Orthodox Christians on Saturday celebrate Christmas - one of the two, along with Easter, the most important church holidays. Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia traditionally performed a Christmas service that night in the main church of the country - the cathedral church of Christ the Savior, which was attended by several thousand believers, including government officials.
Also on this day, the primate of the Russian Orthodox Church will visit the Central Clinical Hospital of St. Alexis on Leninsky Prospekt, congratulate the children invited to the Patriarchal Christmas Tree in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, and hold a Christmas teleconference from there with the cosmonauts of the International Space Station.
Christmas message
According to the teachings of the Church, the Christmas holiday symbolizes the reconciliation of man with God. Christmas heralds the redemptive feat of Jesus Christ and the renewal of human nature, struck by the fall of the forefathers.
In his 2017 Christmas message, the Patriarch recalled that Christians should not only encourage others to follow high moral ideals, but also try to embody these ideals in their daily lives, and primarily through service to their neighbors. "By overcoming conflicts and divisions, we bring to the world the most convincing sermon about the born Savior and by our deeds testify to the extraordinary beauty and spiritual strength of the Orthodox faith," the appeal says.
The Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church, in particular, drew attention to the fact that 2017 marks exactly one hundred years since the "events that radically changed the life of Russia" - "plunging it into the frenzy of civil war, when children rebelled against their parents and brother turned against brother."
"Those subsequent losses and sorrows that our people went through were largely predetermined by the destruction of the thousand-year-old statehood and the struggle with the religious faith of people, which gave rise to a deep split in society. We remember with awe and reverence the feat of the new martyrs and confessors of the Russian Church, whose prayers, we believe , the Lord did not leave our people and gave them the strength to accomplish great labor and military feats, which led to victory in the most terrible war of all wars, to the restoration of the country, to achievements that cause admiration," Kirill noted.
The First Hierarch of the Russian Church expressed gratitude to God "for the miracle manifested to the whole world - the resurrection of faith and piety in our people, for the restoration of destroyed shrines, for new churches and monasteries, the very construction of which is a visible sign of the profound changes that have taken place in people's hearts."
According to the patriarch, in the last decades in the life of compatriots "there were and still are many difficulties and trials", but "all of them are temporary, and therefore not terrible." "The experience of the past century has taught us a lot and should warn us against a lot," the patriarch's message says.
As the press secretary of the patriarch, priest Alexander Volkov, told RIA Novosti, on the day of the feast of the Nativity of Christ, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church will traditionally visit a social institution - a hospital belonging to the Moscow Patriarchate and bearing the name of St. Alexis, Metropolitan of Moscow.
"Here, the patriarch will inspect the newly renovated treatment units, meet with the hospital staff, and his visit to the newly opened palliative department will be a special event," Volkov said. He clarified that not only residents of Moscow, but also residents of other regions, patients with both oncological and other serious diseases, can be treated in this department.
"The patriarch pays special attention to social service and always emphasizes the exceptional importance of this component of church work, and he himself sets an example for the entire Church," the priest said.
The interlocutor of the agency, in particular, noted that, as on his 70th birthday at the end of last year, and on Christmas 2017, the patriarch “blessed all the money that the rectors of Moscow churches planned to purchase for him traditional congratulatory bouquets for Christmas, send to the social account of the hospital of St. Alexis for the purchase of the necessary equipment for it. According to the Patriarchal press service, during the previous similar action in November last year, about 2.5 million rubles were collected for the purchase of medical equipment, and "in the future this practice will be continued."
“Also on this day, according to established practice, the patriarch congratulates the crew of the International Space Station. For several years now, he has been in contact with the ISS via a video signal, and it will be the same this time: in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, before the start of Christmas vespers, the patriarch will communicate with Russian members of the ISS crew - will give a blessing, wish you a Merry Christmas," Volkov said.
