Why Saint George's day sometimes moves after Easter

Saint George is commemorated on 23 April, which is the name day of Giorgos (George) and Georgia, two of the most common names in Greece. In some years, however, the celebration does not fall on 23 April but on Easter Monday. The reason is that a fixed date meets a feast whose date changes every year.

The rule

When 23 April falls before Orthodox Easter, that is during Great Lent or Holy Week, or on Easter Sunday itself, the feast of Saint George moves to Easter Monday, known in church language as Bright Monday (the Monday of Bright Week, Διακαινήσιμος). When 23 April falls after Easter, the feast stays on its date.

Because Orthodox Easter always falls between 4 April and 8 May on the civil calendar, 23 April sometimes comes before it and sometimes after. The guide to movable name days explains how the date of Easter is calculated.

Why the feast moves

Lent and Holy Week are a time of fasting and repentance. Most saints are still commemorated on their usual dates during that period. Saint George, however, is one of the most venerated great martyrs of the Church, so his feast is moved out of Lent and Holy Week into the joy of Easter week, where it can be celebrated in full.

The coming years

Based on the Easter algorithm this calendar uses, these are the years up to 2040 in which the feast moves:

• 2027: Easter on 2 May, Saint George on Monday 3 May.
• 2030: Easter on 28 April, Saint George on Monday 29 April.
• 2032: Easter on 2 May, Saint George on Monday 3 May.
• 2033: Easter on 24 April. 23 April is Holy Saturday, so the feast moves to Monday 25 April.
• 2035: Easter on 29 April, Saint George on Monday 30 April.
• 2038: Easter on 25 April, Saint George on Monday 26 April.
• 2040: Easter on 6 May, Saint George on Monday 7 May.

Between 2026 and 2040, then, the feast moves seven times. In the other years it stays on 23 April: in 2026 Easter was on 12 April and Giorgos celebrated as usual on Thursday 23 April, while in 2028, with Easter on 16 April, 23 April coincides with Thomas Sunday. In recent years the feast moved in 2021 (to 3 May), 2022 (to 25 April) and 2024 (to 6 May).

The same goes for Saint Mark

A similar rule applies to Saint Mark the Evangelist, commemorated on 25 April. When that date falls before Easter or on Easter Sunday, his feast moves to Easter Tuesday (Bright Tuesday). So Markos (Mark) will celebrate on Tuesday 4 May 2027, Tuesday 30 April 2030, Tuesday 4 May 2032, Tuesday 1 May 2035, Tuesday 27 April 2038 and Tuesday 8 May 2040.

What it means for your wishes

Good wishes usually follow the day the Church celebrates, so in the years when the feast moves, Giorgos and Georgia receive their “Chronia polla!” (“many years”) on Easter Monday, which is also a public holiday in Greece. You don't need to remember any of this: each name page shows the correct date for every year.

Communities that keep the old calendar honour Saint George 13 days later, on 6 May of the civil calendar. See the guide to the old and new calendar.