September 1st marks the beginning of the Orthodox Ecclesiastical New Year also known as the Indiction. More than just a calendar marker, it symbolizes new beginnings, divine providence, and the eternal rhythm of spiritual renewal.
In the Old Testament tradition, September was the beginning of the Jewish civil year, a time of harvest when fruits were gathered and sacrifices of thanksgiving were brought before God (see Exodus 12:2). The Church inherited this rhythm of gratitude and renewal. In Orthodox worship, the liturgical reading appointed for this day recalls Christ’s entry into the synagogue in Nazareth, where He read from the Prophet Isaiah and proclaimed the fulfillment of the Messianic prophecy: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me… to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord” (Luke 4:16–21). This moment of revelation, of the Kingdom breaking into time, resonates profoundly with the Church’s choice to begin the year on this day.
The First Ecumenical Council in Nicaea (325 AD) formally decreed September 1 as the start of the Church’s year. For centuries, particularly in the Eastern Roman Empire (what is often later, and controversially, called the “Byzantine Empire”), the civil year and the ecclesiastical year began together on September 1. This was not universal however as in some regions of Christendom, March 25 (the Feast of the Annunciation) or December 25 (Christmas) were observed as New Year’s Days. It was only much later that January 1 became the standard and tied to the adoption of the Gregorian Calendar, first introduced in 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII and adopted by Catholic nations like Italy, France, and Spain. Protestant with Orthodox lands resisting the change for generations. Great Britain and its American colonies held to the older reckoning until as late as 1752, when March 25 had still been celebrated as New Year’s Day.
Thus, September 1 is not simply a date on a calendar but a window into how history, the Church, and identity intersect as a day of spiritual renewal, a link with ancient Israel, a decision of the Ecumenical Councils, and a reminder of how history has remembered, or misremembered, the Christian Roman Empire and the Hellenic people. More recently, in 1989, Patriarch Dimitrios I of Constantinople declared September 1 as a day of prayer for the environment a vision later embraced by other Christian traditions, reminding us that renewal must extend to all of creation.
A word must also be said about the label “Byzantine” and one I have never cared for as many know. It is important to remember that the people of that empire never called themselves Byzantines; they were Romans, the heirs of Rome, though deeply and distinctly shaped by Hellenic culture and Orthodox faith. It may surprise some but the term was first coined in 1557, more than “a century” after the Fall of Constantinople, when the German historian Hieronymus Wolf published his Corpus Historiæ Byzantinæ. His choice of “Byzantine” (taken from Byzantium, the old name of Constantinople) and was not a positive term (by older definitions) became common only in later centuries, particularly in the West. Prior to its acceptance the people were referred to as Romans in Western literature and the Empire the Roman Empire/ Eastern Roman Empire. Many modern historians, and indeed many Hellenes themselves like myself, object to the term, since it distorts historical identity. Like the words “Greek” and “Greece” (both foreign terms), “Byzantine” was never what those people called themselves, they were Romans (Rhomaioi/ Romioi) and Hellenes, citizens of Hellas.
Going from classical Hellenes to Romioi back to Hellenes, in the modern sense, is part of a move expansive discussion but important to have, as is the unifying factor of the Hellenic language. I remember when walking in NYC many decades ago with older people (mostly born in the 19th Century) asking me when quite young “Ise Romios” and my answer understanding what was being asked answered “Nai”.
