When Is Orthodox Christmas?

 

Women dressed in traditional costumes sing Christmas

carols as they gather to celebrate the Orthodox Christmas

at a compound of the National Architecture museum in Kiev,

Jan. 7, 2016.

Photo: REUTERS/VALENTYN OGIRENKO

While several countries are getting ready to return to work

after New Year parties, celebrations are just beginning in others.

Orthodox Christian communities, including Greek Catholics

and Coptic Christians, around the world are preparing for

Christmas, which they celebrate on Jan. 7, nearly two weeks

after the Dec. 25 festivities.

Christmas is observed on Jan. 7 by 15 different Eastern Orthodox

churches. Nearly 39 percent of the total number of Orthodox

Christians in the world live in Russia and around 85 percent

of them choose to celebrate Christmas in January.

People dance while celebrating the orthodox Christmas near

the Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg, Russia,

Jan. 7, 2016. Photo: ALEXANDER AKSAKOV/

GETTY IMAGES

The difference in dates is a result of the calendar Orthodox

Christians follow. These communities follow the Julian calendar,

dating back to 46 B.C., according to which Christmas falls on

Jan. 7. Also called the Russian Orthodox calendar, this was

devised by Roman leader Julius Caesar.

Meanwhile most of the West follows the Gregorian calendar,

also called the “Western calendar,” introduced by Pope Gregory

in 1582 to correct mistakes in the Julian calendar.

While Orthodox Christian communities follow the Julian calendar,

their country’s government doesn’t necessarily do the same. For

example, the Russian Orthodox Church follows the Julian calendar

but the Russian government functions as per the “Western calendar.”

A child wearing a Santa Claus costume lights a candle inside

the Church of the Nativity in the West Bank town of Bethlehem

during the Eastern Orthodox Christmas, Jan. 6, 2014.

Photo: Reuters

Communities observe different traditions in celebrating the

season. Many Orthodox Christians, Greek Catholics and Coptic

Christians abstain from consuming meat and alcohol in the 40

days leading up to Jan. 7 and even fast on Christmas eve, Jan. 6.

Many attend Christmas eve service usually held in the evening.

Communities is Russia and Ukraine consume a 12-course meal,

free of dairy and meat products, on Christmas eve. The 12 courses

draw a parallel to the 12 apostles chosen by Jesus Christ. Then on

Christmas day, people go out carolling.

People, wearing traditional Ukrainian clothes, sing folk songs

as they celebrate Orthodox Christmas in the western

Ukrainian city of Lviv on Jan. 8, 2015.

Photo: YURIY DYACHYSHYN/AFP/Getty Images

In Ethiopia, communities celebrate with church services and

sporting events and in Serbia, people hunt for an oak branch

to decorate their homes with.

Source           –    IBT Media Inc.