The Marcionite Church of Christ is pleased to announce the establishment of the Marcionite ‘Menologion‘, which is the formal name of the Marcionite Church of Christ’s liturgical calendar.
The Menologion is comprised of several ‘Holy Days,’ which are divided into ‘Holy Week‘ and ‘Holy Feasts.’ Holy Feasts are further subdivided into ‘Major Feasts‘ and ‘Minor Feasts‘.
Holy Days are days on which the Marcionite Christian faithful are expected to attend Divine Liturgy and rest from work and recreation.
All the Holy Days of the Marcionite Church of Christ are supposed to fall on dates corresponding to actual historical events. The date of the Holy Day cannot be arbitrary; there must be an underlying significance either from Sacred Scripture or Sacred Tradition.
Holy Week
The Marcionite Christian Holy Week is considered a period of moveable feasts and fasts, compared to the fixed dates of the Holy Feasts of the Menologion.
Marcionite Christians celebrate Good Friday on the first Friday of April. Jesus was crucified on Friday, April 3rd, 33 C.E. This corresponds with a ‘Blood Mood’ lunar eclipse that started at 2:01 P.M., about an hour before Jesus’ death on the cross and concluded at 7:34 P.M., lasting exactly 333 minutes.
“And it was about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour. And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the sanctuary was rent in the midst. And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said this, he expired.”
Evangelicon 23:42-46
Utilizing this date, Marcionite Christians can easily determine the precise dates of the Holy Week every year using the first Friday of April as their basis.
This includes Holy Sunday (Jesus’ arrival in Jerusalem), Holy Monday (Parable of the Minas), Holy Tuesday (Jesus cleansed the temple and responded to the questioning of his authority), Spy Wednesday (Betrayal of Jesus by Judas), Holy Thursday (The Last Supper), Good Friday (The Crucifixion of Jesus), Black Saturday (Jesus Laid in the Sepulcher), Easter Sunday (The Resurrection), and finally Ascension Monday (Jesus’ Ascension).
Both Spy Wednesday and Good Friday are considered fast days.
Marcionite Christians were the first Christian group to oppose celebrating Easter on the same day as the Jewish Passover.
Holy Feasts
In the Marcionite Liturgical Calendar, there are two ‘Major Feasts’ and two ‘Minor Feasts‘, which are all to be celebrated on fixed dates.
Major Feasts
Marcionite Christians are to celebrate Christmas on November 24th, the exact day that Jesus descended into Capernaum from Heaven in 29 C.E. This corresponds with a total solar eclipse that happened at 11:05 A.M and lasted precisely one minute and 59 seconds.
Marcionite Christians are to celebrate Hallowmas on January 10th, the exact day that Asclepius, the Marcionite bishop of Eleutheropolis, who, during the Diocletianic Persecution, was burned alive in Caesarea in 310 C.E.
This is the only exact date of a Marcionite Christian’s martyrdom that we know for sure.
Marcionite Hallowmas is celebrated in honor of all the martyrs of the Marcionite Church, whether they are known or unknown.
Minor Feasts
The first of the Minor Feasts is the Feast of Marcion. A celebration of the life and contributions of Marcion of Sinope on the Holy Day of July 15th, the Ides of July, which reflect the date found in the old Marcionite Christian phrase, “115 years and six and a half months between Christ and Marcion.” Tertullian also quotes this phrase. It is the period beginning when Jesus descended to earth in the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar in 29 C.E., and the ex-communication of Marcion of Sinope by the Roman ecclesia in July of 144 C.E. Marcion of Sinope’s steadfast courage derived from the Holy Spirit against powerful forces allowed him to prevail and show others our Christian God was only revealed to us through Jesus Christ.
Marcion of Sinope’s Homily to Diognetus should be read as the homily during Divine Liturgy on the Feast of Marcion.
In addition, Marcionite Christians celebrate the Feast of the Cross on September 14th.
According to Christian tradition, the True Cross was discovered on September 14th, 326 C.E., by Helena of Constantinople, the mother of the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great, during a pilgrimage she made to Jerusalem. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre was built at the discovery site by order of Helena and Constantine. The church was dedicated nine years later, with a portion of the cross. One-third remained in Jerusalem, one-third was brought to Rome and deposited in the Sessorian Basilica Santa Croce in Gerusalemme, and one-third was taken to Constantinople to make the city impregnable.
