✦ zenith calendar · the orthodox (ethiopia) almanac
the fasts and feasts of the ethiopian orthodox tewahedo church in one quiet layer of your sky, each one explained in the church's own words.
orthodox (ethiopia) is one of the holiday almanacs that come with zenith calendar. it holds the fasts and feasts of the ethiopian orthodox tewahedo church, by the ethiopian calendar and the church's bahire hasab.
most feasts fall on the same gregorian day each year, but some move a day around a leap year, so they are dated only where a church list prints the year: nothing is guessed or worked out on your phone. tap a day and read three short paragraphs: what it is, where it comes from, and how it is kept.
ethiopian · the ethiopian calendar and the bahire hasab
lidet, "birth"
tahsas 29 in the ethiopian calendar
the nativity of our lord jesus christ, born of the holy virgin mary in bethlehem.
the eve is a fast day, gehad, and the faithful, many dressed in white, gather for a night service that runs into the early morning, each holding a candle. after the liturgy the long fast is broken with family and a feast, and many pilgrims go to the rock churches of lalibela.
buhe
nehase 13 in the ethiopian calendar
the feast of the transfiguration, when christ's face shone like the sun on mount tabor.
after the liturgy, boys go from house to house singing buhe songs and blessing each family, and the mothers give them round loaves called mulmul. in the evening torches of bundled sticks, chibo, are lit.
"going forth"
nehase 16, the day the fast of filseta ends
the feast of the assumption of our lady st mary: filseta means going forth, her passing up to heaven.
the faithful go to church for the liturgy and holy communion, and after the long fast they break it with family and neighbours in a joyful feast in honour of the mother of god.
zenith calendar draws the year as an orbit round the sun. lit, orthodox (ethiopia) puts its fasts and feasts on their days on that ring, in ice blue. its mark is ☩.
each of its fasts and feasts carries three short paragraphs in its notes: what it is, where it comes from as its own tradition tells it, and how it is kept.
orthodox (ethiopia) arrives locked, so nothing in it changes by accident. the lock guards your hand, not your eye: you can still read it, shine it or eclipse it. one tap unlocks it, and then it is yours to rename, recolour or add to.
tap its chip in the legend to eclipse it (kept, but not drawn) and tap again to bring it back. nothing is deleted either way.
orthodox (ethiopia) shares one sky with your own commitments. like every almanac that comes with the app, it never counts toward the almanacs you can make for free, and it lives on your phone: zenith calendar has no server of its own.
✦ zenith calendar · the sky around it
orthodox (ethiopia) is a single layer. beneath it is a whole calendar drawn as the sky, your year an orbit round the sun, and every part of it answers your touch.
the sun stands at the centre and the year rings round it, with today's earth riding at today's place, its small moon beside it. tap the ring anywhere else and a faint ghost earth waits on that day.
drag along the ring and the days pass under your finger, the big date and the day's list following as you go. lift, and the day you stopped on stays picked.
tap the small moon beside today's earth and you dive into the week. the moon above shows its phase, named underneath; swipe the dates and each week brings its own.
tap the sun and the ring tips on its edge into a ladder of years. in the week, pull the moon firmly down and the month opens, the moon resting half off its foot.
zenith calendar has no server of its own. tap the gear and switch on "nothing comes in" or "nothing leaves this phone"; lift them, and every almanac is back exactly as it was.
orthodox (ethiopia) is waiting in the app, and the rest of the sky comes with it.
orthodox (ethiopia) · the ethiopian orthodox tewahedo church ·
Genna, the Nativity, Tahsas 29, falls on 7 January 2027. In Zenith Calendar it sits on the ring of your year in the orthodox (ethiopia) almanac.
Debre Tabor, the feast of the Transfiguration, Nehase 13, falls on 19 August 2027.
The fast of Filseta runs from 7 to 22 August 2027, and the feast of Filseta, the Assumption of St Mary, Nehase 16, falls on 22 August.
Each church keeps its own dates, so each has its own almanac, and the days the two share are in both. Light the one your church keeps.
Most feasts fall on the same Gregorian day each year, but some move a day around a leap year. Those are dated only where a church list prints the year, so the almanac shows nothing rather than a guessed day.
Zenith Calendar for Android comes with an almanac called orthodox (ethiopia): the fasts and feasts of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, drawn on the ring of your year beside your own days. Turning it on costs nothing.