Both Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholics honor God's creation of the world on September 1.
A unique liturgical feast on many Eastern Catholic calendars is the Byzantine New Year, which celebrates the creation of the world.
This tradition can be traced back to the first few centuries of Christianity, where Eastern Christians tried to calculate the age of the earth using the Septuagint version of the Bible.
According to OrthodoxWiki, their results "placed the date of creation at 5,509 years before the Incarnation, and was characterized by a certain tendency which had already been a tradition amongst Hebrews and Jews to number the years from the foundation of the world (Latin: Annus Mundi/Ab Origine Mundi [AM]). Its year one, the supposed date of creation, was September 1, 5509 BC to August 31, 5508 BC."
The Eastern Church then established a feast that would honor the creation of the world every September 1. It is also the first day of their liturgical year, similar to the way Roman Catholics celebrate the beginning of Advent as the beginning of the liturgical year.
Feast of Creation
This feast celebration God's creation of the world can be seen in the various liturgical texts used by Eastern Catholics and Eastern Orthodox:
O Creator of the universe, / Thou didst appoint times by Thy power; / bless the crown of this year with Thy goodness, O Lord. / Preserve in safety Thy rulers and cities: / and through the intercessions of the Theotokos, save us!
O Creator and Master of time and the ages, / Triune and Merciful God of all: / grant blessings for the course of this year, / and in Thy boundless mercy save those who worship Thee and cry out in fear: / “O Savior, grant blessings to all mankind!”
While this feast has been celebrated by Eastern Christians for centuries, recently it has become part of a more global ecumenical effort to Pray for the Care of Creation.
Pope Francis was the first Roman Pontiff to join in this annual day of prayer, and Pope Leo XIV has similarly taken up the effort to pause and pray on September 1 for humanity and our stewardship of the world.
In the Roman Catholic Church, there are now liturgical texts that can be used on September 1, celebrating Mass for the Care of Creation.
While Western Christians may not be familiar with honoring God's creation on September 1, this new ecumenical effort has a potential to further unite Christians around the world, recognizing the beauty that God has given to us, and our responsibility to protect it.
