WHILE Christmas festivities may have come to an end for us, the holidays are just beginning for Orthodox Christian countries, who are celebrating Christmas today.
From Russia to Israel, there are actually scores of countries celebrating Jesus’ birth in January instead of December. Let’s take a look at why…
When do Orthodox Christians celebrate Christmas and why?
Orthodox Christians celebrate Christmas on January 7 – which is today!
The celebrations in Orthodox countries began midnight on ‘Christmas Eve’, by which we mean January 6, 2019.
The reason these dates vary so much from what we know as Christmas is down to a difference in calendars.
In the West, we use the Catholic-created Gregorian calendar, which was introduced by Pope Gregory in 1582.
Spain, Portugal, France, Poland, Italy, Catholic Low Countries and Luxemburg were the first nations to adopt it.
But, in much of the Soviet bloc and Middle East, they still use the Julian calendar – which was created by Julius Caesar in 45BC.
This means that there is a 13-day gap between the two calendars, so Christmas Day in those nations falls on what we now know as January 7.
Nowadays, most Orthodox countries follow the Gregorian calendar, but still observe a number of religious holidays on the Julian dates.
The Orthodox Epiphany, for example, is on January 19 – instead of January 6.
Which countries celebrate Christmas on January 7?
Nowadays, more than a third (39 per cent) of the world’s Christians live in Russia – with around 85 per cent of them choosing to celebrate Christmas in January.
Some Orthodox countries – including Greece, Cyprus and Romania – adopted a revised Julian calendar in 1923, and now celebrate with us on December 25.
Those that celebrate in January include Orthodox Christians in Russia, Ukraine, Israel, Egypt and Bulgaria.
Serbia, Belarus, Montenegro, Kazakhstan, Macedonia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Georgia and Moldova also all stick to the traditional Orthodox date meaning they are also celebrating today.
MORE RELIGIOUS HOLIDAYS
Are there any other dates for Christmas Day?
Just the one – the Armenian Apostolic Church celebrates on January 6.
Countries like Armenia and Lebanon were outside of the Roman Empire, meaning they were never influenced by either the Julian or Gregorian calendars.
Like us, the Apostolic Church also celebrates Epiphany on January 6.
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News Pictures Happy Orthodox Christmas Day! What countries celebrate today and why does the date vary around the world?
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SATC star Kim swears by gym sessions with Russian kettle bells (traditional cast-iron weights) and the South Beach Diet to give her the body she wants. To avoid overeating, Kim has a radical diet trick – squirting lemon juice on her leftovers – so she won’t carry on picking.
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