The Christmas holiday on the night of January 7 (according to the new style), along with the Russian Orthodox Church, is celebrated by three more local churches - Jerusalem, Serbian and Georgian, as well as Athos monasteries, Catholics of the Eastern rite and some Protestants who adhere to the Julian calendar. According to the charter of the Russian Church, Christmas time is followed by Christmas time (holy days) - a time of special spiritual joy and continuation of the celebration. These days, from January 8 to 17, one-day fasts on Wednesdays and Fridays are cancelled. 
Desiring to save the human race, God became Man and entered human history. The Lord Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world, was born of the Blessed Virgin Mary during the reign of Emperor Octavian Augustus in the Jewish city of Bethlehem. At that time, the emperor ordered that a nationwide census be made throughout the empire, which then included Palestine. For the census, people had to go to the places where they were from. Therefore, the Virgin Mary and the righteous Joseph, as descended from the family of King David, came to Bethlehem (the city of David) to enter their names in the list of Caesar's subjects. In Bethlehem, they did not find a single free room in the hotels. In a cave that served as a pen for sheep, among hay and straw for feed and bedding for livestock, in an environment devoid of not only earthly grandeur, but even ordinary convenience, the God-man, the Savior of the world, was born.
The born humble Divine Infant was glorified by angels, shepherds and foreign wise men who miraculously learned of His birth and came to worship Him. Following them, humanity solemnly celebrates this great event on January 7 (December 25, old style).
The Meaning of the Feast of the Nativity
Christmas is called "the mother of all holidays." Its significance is so great that we even trace the course of modern history and reckoning from the Nativity of Christ. The day preceding Christmas night is called Christmas Eve, after the name of the Lenten dish of this day - sochi, prepared from honey and wheat. Before sunset and the appearance of the first evening star, according to the ancient church tradition, it was customary not to eat anything, imitating the Magi who endured many hardships on the way to the Born King, as well as the shepherds who guarded their flocks at night and were the first to accept the news of the birth of the Divine Infant.
The twelve days from Christmas to the Baptism of the Lord are called Svyatki, that is, holy days, in honor of the Savior's coming into the world. These days, people from ancient times sought to bring joy to each other: they gave gifts, invited guests, told fairy tales and riddles, rode a sleigh and lit a fire, which symbolized the Star of Bethlehem with its light in a dark winter night. Parents told their children about how the Magi came to bow to the newborn Savior of the world and brought him gifts. Starting from the Petrine era, they began to decorate the Christmas tree in the houses - a symbol of unfading life, arranged a nativity scene (like a Christmas cave), went to glorify the born Christ with special songs - carols.
Christians should protect the sanctity of these days and evenings in every possible way, not violating it with fortune-telling and other superstitious customs borrowed from the pagans, because the Church considers fortune-telling to be among grave sins.
Troparion of the Nativity of Christ
in Church Slavonic:
Thy Nativity, Christ our God, ascension to the world, the light of reason, in it I study the stars serving as a star, bow down to the Sun of Truth and lead Thee from the height of the east: Lord, glory to Thee!
in Russian:
Your birth, Christ our God, shed light of knowledge on the world: for those who served the stars were taught by the star to bow to You, the Sun of Truth, and to know You, the East from on high. Lord, glory to You.
Kontakion of the Nativity of Christ
in Church Slavonic:
The Virgin today gives birth to the Most Substantial, and the earth brings a den to the Unapproachable: angels with shepherds glorify, the wise men travel with the star: for the sake of us, be born a Young Child, the Eternal God.
in Russian:
Today the Virgin gives birth to the superexistent, and the earth brings a cave to the Unapproachable; The angels glorify together with the shepherds, while the magi travel after the star, because for our sake the young Infant, the Eternal God, was born.
The troparion and kontakion for the holiday are performed by the vocal quartet of the Raifa Bogoroditsky Monastery "Parable"
Christmas in 2021 is celebrated on January 7th. This is a public holiday, an official day off. It is customary to celebrate in the family circle. In the Orthodox calendar, Christmas is one of the 12 main holidays of the annual liturgical cycle.
