Merry Christmas
- Thread starter Samseau
- Start date
I'm sorry, but isn't it too early to be celebrating Christmas? This morning, on the 25th of December, I went to my church to celebrate the day of Bishop Spyridon the Wonderworker of Tremithus. We will celebrate Christmas Eve on the 6th of January, 2025.
Is there something I haven't noticed?
Is there something I haven't noticed?
You are aware that there are two different calendars in use within the Orthodox Church, right? Some use the Julian calendar, others use the revised Julian calendar. Our January 7th will be Christmas (December 25th) in the Julian calendar, whereas today is Christmas according to the revised Julian calendar, which matches the calendar in general use today.
Either date is fine, the American Orthodox Church follows the Old Calendar for 99% of events but accepts the revised Christmas date because it is entirely plausible and basically in the same time frame (about 6 months after the birth of John the Baptist), and it is easier than trying to fight Christmas tradition in the West. Trying to fight something like a date could be a pointless obstacle for those seeking to convert.
Conversely, for something like Pascha, the date is always after Passover, as it is explicitly stated in the Bible, so there's simply no room to compromise on that. Other dates and feast days aren't major cultural events, so there's no need to consider any changes for them either. It's basically just Christmas, which all of school and work holidays center around in Europe and America, so in the name of economia the 25th is observed as to not place a pointless obstacle for the faithful. Jan 7th is already when people are working again, with children at school, or returned to college. The Bishops of America decided on this awhile ago, and I believe all of Greece has accepted this compromise as well.
Must be an American thing. I know of a few OCA parishes that completely follow the Julian Calendar, and some that follow the "Revised Julian" but never a mixmatch.
What you call the "mixmatch" is the same thing as the "Revised Julian."
Nope, the calendar doesn't work like that. The revised Julian celebrates everything by the Gregorian Calendar except Lent/Pascha. Every other event/feast is different, from the Church New Year, to Dormition, to feast dates of individual saints.
The calendar is only a pointless obstacle to those that don't understand why. One of the reasons I hold to it is that government has no right to interfere with the canons/decisions of the Church, because once you grant them that premise, they won't stop at that.
Merry Christmas!
It's summer here which means warm weather and staying outside late in the night playing basketball or cricket with the family, long conversations, eating very well and going to a Christmas service. A very special time of year. Thankful to have peace and to be around family.
God Bless you all.
It's summer here which means warm weather and staying outside late in the night playing basketball or cricket with the family, long conversations, eating very well and going to a Christmas service. A very special time of year. Thankful to have peace and to be around family.
God Bless you all.
