O Maker of all creation, Who hast established the times and the seasons in Thine own power: Bless the crown of this year with Thy goodness, O Lord, and keep our rulers and Thy flock in peace, by the intercessions of the Theotokos, and save us.
Apolytikion for the Church New Year
Two Great Feasts, the Nativity of the Theotokos and the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, dominate the month of September and overshadow the other holy days which September contains; yet there are other holy days in this month which also contain spiritual treasures. Indeed, the entire Church Year is a treasure house of spiritual wisdom and every blessing. One "minor" feast day this month rich in meaning is the Beginning of the Church Year on September 1 (September 14 new style).
The Church New Year occurs in September for two reasons, Scriptural and historical. The Scriptural reason is that God through Moses ordained that the Old Testament Church celebrate the New Year at the time of the harvest in "the seventh month," that is, September. The historical reason is that the Romano-Byzantine Emperors as well as the Eastern Patriarchs of the New Testament Church also decreed that the year should be reckoned as beginning in September, though the medieval Popes diverged from this, declaring their own "Indiction" to begin on January 1. (There is a more complete explanation of the word "Indiction" later in this Bulletin). It is only in more recent times that Orthodox people began to celebrate New Year on January 1; indeed, to this day, the church services on 1 January make no mention whatsoever of New Year, but refer only to the Circumcision and to St. Basil the Great.
This is interesting historically, but what is the spiritual significance of the New Year for us? It is this: that the end of each year and beginning of the next reminds us that TIME IS PRECIOUS, AND WE MUST NOT WASTE IT. Indeed, the time of our lives is the fundamental gift God has given us, to be used wisely and offered up to Him for our salvation, or to be used foolishly and offered to the devil unto our condemnation.
We know that we should tithe of our money and material resources to God, but do we also realize that we owe Him a tithe of our time as well? Think about it: if you counted all the hours each week which you spent in prayer, service to the Church, and acts of charity, would it amount to 10% of your week?
Look at the Lord's Day. How much of it do we really give to the Lord??? How many Christians today still realize that the Lord's Day begins on Saturday evening with Vespers and continues till sunset on Sunday, and that the entire 24 hours should be spent in a different rhythm, a holy rhythm distinct from the other days of the week? Do we not rather just "squeeze in" church on Sunday morning, as just one activity in the whirlwind of many others? We should think seriously about this, and how different it is from the behavior of our Christian ancestors.
Look at how we approach our monthly planning. Are Church holy days the first thing we put in our Palm Pilots or monthly planners, or the last thing? Or perhaps we don't put them at all. Everything else is so important: work, school events, kids' soccer practice, birthday parties, etc, etc. Church is, yes, squeezed in when possible.
Let us seriously re-examine our priorities as they are revealed not in our imaginations but by the concrete evidence: the use of our time. And let us offer to the Lord a New Year in which these priorities will be altered to please Him first, for the salvation of our souls.
ON THE BEGINNING OF THE INDICTION, THAT IS, THE NEW YEAR
For the maintenance of their armed forces, the Roman emperors decreed that their subjects in every district should be taxed every year. This same decree was re-issued every fifteen years, since the Roman soldiers were obliged to serve for fifteen years. At the end of each fifteen-year period, an assessment was made of what economic changes had taken place, and a new tax was decreed, which was to be paid over the span of the fifteen years. This imperial tax decree, which was issued before the season of winter, was named Indictio that is, Definition or Order. This name was adopted by the emperors in Constantinople also. At other times, the latter also used the term Epinemisis, that is, Distribution (Dianome). It is commonly held that St. Constantine the Great introduced the Indiction decrees in AD 312, after he beheld the sign of the Cross in heaven and vanquished Maxentius and was proclaimed Emperor…
[The Indiction of 1 September] was adopted by Patriarchs of Constantinople after the fall of the City in 1453. Since the completion of each year takes place, as it were, with the harvest and the gathering of crops into storehouses, and we begin anew from henceforth the sowing of seed in the earth for the production of future crops, September is considered the beginning of the New Year. The Church also keeps festival this day, beseeching God for fair weather, seasonable rains, and the abundance of the fruits of the earth. The Holy Scriptures (Lev. 23:24-25 and Num. 29:1-2) also testify that the people of Israel celebrated the feast of the Blowing of Trumpets on this day, offering hymns of thanksgiving. In addition to all the aforesaid, on this feast we also commemorate our Savior's entry into the synagogue in Nazareth, where he was given the book of the Prophet Esaias to read, and He opened it and found the place where it is written, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, for which cause He hath anointed Me…" - Great Horologion, Holy Transfiguration Monastery