The content of the article
history of the holiday
In the Christian church in the II-IV centuries, Christmas was celebrated on January 6th. The holiday was called Epiphany and was associated with the Baptism of the Lord. In the 4th century, the celebration of Christmas was moved to December 25th. After switching from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar in 1918, the Orthodox Church began to celebrate it on January 7th.
During the Soviet period, the celebration of Christmas was forbidden. Customs spread only in a narrow circle of people. Their guardians were patriarchs and, to some extent, residents of the countryside. Many adherents of religious practices were persecuted. The traditions of the Nativity of Christ began to be revived only in the 90s of the twentieth century.
Traditions and rituals for Christmas
The Christmas period begins with the Great Forty-day Lent, which lasts from November 28 to January 6. At this time, it is customary to abstain from meat food, read prayers and show mercy.
The celebration of Christmas begins on the evening of January 6th. After the first star rises in the sky, which symbolizes the Star of Bethlehem, people sit down at the solemn table. After the meal, believers go to churches for divine services: an all-night vigil and a Christmas liturgy. Services led by senior clergy are broadcast on national television.
In some regions, on the evening of January 6, godchildren wear a kutya to their godparents. For this godparents give them sweets, money, toys.
In the countryside, the tradition of caroling on the night before Christmas has been preserved. Guys and girls dress up in folk costumes, walk around the yards and sing carols - ritual songs that glorify Christ, the owner of the house and contain wishes for fertility and health. The owners generously endow them with money and sweets. The main attribute of carolers is a star. It is made of colored paper and ribbons, the image of the Mother of God is placed in the center.
Christmas dinner
On the evening of January 6, on Christmas Eve, the housewives put 12 Lenten dishes on the festive table, which symbolize the 12 apostles. The main dish is kutia, which is cooked from whole grains of rice or wheat. Honey, nuts, raisins, dried apricots, poppy seeds are added to it. Traditional Christmas dishes are baked fish, vegetable salads, stews, pickles, cabbage rolls with mushrooms, pies with vegetable and sweet fillings, stretchies, kulebyaki, pies. The main drink on the festive table is uzvar or compote made from dried fruits and rose hips.
People who have fasted for forty days begin breaking the fast on the morning of January 7th. An abundance of meat dishes appears on the tables: baked goose or chicken, homemade sausages, meatballs, aspic. Guests are served wine.
Christmas decorations
Christmas is preceded by the New Year, so already in early December, Christmas trees are set up in houses and on city squares and bright illumination flashes. On the eve of the holiday, churches are decorated with decorative compositions that reproduce the scene of the birth of Jesus Christ. Their main characters are: a baby in a manger, Joseph, Mary, the Magi, animals from the barn.
In some regions, hostesses pay special attention to the design of the festive table. They cover it with a new tablecloth. A bunch of hay is placed under it, which personifies the manger. Coins and garlic cloves are placed at the corners of the table, which symbolize health and well-being. In some houses it is customary to put an ax under the table. During dinner, all family members put their feet on it in order to have a healthy mind and body next year.
Divination for Christmas
The night from January 6 to 7 is the beginning of Christmas divination, which continues until January 19 (Epiphany). At this time, people are trying to predict their future, to find out if their wish will come true. Among unmarried girls, fortune-telling is common for a betrothed-mummer. The most popular predictions are mirrors, a melted candle.
What not to do at Christmas
On Christmas Day, women are prohibited from doing laundry, sewing, knitting, and cleaning the house. On January 7, you can’t quarrel, otherwise the whole year will pass in disagreement. Hunting is not allowed on this day. On this holiday, you can’t talk about bad things.
Signs and beliefs for Christmas
- If the weather is warm on January 7, then spring will be late and cold.
- If there are many stars in the sky on Christmas night, then the year will be fruitful.
