Now it's time to celebrate 'Old Christmas' - January 7, 2016

 

January 6, 2016

Courtesy Photo

The Patriarch of Moscow leads a Christmas service at Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow. Russian Orthodox Christians celebrate old Christmas on January 7, following the Julian calendar.

Reporter's note: Twenty plus years ago my family and I were living in Big Stone Gap, Virginia. Some new people moved next door to us and at Christmas we noticed they left their Christmas tree up until mid-January. Our daughter went to school with one of the neighbor's kids and learned the new family was Russian Orthodox. They celebrated 'Old Christmas,' which is a couple of weeks after December 25, more specifically January 6 or 7.

I hadn't thought much about this until my wife went to seminary many years later, in the Atlanta area. In one of her classes the students visited a large Greek O...



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