The Churches
Each tradition keeps its own calendar, fasts, feasts, and saints. Gedam follows each one as that church itself keeps it. Here is what to expect from each.
The church of Alexandria, founded by Saint Mark. It keeps the ancient Coptic calendar of thirteen months and celebrates the Nativity on January 7. In Gedam you will find readings appointed for every day (the Katameros) and a saint’s life for the days of the year (the Synaxarium), along with the full cycle of Coptic fasts and feasts.
One of the most ancient churches in the world, with its own Geʼez calendar and its own computus, the Baḥre Ḥasab. The Nativity (Genna) falls on January 7, and Theophany (Timkat) is among the year’s greatest feasts. Gedam provides daily readings, the daily lives of the saints from the Senkessar (the Book of the Saints), and the complete Tewahedo fasting year, all computed from the Church’s own calendar.
The youngest of the six as an independent church (autocephalous since 1993), yet ancient in tradition, it shares the Geʼez calendar, the Senkessar, and the fasts of the Tewahedo faith with the Ethiopian Church. In Gedam it carries the same depth of daily readings, saints, and fasts.
The church of Antioch, in the West Syriac (Antiochene) tradition, celebrating the Nativity on December 25. Its worship is built around Sundays and feasts, with the four offices of the day: Evening, Morning, the readings before the Liturgy, and the Liturgy itself. In Gedam it carries the calendar of fasts and feasts, a set of saints, and the Sunday-and-feast readings across the four offices, drawn from a West Syriac parish reference edition.
The church of the first Christian nation. It keeps the Gregorian calendar and, alone among the six, preserves the ancient unified feast of the Nativity and Theophany together on January 6, as the early Church once did. In Gedam it carries the distinct Armenian fasting calendar (including the Arajavorats, the Fast of the Catechumens, unique to the Armenian Church) with the readings and commemorations drawn from a parish reference edition.
The Saint Thomas Christians of India, worshipping in the West Syriac rite and keeping the Gregorian calendar; the Nativity is December 25. In Gedam it carries the Malankara fasts (including the longer Nativity, Apostles’, and Dormition fasts), the lives of the Church’s declared saints (Saint Gregorios of Parumala, Saint Baselios Yeldho, and Saint Geevarghese Mar Dionysius of Vattasseril), and the Sunday and feast readings, drawn from a parish reference edition.
A note on completeness
Some churches appoint readings and a saint for every day; others appoint them for Sundays and feasts. Where a church’s tradition is daily, Gedam is daily; where it is Sunday- and feast-based, Gedam follows that shape. This is faithfulness to each church, not a gap.
All six traditions are supported today. The Ethiopian, Eritrean, and Coptic calendars are the most deeply sourced; for the Armenian, Syriac, and Malankara traditions the readings follow a parish reference edition, so it is always wise to confirm movable dates with your own parish.
One faith
Different lands, languages, and calendars, held together by one confession of Christ.
The Tradition