- There should be 12 dishes on the Christmas table. At dinner, you should leave a clean plate and cutlery for deceased relatives.
- If a woman is the first guest in the house on Christmas Day, then next year the family will face misfortune.
- To find some thing for Christmas - to prosperity and material well-being in the coming year, to lose - to a loss.
Congratulations
Merry Christmas,
Bright holiday of Christ.
Let happiness enter your home
Becomes a lifeblood.
I wish the soul
Never slacked off.
star of bethlehem
Illuminated the way for you!
Today is a bright holiday - the day of the Nativity of Christ,
The good news, like a bird, flew into the sky.
I wish you pure happiness,
Live with an open mind and believe in miracles.
Your destiny is beautiful, let the star shine
And let your thoughts be always pure.
May Christmas protect you
Let the fire of holy love warm the heart.
What date is Christmas in 2022, 2023, 2024
| 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| 7 Jan Fr | January 7 Sat | January 7 Sun |
The Republic of Moldova is far from unique in this respect. In addition to our country, officially double Christmas on December 25 and January 7 is celebrated in four other countries of the world.
So when was Jesus born?
The birthday of Jesus Christ - Christmas - is one of the main Christian holidays, which is celebrated by Catholics, Orthodox, and Protestants. This is a public holiday in more than 100 countries of the world: every year it is celebrated by most of the world's population.
It is generally accepted that the Savior was born on December 25, although there is no direct answer in the Bible to the question: “When was Jesus born?”. The date of December 25 was first indicated by Sextus Julius Africanus in his chronicle, written in 221, and in 337 the Roman Church officially decided to consider December 25 as the day of the Nativity of Jesus Christ. However, the question of the real date (as well as the real year) of the birth of the Savior is still controversial and unequivocally unresolved.
Attempts to establish the year of the birth of Jesus Christ from the dates of related events (the years of the reign of emperors, kings, consuls) did not lead to a specific date, but it is believed that, apparently, the historical Jesus was born between 7 and 5 years. BC. In any case, according to the Bible, Jesus was born "in the days of King Herod," who, as was well established, died in 4 BC. However, today we use the erroneous chronology introduced by the Roman Church in 533. It was based on the calculations of the archivist of the Pope, the Scythian monk Dionysius the Small, made in 525.
In 1278, from the founding of Rome, Pope John the First commissioned Dionysius to compile Easter tables. For the convenience of their compilation, Dionysius chose December 25, 753 from the founding of Rome as a hypothetical date for the birth of Christ, and then suggested that John the First introduce a new chronology - before and after the birth of Christ. However, in his calculations, Dionysius made a number of gross errors: according to some researchers, when calculating the terms of the reign of the Roman emperors, he simply overlooked four years from the reign of Emperor Augustus (he did not take into account that this emperor at the beginning of his reign reigned for several years, like Octavian, and then also like August). So the real Jesus was somewhat older than what the church officially considers.In the summer of 1996, in one of his messages, Pope John Paul II admitted that the historical date of the Nativity of Christ is unknown, and that in reality the Savior was born 5-7 years before the new era - the “official” Nativity of Christ. Nevertheless, now, of course, no one will correct the mistakes of Dionysius the Small (and, moreover, he did not yet use “0” in his calculations, because this mathematical concept was not known in Europe at that time).
The same confusion arose with the date of birth of Jesus Christ. One of the main indications of the time of his birth is the story of the Star of Bethlehem in the Gospel of Matthew. Her symbol now adorns all Christmas trees.
Most likely, the Magi observed a real astronomical phenomenon. The most likely “candidate” for the Stars of Bethlehem, scientists call a flash of a new or supernova (other versions are Halley’s comet, planetary conjunction, heliactic sunrise).
