EMMI Liturgical Year

Celebrations and Feast Days

In the Oriental Orthodox Church

In the Coptic Orthodox rite, St. Mary is commemorated on the 21st of each Coptic month (Generally the 30th/31st of each Gregorian month).

• January 22 Wedding at Cana

• January 29 Dormition of Saint Mary, the Theotokos

• April 2 Apparition of Saint Mary in the Church of Zeitoun

• April 7 Annunciation of the Birth of Christ

• May 9 Birth of Saint Mary

• June 1 Entry of the Lord Christ into Egypt

• June 28 Commemoration of the First Church for the Virgin Mary in the City of Philippi

• August 13 Annunciation of the Birth of Saint Mary

• August 22 Assumption of the Body of Saint Mary

• December 13 Entrance of Saint Mary into the Temple at Jerusalem

In the Syriac Orthodox rite, St. Mary is commemorated on the following 8 Major feast days:

• January 15 Virgin Mary of the Sowing

• March 25 Annunciation of the Virgin Mary

• May 15 Feast of the Virgin Mary of the Harvest

• August 15 Dormition and Assumption of the Virgin Mary

• September 8 Nativity of the Virgin Mary

• December 26 Glorification of the Mother of God

In the Malankara Orthodox Church, St. Mary is commemorated on the following feast days:

• January 1 Virgin Mary, Mother of God

• January 15 Virgin Mary of the Sowing

• March 25 Annunciation of the Virgin Mary

• May 15 Feast of the Virgin Mary of the Harvest

• August 15 Assumption of the Virgin Mary (preceded by 15 days of lent)

• September 8 Nativity of the Virgin Mary(preceded by 8 days of lent)

• December 26 Glorification of the Mother of God

In the Anglican Communion

In calendars throughout the Anglican Communion and Continuing Anglican churches, the following Marian feasts may be observed, although the practice of different provinces varies widely:

• February 2 Purification of the Blessed Virgin

• February 11 Our Lady of Lourdes[

• March 25 Annunciation of Our Saviour to the Blessed Virgin Mary (Lady Day)

• May 1 Queen of Heaven

• May 31 Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

• August 15 The Blessed Virgin Mary or "The Falling Asleep of the Blessed Virgin Mary"

• September 8 Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

• October 15 Our Lady of Walsingham (Catholics feast on September 24, as of 2001)

• December 8 Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary

In Lutheranism

Lutherans tend to de-emphasize the importance of Mary out of respect for the centrality of Jesus, yet many or all of the traditional medieval Marian days are retained. Due to disagreements about the perpetual virginity of Mary, many Lutherans avoid using the traditional title of "Blessed Virgin Mary" to preface the feasts or don't celebrate them, although many still retain the title and continue the observances (the Book of Concord also explicitly reaffirms the perpetual virginity of Mary in the Latin form of Martin Luther's Smalcald Articles, and suggests it strongly elsewhere in the German form). The following are Marian festivals celebrated within the Lutheran liturgical calendar:

• February 2 Presentation of the Lord, usually referred to as "The Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Presentation of Our Lord" together (sometimes the order of terms is switched for emphasis), also known as Candlemas

• March 25 Annunciation of Our Lord

• May 31: The Visitation of the Virgin Mary to Elizabeth

• August 15 Mary, Mother of Our Lord (most refer to it simply as St. Mary's Day instead of the Assumption, and some prefer to call it the Dormition)[

• September 8: The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, also known as Marymas (few observe this)

• November 21: The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (few observe this)

• December 8: The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Conception of Mary) (although they almost never use the term "immaculate," and very few observe this due to its Roman Catholic association)

When Johann Sebastian Bach worked as Thomaskantor in Leipzig, three Marian feasts were observed for which he composed church cantatas:

• February 2 Purification

• March 25 Annunciation

• July 2 Visitation