When is Christmas - January 6 or 7? When is Orthodox and Catholic Christmas?

Christmas is the favorite holiday, fanned with light and joy. It contains so much warmth, kindness and love that I want to give away these feelings together with gifts to friends and relatives. But sometimes it turns out that they celebrate this event quite another day. How is this possible? When Christmas should be celebrated, and what is the difference? Let's try to figure it out.

history of the holiday

The gospel says: Jesus was born in Bethlehem, where His mother Mary and Joseph the Betrothed went to take part in the announced population census. Because of the influx of visitors, all the hotels were busy, so they had to settle in a cave that served as a cattle-shed. It was there that the Son of God was born. The angel brought the news of His birth to the shepherds, who hastened to bow to Him. Another banner of the Messiah's phenomenon was the delightful Bethlehem star, which lit in the sky and pointed the way to the magi. They brought the child gifts - frankincense, myrrh and gold - and honoring Him as the King of the Jews.

First celebration

Surprisingly, nowhere is there any exact evidence of when Christmas came on the calendar, that is, the exact date is not indicated. For this reason, the first Christians did not celebrate this holiday at all. The appearance of the date itself - from 6 to 7 January - was promoted by Copts, Egyptian Christians, they have faith in God, who is born, dies and resurrected, existed from time immemorial. It was from them, from Alexandria, the center of knowledge and sciences, that the tradition of celebrating this event spread to the entire Christian world these days, and initially all the followers of Jesus celebrated the Nativity of Christ and the Epiphany. But in the IV century the Roman Empire suffered a celebration on the occasion of the birth of the Messiah on December 25. This example was not followed by all, for example, the Armenian church remains faithful to the ancient tradition of celebrating two festivals at the same time.

Calendar twists and turns

Further events developed in such a way that in the 16th century Gregory VIII, who was at that time on the papal throne, introduced his chronology, which was called the "new style". Prior to this, the Julian calendar, introduced by Julius Caesar, was in motion, followed by the definition of "old style". Now the difference between them totals 13 days.

Europe followed its spiritual pastor into a new calendar, and Russia did this only after the victory of the revolution in 1917. But the church did not approve such innovation and remained with its chronology.

There was another interesting event: in 1923, at the Council of Orthodox Churches, at the initiative of the Patriarch of Constantinople, corrections were made to the Julian calendar: a "New Julian" calendar arose, which so far fully coincides with the Gregorian calendar. Representatives of Russia because of the political situation at the meeting were not present, the attempts of the then Patriarch Tikhon to lead, in fulfillment of the majority's decision, were unsuccessful, therefore the Julian calendar is still valid here.

When do Christmas parties celebrate different groups of Christians?

The result of the spread of various chronological systems was confusion with dates. As a result, the adherents of the Vatican and the Protestants celebrate the Catholic Christmas, when on December 24th it is replaced by the 25th. Together these dates are read by 11 local Orthodox churches, but they are checked against their own, New-Julian calendar.

From 6 to 7 January, Christmas comes for Russian, Georgian, Ukrainian, Jerusalem, Serbian Orthodox churches, Athonite monasteries, recognizing only the old style, many Catholics of the Eastern rite and part of Russian Protestants.

It turns out that everyone celebrates the birth of the Son of God on December 25, but everyone does it according to his calendar.

Christmas Eve: Orthodox Traditions

January 6 is a special day, Christmas Eve. It is usually called Christmas Eve. In the evening of this day the Christmas Vigil begins, lasting about three hours. Usually the whole family gathers in the church. It is after the end of service that the moment comes when Orthodox Christmas begins officially. Believers congratulate each other and rush home for the festive table.

Traditionally on Christmas Eve it was not customary to eat until the appearance of the first star or church service. But even after that, festive, but lean dishes were exhibited on the table. Among other edible assortments, a special place was occupied by osovo, or kutya, a porridge of wheat or rice with honey, nuts and poppy seeds. It was cooked only on this Christmas night.

On Christmas Eve they decorated the house, decorated the tree and laid out gifts under it, which could be touched only after a festive dinner. Then the family gathered at the green beauty, and one of the children handed out souvenirs to all of them. Got a gift unfolded and showed it to everyone, thanked.

The evening was taken to be devoted to relatives and family, but it was possible to invite lonely people together to celebrate a holiday and share a meal.

Folk beliefs

Evening of Christmas Eve was considered a good time for all sorts of predictions for the future. Before supper, it was customary to go out and "watch the stars", which, thanks to various signs, could tell about the forthcoming harvest, and therefore, about the well-being of the family. So, the blizzard foreshadowed that the bees would swarm well. A starry night promised a good litter of cattle and an abundance of forest berries. The hoarfrost on the trees was a harbinger of a successful crop of grains.

Before the meal, the master had to go around with the pot of kutya around the house three times and then throw a few spoons of porridge on the threshold - a treat for the spirits. To cajole the "frost", doors were opened for him and invited to the table.

Until the end of the kut was not eaten, spoons were left in it, which was a symbolic tribute to the poor.

The first day of the holiday

On January 7, the Nativity of Christ began to celebrate with all the breadth of the soul. After the morning Liturgy, the Orthodox went to visit each other. The festive skoromny table was bursting with raznosolov, it was not removed, because friends who came to congratulate the hosts, constantly changed. It was considered a good tradition to visit all relatives, especially those who are old and alone.

Catholic customs

According to Western Christians, no one on Christmas Eve should be left without a present. The main donor was St. Nicholas (Santa Claus). He gave presents in a very remarkable way: he put them into socks and hung them over the fireplace, and then he disappeared into the pipe.

The custom of caroling was preserved, when children and young people went from house to house with songs. At the same time, participants in the action dressed in various costumes and masks. In gratitude for the congratulations and good wishes, the adults gave them sweets.

Another attribute of the holiday - "Christmas bread" - is a special fresh wafers, illuminated during the Advent. They were tasted when Christmas was celebrated at the festive table or during the congratulations of each other.

As a festive decoration, not only spruce, but also other types of trees could perform. In addition, the house was decorated with special wreaths of twigs and flowers, which were the symbol of the Sun.

Christmas is a wonderful holiday, warmed by the warmth of loved ones and the love of God, which allowed this miracle to happen. Maybe that's why I want so much to please those who are close. It is not so important when Christmas comes for certain people, the main thing is that it comes and renews the human soul.