Orthodox Christmas Day
Orthodox Christmas Day is on
January 7 every year, and isn’t it an exciting opportunity to celebrate another
Christmas just as the New Year kicks off? Can you believe that Christmas was
originally celebrated 13 days after December 25 (the day we all celebrate it on
today)? In the Julian calendar — a much older calendar used before the current
Gregorian calendar — Christmas was celebrated on January 7. The Orthodox Church
still uses the same old calendar to celebrate Christmas Day. Orthodox
Christians celebrate by going to church and other traditions like burning
frankincense to commemorate the Wise Men’s gifts to baby Jesus.
HISTORY OF ORTHODOX CHRISTMAS
DAY The Christmas season is a much anticipated period of the year all
around the world. It is an important time and means many different things to
everyone. It is a time to reconnect with family and loved ones, a time of
giving and receiving gifts and love, a time to relax and take a break from all
the rigors of the previous months, and more importantly, a time Christians
celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. In the Bible’s account of the birth of
Jesus, it does not state explicitly on which date He was born. The celebration
of Christmas on December 25 is a conception by Sextus Julius Africanus, a
Christian historian in 221 A.D. The date was set using the Julian calendar,
which was later updated to the Gregorian calendar.
Orthodox Christmas day occurs
every January 7 because the Orthodox Church still chooses to celebrate the
birth of Jesus as per the Julian calendar. The Gregorian calendar that is
currently in use today led to a new Christmas Day on December 25 due to the
addition of new elements that changed the calendar year. Perhaps we can even
say that Orthodox Christmas day is the original Christmas Day. Whether you
celebrate on December 25 or January 7, Christmas has evolved from a pagan
holiday to a Christian celebration to a time for everyone, no matter their
religion, climes, or associations. It is a time for everyone to make merry and
engage in traditions and customs like organizing and attending Christmas carols
and concerts, putting up Christmas trees and lights, making beautiful Christmas
cookies, and more.
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