Friday, February 15, 2008

Calendars

There are plenty of proposals out there for Martian calendars. In general, I don't like many of them, since I prefer my own (16 months of about 41 days each). But that's not the point.

Christianity on Mars will need a liturgical calendar. The one we use on Earth is actually from two planets -- Earth, and the Moon. The terrestrial calendar, based on the orbit of the Earth around the Sun, is where we get our menaion cycle -- the daily feasts and all. The lunar calendar, based on the orbits of the Moon around both the Sun and the Earth, is where the Paschal cycle comes from. This is simple enough. But on Mars, it gets more complicated.

In addition to the Earth and the Moon (both of which, by the way, can be distinguished by the naked eye from the surface of Mars), Martians may want to use the Martian cycle as well.

So, how shall they mix?

My suggestion is this: the Paschalion should be as close as possible to that on Earth, since we're all supposed to have the same Pascha, ever since Nicaea. Likewise, the other major feasts should be as close as possible to Earth; those derived dates should go accordingly. For example, Christmas would fall on the Martian day closest to December 25; Theophany would be twelve Martian days later; Meeting of the Lord (happy feast, by the way) would be 28 Martian days after that, which, due to the longer day on Mars, actually winds up being about a day after it is celebrated on Earth.

Likewise, Pascha would be the first Martian Sunday (the Mars week would drift relative to the Earth week) after the first 'full moon' after the Earth's vernal equinox (or something approximating that -- as Orthodox, I'd use the Julian calendar, which is about 4 days off for the full moon and 13 days off for the equinox.  Oh well.)

An interesting consequence is that the Meeting of the Lord can occur on Mars in the second week of Lent every once in a while. It would then be dealt with something like Annunciation is, I assume.

I should address the problem of the different length of day (and thus week) on Mars. That will be a later post, I suppose.

So the Paschalion, and with it, the Lectionary cycle would be Lunar.  The Menaion, at least when it comes to the major feasts (perhaps, for the Orthodox at least, doxology-rank and higher) would be Terrestrial; my recommendation for the Martian calendar, is to have the minor commemorations, of which there are dozens each day, redone for the Martian year.  So you might get the 28th Sunday after Pentecost, feast of St. John Chrysostom (January 27), and the long list of saints for, say, the 38th of Phobosmonth.

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

I guess I'll start this thing

So the Lord's Prayer says, in part, "On Earth as it is in Heaven".  This works fine for earthlings, but what happens when someone is praying in Space?  How about on Mars?  Can it be changed to reflect the current location, or is it unchangable?

And how about other prayers, like the Prayer of the Hours: "Thou, who at all times, at every hour, in Heaven and on Earth, art worshipped and glorified, O Christ God. . ."  Is that more changeable?