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===Hours of the Liturgical Day===
In the Byzantine period the day was divided into two 12-hour cycles fixed by the rising and setting of the sun.
:"Following Roman custom, the Byzantines began their calendrical day (''nychthemeron'') at midnight with the first [[Hours|hour]] of day (''hemera'') coming at dawn. The third hour marked midmorning, the sixth hour noon, and the ninth hour midafternoon. Evening (''[[Vespers|hespera]]'') began at the 11th hour, and with sunset came the first hour of night (''[[Compline|apodeipnon]]''). The interval between sunset and sunrise (''nyx'') was similarly divided into 12 hours as well as the traditional "watches" (''vigiliae'') of Roman times."<ref>Prof. Dr. [http://aha.missouri.edu/people/rautman.html Marcus Louis Rautman]. ''"Time."'' In [http://books.google.ca/books?id=hs3iEyVRHKsC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Gynaikeion+church+-flower+-witches&source=gbs_summary_r&cad=0 ''Daily Life in the Byzantine Empire'']. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2006. pp.3</ref>
===Days of the Liturgical Week===
Dr. Marcus Rautman points out that the seven-day week was known throughout the ancient world. The Roman Calendar had assigned one of the planetary deities to each day of the week. The Byzantines naturally avoided using these Latin names with their pagan echoes. They bagan their week with the "[[Lord's Day]]" (Kyriake), followed by an orderly succession of numbered days (Deutera, Trite, Tetarte, and Pempte), a day of "preparation" (Paraskeve), and finally Sabatton.
:"Each day was devoted to remembering one or more martyrs or saints, whose observed feast days gradually eclipsed traditional festivals. Kyriake was seen as both the first and eighth day of the week, in the same way that [[Jesus Christ|Christ]] was the alpha and omega of the cosmos, existing both before and after time. The second day of the week recognized [[angels]], "the secondary luminaries as the first reflections of the primal outpouring of light," just as the sun and the moon had been observed during the Roman week. [[John the Forerunner|John the Baptist]], the forerunner (Prodromos) of Christ, was honored on the third day. Both the second and third days were viewed as occasions for penitence. The fourth and sixth days were dedicated to the [[Cross]] with holy songs sung in remembrance of the Crucifixion. The [[Theotokos|Virgin Mary]] was honored on the fifth day of the week, while the seventh day was set aside for the [[Martyr|martyrs]] of the church."<ref>Prof. Dr. [http://aha.missouri.edu/people/rautman.html Marcus Louis Rautman]. ''"Time."'' In [http://books.google.ca/books?id=hs3iEyVRHKsC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Gynaikeion+church+-flower+-witches&source=gbs_summary_r&cad=0 ''Daily Life in the Byzantine Empire'']. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2006. pp.5</ref>
re-org.
By the late tenth century the ''Byzantine Creation Era'', which had become fixed at September 1 5508 BC since at least the seventh century, had become the widely accepted calendar of choice for Chalcedonian Orthodoxy. The ''Alexandrian Era'' continued to be used from the sixth century on by the [[w:Coptic calendar|Coptic]] Church, and in a modified form by the [[w:Ethiopian calendar|Ethiopian]] Orthodox Church, forming their calendars up until the present day.
==Orthodox Observation of Time==
===Hours of the Liturgical Day===
In the Byzantine period the day was divided into two 12-hour cycles fixed by the rising and setting of the sun.
:"Following Roman custom, the Byzantines began their calendrical day (''nychthemeron'') at midnight with the first [[Hours|hour]] of day (''hemera'') coming at dawn. The third hour marked midmorning, the sixth hour noon, and the ninth hour midafternoon. Evening (''[[Vespers|hespera]]'') began at the 11th hour, and with sunset came the first hour of night (''[[Compline|apodeipnon]]''). The interval between sunset and sunrise (''nyx'') was similarly divided into 12 hours as well as the traditional "watches" (''vigiliae'') of Roman times."<ref>Prof. Dr. [http://aha.missouri.edu/people/rautman.html Marcus Louis Rautman]. ''"Time."'' In [http://books.google.ca/books?id=hs3iEyVRHKsC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Gynaikeion+church+-flower+-witches&source=gbs_summary_r&cad=0 ''Daily Life in the Byzantine Empire'']. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2006. pp.3</ref>
===Days of the Liturgical Week===
Dr. Marcus Rautman points out that the seven-day week was known throughout the ancient world. The Roman Calendar had assigned one of the planetary deities to each day of the week. The Byzantines naturally avoided using these Latin names with their pagan echoes. They bagan their week with the "[[Lord's Day]]" (Kyriake), followed by an orderly succession of numbered days (Deutera, Trite, Tetarte, and Pempte), a day of "preparation" (Paraskeve), and finally Sabatton.
:"Each day was devoted to remembering one or more martyrs or saints, whose observed feast days gradually eclipsed traditional festivals. Kyriake was seen as both the first and eighth day of the week, in the same way that [[Jesus Christ|Christ]] was the alpha and omega of the cosmos, existing both before and after time. The second day of the week recognized [[angels]], "the secondary luminaries as the first reflections of the primal outpouring of light," just as the sun and the moon had been observed during the Roman week. [[John the Forerunner|John the Baptist]], the forerunner (Prodromos) of Christ, was honored on the third day. Both the second and third days were viewed as occasions for penitence. The fourth and sixth days were dedicated to the [[Cross]] with holy songs sung in remembrance of the Crucifixion. The [[Theotokos|Virgin Mary]] was honored on the fifth day of the week, while the seventh day was set aside for the [[Martyr|martyrs]] of the church."<ref>Prof. Dr. [http://aha.missouri.edu/people/rautman.html Marcus Louis Rautman]. ''"Time."'' In [http://books.google.ca/books?id=hs3iEyVRHKsC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Gynaikeion+church+-flower+-witches&source=gbs_summary_r&cad=0 ''Daily Life in the Byzantine Empire'']. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2006. pp.5</ref>
==Literal Creation Days==
Additionally it is interesting to note that the traditional Jewish understanding of the creation "days" of Genesis is that they are literal as well, as virtually all the Rabbis have understood in commentaries from Talmudic, Midrashic and Rabbinic sources.<ref>Paul James-Griffiths. ''[http://www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v26/i2/tradition.asp Creation days and Orthodox Jewish Tradition]''. AnswersinGenesis.org. March 2004.</ref><ref>[[w:Abraham ibn Ezra|Ibn Ezra]], Abraham ben Meïr, (1092-1167). ''Ibn Ezra's Commentary on the Pentateuch: Genesis (Bereshit)''. Vol.1 (Genesis). Transl. and annotated by H. Norman Strickman & Arthur M. Silver. Menorah Pub. Co., New York, N.Y., 1988. ISBN 9780932232076</ref>.
==Accounts in Church Fathers==