The services of the Church have frequently several commemorations of various saints upon the same day; and this general statement may be illustrated from Sept. 1. In addition to the _propria_ of the new year, we find commemorations of Simeon Stylites senior; his mother, St Martha; forty women martyrs with the Deacon Ammun; and a miraculous _icon_ of St Mary. To these must be added a commemoration of the Old Testament worthy, Joshua, the son of Nun. This specimen will suffice to show that it would be impossible in the space at our disposal to exhibit the commemorations of every day in the year[169]. We shall confine ourselves to exhibiting the Greek classification of festivals, and marking the dates of some of the more eminent commemorations. But it must be observed that days that are not regarded as festivals frequently contain canons (metrical hymns) which commemorate saints or martyrs. Indeed the offices of the Eastern service-books are packed with an extraordinary abundance of hagiological reference and allusion. As regards dignity and importance in the Greek Church, in addition to Easter, which stands pre-eminent and is known by way of distinction as ‘the Feast’ (ἡ ἑορτή), there are twelve festivals of the first rank, some of them being moveable. These are: (1) the Nativity of the Lord, Dec. 25; (2) the Theophany (Epiphany), Jan. 6; (3) Hypapante (Purification), Feb. 2; (4) the Annunciation of the Theotokos, March 25; (5) the festival of Palms, which with the Sabbath of Lazarus on the preceding day makes one festival; (6) the Ascension of the Lord; (7) Pentecost; (8) the Transfiguration, Aug. 6; (9) the Repose of Theotokos, Aug. 15; (10) the Nativity of Theotokos, Sept. 8; (11) the Exaltation of the Cross, Sept. 14; (12) the Entrance of the Theotokos into the Temple (_i.e._ her presentation), Nov. 21. Each of these is marked first by the day preceding (_proheortia_) partaking of a _festive_ character, and secondly, by having an echo of the festival on certain following days, which are known as the _apodosis_ of the feast; but the name is often applied to the final day of the observance. The apodosis, unlike the Western Octave, is in some cases shorter than a week and in some cases longer. Thus, the apodosis of the Nativity of the Virgin (Sept. 8) terminates on Sept. 12; while the apodosis of the Theophany (Jan. 6) ordinarily extends to Jan. 14. Next in dignity are four festivals of high rank, though not having either _proheortia_ or _apodosis_. They are: (1) the Circumcision, Jan. 1; (2) the Nativity of the Forerunner (St John Baptist), June 24; (3) St Peter and St Paul, the Koryphaeoi, June 29; (4) the Decollation of the Forerunner, Aug. 29. The twelve of the first group and the four of the second may be taken as together corresponding in a measure to festivals of the first class in the Roman classification.