Ever heard of Orthodox Christmas Day?
I had actually never heard of this before until I was informed by some friends around me about how many do not celebrate Christmas in December like the majority of us do. I decided to look into this more and realised that it was something that many countries follow, to be precise 17 countries. Examples of countries in which worshippers celebrate their Christmas in January include Russia, Ukraine, Israel, Egypt, Serbia, Belarus, Montenegro, Kazakhstan, Macedonia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Georgia and Moldova etc.
Background
This year, many Orthodox Christians are celebrating Christmas Day on or near January 7 to which works to the Julian calendar that pre-dates Gregorian calendar which is commonly observed. This is due to the fact that people in Eastern Europe and the Middle East date the Nativity using the Julian calendar which was introduced under the Roman emperor Julius Caesar in 45 BC, rather than the Gregorian calendar brought in by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582.
Since Christmas is a celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, his actual birth date is unknown because there isn’t much information about his early life. Therefore, many Christians believe that Christmas could be on January the 7th, also known as Old Christmas Day.
How people celebrate
The day itself is deemed as a time for many to reflect, heal and think about themselves and what they have done over the year. Many go on fasts before the date and after that, eat foods such as nuts and fresh dried fruits, mushroom soup, baked cod, vegetables and herbs etc. On the auspicious day, many join friends and family (just like the Christmas in December) and the meal usual includes meat and different types of pastries which of course varies from countries and regions. In some Orthodox Christian cultures, people walk in procession to seas, rivers and lakes as part of the liturgy on the Orthodox Christmas Day. Though unlike the usual, commercialised Christmas we have, little importance is given to giving presents to each other.
Discussions
One of my friends who comes from an Orthodox Christian background was able to share her views and opinions on this topic and how she felt about having to hold back celebrating in December, “I have always grown up celebrating Christmas in a different way to others because of my family traditions but it hasn’t stopped me from enjoying Christmas celebrations when everyone else does either! I love taking part in school festivities when we have things going on and I love the lead up to the day too!” Though all positives, she did have a small negative to add, “I do sometimes feel like I miss out on the celebrations at home because the tree and decorations are only put towards the beginning of January which is after the Christmas date everyone celebrates.”
I also interviewed others in school to see how they would feel if Christmas was in January and not December and here is what some of them had to say, “I would hate it if it was in January!” and “What’s the point in having it in January when everyone else celebrates Christmas in December?”, “January is the most depressing month, imagine having Christmas then, especially when all the shops and streets take all decorations down and everything is back to normal again.”
Overall, Christmas celebrations are a joyous time for all families regardless of the time in which one celebrates therefore it’s quite nice I think that Christmas is interpreted in different ways by so many countries around the world. Instead of wasting time arguing about what day Christmas should be, we should all have a great time and cherish the moment with friends, family and relatives and I hope that is what has happened and will happen for many of you!
