Постнаѧ Трїωдь, ; ro, Triodul, sq, Triod/Triodi), also called the Lenten Triodion (, ), is a liturgical book used by the Eastern Orthodox Church. The book contains the propers for th ...

'', which is usually chanted at

Compline Compline ( ), also known as Complin, Night Prayer, or the Prayers at the End of the Day, is the final prayer service (or office) of the day in the Christian tradition of canonical hours, which are prayed at fixed prayer times. The English wo ...

on each day of the Forefeast. (However, the Triodion of the Forefeast of the Transfiguration is said at Mattins.) The last day of an Afterfeast is called the ''Apodosis'' (

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

for "leave-taking", lit. "giving-back") of the Feast. On the Apodosis, most of the hymns that were chanted on the first day of the Feast are repeated. On the Apodosis of Feasts of the

Theotokos ''Theotokos'' (Greek: ) is a title of Mary, mother of Jesus, used especially in Eastern Christianity. The usual Latin translations are ''Dei Genitrix'' or ''Deipara'' (approximately "parent (fem.) of God"). Familiar English translations are " ...

, the Epistle and Gospel from the day of the Feast are repeated again at the

Divine Liturgy Divine Liturgy ( grc-gre, Θεία Λειτουργία, Theia Leitourgia) or Holy Liturgy is the Eucharistic service of the Byzantine Rite, developed from the Antiochene Rite of Christian liturgy which is that of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of C ...

. For the Annunciation, the Meeting, and Palm Sunday, the Apodosis may be celebrated for part of a day, at

Vespers Vespers is a service of evening prayer, one of the canonical hours in Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Catholic Church, Catholic (both Latin liturgical rites, Latin and Eastern Catholic Churches, Eastern), Lutheranism, Lutheran, and Anglican ...

, the remaining services of the day in question falling outside the festal period. This is indicated in the table below as a day. The Forefeasts and Afterfeasts break down as follows: {, class="wikitable" , - ! Days of Forefeast ! Name of Feast ! Date ! Days of the festal period , - , 1 , , Nativity of the Theotokos , , 8 September , , 5 , - , 1 , , Exaltation of the Cross , , 14 September , , 8 , - , 1 , , ,

Entry of the Theotokos The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, known in the East as The Entry of the Most Holy Theotokos into the Temple, is a liturgical feast celebrated on November 21 by the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and some Anglo-Catholic Churches. The feas ...

, , 21 November , , 5 , - , 5 , , Nativity of our Lord , , 25 December , , 7 , - , 4 , , Theophany of our Lord , , 6 January , , 9 , - , 1 , , Meeting of our Lord , , 2 February , , 1–8 , - , 0 , , Palm Sunday , , Sunday before Pascha , , , - , 1 The Forefeast is omitted if it would fall on the third Sunday of

Lent Lent ( la, Quadragesima, 'Fortieth') is a solemn religious observance in the liturgical calendar commemorating the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert and enduring temptation by Satan, according to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke ...

or on any day later than St. Lazarus Saturday. (This latter timing is only possible for Orthodox churches who continue to follow the Julian calendar, since March 25 in the

Revised Julian The Revised Julian calendar, or less formally the new calendar, is a calendar proposed in 1923 by the Serbian scientist Milutin Milanković as a more accurate alternative to both Julian and Gregorian calendars. At the time, the Julian calendar w ...

calendar falls too early to be that close to even the earliest of Paschas.) The Apodosis is celebrated at Vespers on the evening of the Feast if the following day is a Lenten weekday or St. Lazarus Saturday. If the following day is a Saturday or Sunday, the Feast is celebrated for two days. If the Annunciation falls on Lazarus Saturday or later, the Afterfeast may be omitted altogether. , , Annunciation of the Theotokos , , 25 March , , 1{{fraction, 1, 2–2 , - , 0 , , Pascha , , Sunday of the Resurrection , , 39 , - , 0 , ,

Mid-Pentecost Mid-Pentecost or Midfeast, also Meso-Pentecost (from gr, Μεσοπεντηκοστή); russian: Преполове́ние Пятидеся́тницы is a feast day which occurs during the Paschal season in the Eastern Orthodox Church and tho ...

, , Twenty-fifth day of Pascha , , 8 , - , 1 The Forefeast of the Ascension is the same day as the Apodosis of Pascha. In contemporary practice, the Forefeast is often omitted or celebrated at Compline. , , Ascension of our Lord , , Fortieth day of Pascha , , 9 , - , 0 , ,

Pentecost Pentecost (also called Whit Sunday, Whitsunday or Whitsun) is a Christianity, Christian holiday which takes place on the 50th day (the seventh Sunday) after Easter Sunday. It commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles in the Ne ...

( Trinity Sunday) , , Fiftieth day of Pascha , , 7 , - , 1 , ,

Transfiguration of our Lord In the New Testament, the Transfiguration of Jesus is an event where Jesus is transfigured and becomes radiant in glory upon a mountain. The Synoptic Gospels (, , ) describe it, and the Second Epistle of Peter also refers to it (). In these a ...

, , 6 August , , 8 , - , 1 , , Dormition of the Theotokos , , 15 August , , 9 , - Five of these Afterfeasts have a special commemoration on the day following the Feast, called a ''Synaxis''. In this context, a Synaxis commemorates a saint who is intimately bound up with the Feast being celebrated. The four Synaxes are: *Synaxis of Ss.

Joachim Joachim (; ''Yəhōyāqīm'', "he whom Yahweh has set up"; ; ) was, according to Christian tradition, the husband of Saint Anne and the father of Mary, the mother of Jesus. The story of Joachim and Anne first appears in the Biblical apocryphal ...

and

Anna Anna may refer to: People Surname and given name * Anna (name) Mononym * Anna the Prophetess, in the Gospel of Luke * Anna (wife of Artabasdos) (fl. 715–773) * Anna (daughter of Boris I) (9th–10th century) * Anna (Anisia) (fl. 1218 to 1221) ...

(9 September—the day after the Nativity of the Theotokos) *Synaxis of the Theotokos (26 December—the day after the Nativity of our Lord) *Synaxis of the

Forerunner Forerunner may refer to: Religion * A holy person announcing the approaching appearance of a prophet, see precursor (religion). ** As a title, used in particular for John the Baptist within Christianity, and especially within the Eastern Orthodox ...

(7 January—the day after the Theophany of our Lord) *Synaxis of Ss. Symeon the God-Receiver and Anna the Prophetesse (3 February—the day after the Meeting of the Lord) *Synaxis of the Archangel Gabriel (26 March—the day after the Annunciation) If the Annunciation falls during Holy Week the Synaxis is omitted. Other Great Feasts that have Afterfeasts (although no Forefeasts) are: *The Nativity of the Forerunner (June 24) *The Beheading of the Forerunner (August 29) *The Feast of the Holy Apostles, Peter and Paul (June 29). Each of these three has only 1 day of Afterfeast, and no Apodosis. These are not counted among the Twelve Great Feasts (i.e., Great Feasts of the Lord or Theotokos). The Feast of the

Procession of the Cross In the Christian liturgical calendar, there are several different Feasts of the Cross, all of which commemorate the cross used in the crucifixion of Jesus. Unlike Good Friday, which is dedicated to the passion of Christ and the crucifixion, these ...

(August 1), though it is not counted as a Great Feast, has one day of Forefeast, and no Afterfeast.

Notes

External links

Apodosis of the Dormition in Jerusalem
Byzantine Rite Eastern Orthodox liturgical days ro:Dupăprăznuire