Old-style Orthodox Christians celebrate Christmas

Chisinau, 7 January /MOLDPRES/ - The old-style Orthodox Christians on 7 January celebrate the Birth of God (Christmas), which is one of the 12 Great Feasts of the Christian Year, preceded by a period of 40 days of fasting.      

The old-style Christmas is marked in Russia, Belarus, communities from Ukraine, Bulgaria, Armenia, Georgia, etc. The tradition to celebrate the Birth of God according to the old style was also maintained in Serbia and Montenegro, as the Serbian Church, just as the Russian one, continues to be guided by the Julian calendar, just as in some cantons from Switzerland. 

In Romania, the old-style Christmas is marked in communities of Russians, Ukrainians and Serbians. Thus, the winter holidays start on 7 January, when the old-style Christmas is marked, for the Russians Lipovans who live in the Suceava county, in the municipalities of Suceava, Falticeni, Radauti and in the Gura Humorului town, as well as for those who live in Dobrogea. For their part, the new-style Orthodox Christians mark Saint John the Baptist on this day. 

The separation of the Old-style Orthodox Church from the New-style one took place in 1923, when the Constantinople Patriarchate ruled to switch from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian one.

The difference between those who mark the holidays according to the old style and the ones who observe the Gregorian calendar consists in the fact that the new-style holidays with fixed date are marked by 13 days earlier. The only new-style holiday which observes the old Julian calendar is the Easter; yet, although this holiday has the Julian calendar as benchmark, it is established taking into account the new calendar.  

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