Reminder: Orthodox Christmas Celebrations

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Today, 7th January 2017, is Christmas day for some of Orthodox Christians all over the globe. Because most Orthodox Christians celebrate Christmas two weeks after Western churches, holiday festivities are still happening around the world. Orthodox Christians, Greek Catholics and Coptic Christians observe Christmas this Saturday everywhere from Russia to Israel to Canada. The reason for getting festive in early January is that some countries still celebrate feast days according to the old Julian Calendar, which is currently 13 days behind the Gregorian Calendar. The Julian calendar was created under the reign of Julius Caesar in 35 BC, and was widely used before the introduction of the Gregorian calendar, proposed by Latin Pope Gregory of Rome in 1582. Nowadays, most countries have adopted the New Calendar, but some still retain the Julian calendar dates for their traditional holidays. The Epiphany, for instance, is celebrated on January 19, rather than January 6. Today Christmas celebrations take place in countries such as: Russia, Serbia, Belarus, Montenegro, Greece, Montenegro, Macedonia, Ethiopia,Ukraine. Also Orthodox Christians in Bosnia and Hercegovina are getting their Christmas feast today. Bulgaria although being Orthodox country accepted the Gregorian calendar for Christmas religious celeb and that’s why its Christmas day was on 25th December 2016. Fasting and charity are prominent features of the Christmas season for Eastern Christians, along with numerous services of worship. Fasting ends on the Christmas day. Many Orthodox Christians go to the church to attend a Christmas liturgy that evening. Orthodox Christmas Day is celebrated with a festive meal, including roast pork meat. So January 7 is Christmas Day in many countries across the world and the celeb events are in process.