In 1977, the English astronomers Clark, Parkinson and Stephenson analyzed the Chinese and Korean astronomical records for the period from 10 B.C. to 13 AD and identified the Star of Bethlehem with a 70-day outburst of a bright new star observed in the spring of 5 BC. Moreover, they managed to quite accurately establish its celestial coordinates. Astronomical calculations confirmed that in the spring of that year, its bright radiance could be observed in Persia, where the Magi came from, and in general - from Syria to China and Korea, low above the horizon, before sunrise - all exactly according to the Gospel of Matthew. The journey from Persia to Jerusalem took at least 5-6 months, therefore, the Magi arrived in the kingdom of Herod the Great in the autumn of 5 BC. - most likely, at the end of September or in October, and by that time they had already observed the Holy Family with baby Jesus.
From the calculations of supporters of the version that the Star of Bethlehem is Halley's comet, it also turns out that Jesus was supposed to be born somewhere between the first of September and the 7th, but certainly not on December 25th. The fact that the Savior could have been born in late September - early October is also evidenced by some indirect indications in the Bible: for example, the time of conception and birth of John the Baptist, who, judging by the texts, was 5-6 months older than Jesus. Another indirect confirmation of this conclusion is the indication of the Evangelist Luke about the census by decree of the Roman Caesar Augustus, according to which everyone had to take a census in their hometown. Such an event could hardly have taken place in winter, when travel was rather difficult and costly, and December and January were rather cold months in the highlands of Judea, where Bethlehem was located. By the way, Jehovah's Witnesses believe that Christ was born in early October. However, the church celebration of the Nativity of Christ was fixed for December 25th.
Modern scientists believe that this was done on purpose, and is connected not so much with real research on the possible dates for the birth of the Savior, but with the political situation of that time. The fact is that even after the adoption of Christianity, paganism among the Romans did not lose its position. With especially great splendor on December 25, the holiday of sun worship was celebrated - Dies Natalis Solis Invicti (Christmas of the Invincible Sun), established in 274 by Emperor Aurelian. To eliminate pagan traditions in 337, the Roman Church officially decided to consider December 25 as the day of the Nativity of Jesus Christ.
"Catholic" and "Orthodox" Christmas
It is usually believed that December 25 is Catholic Christmas, and January 7 is Orthodox. Actually it is not.
On the night of December 24-25, Christmas is celebrated not only by Catholics, but also by Lutherans and other Protestant denominations, as well as 11 Local Orthodox Churches of the world (they do not use the “Catholic” Gregorian calendar, but the so-called “New Julian”, which so far coincides with Gregorian - the discrepancy between these calendars in one day will accumulate by the year 2800).
But on the night of January 6-7, the feast of the Nativity of Christ is celebrated by a number of Orthodox churches that have remained in the old style (Russian, Georgian, Jerusalem, Serbian), Athos monasteries living according to the Julian calendar, the Armenian Apostolic Church (celebrating Christmas and the Baptism of the Lord, as a single feast of the Epiphany), separate dioceses of the Romanian Orthodox Church (Metropolis of Bessarabia), Greek Old Calendarists who did not accept the transition to the New Julian calendar in the Greek Church, Orthodox Arabs in Jerusalem, as well as many Catholics of the Eastern rite (in particular, the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church) and part of Russian Protestants. In 2014, the Polish Orthodox Church returned to the Julian calendar after the abolition of the conciliar decision of 1924 on the introduction of a new style.
In fact, it is not the date of the Nativity of Christ that differs, but the calendar used. Christians who celebrate Christmas on December 25 use the modern Gregorian calendar. The rest celebrate the birth of the Savior on December 25, too, but according to the Julian calendar, and this date in the Gregorian calendar in the 20th and 21st centuries falls on January 7th. But this will not always be the case. In a century, the difference between styles will be not 13, but 14 days. Consequently, in the XXII century, our descendants will celebrate Christmas on January 8 according to the old style, and two centuries later - on January 9th.The Julian calendar was introduced in 45 BC. Julius Caesar. According to him, the year begins on January 1, has 365 days, every fourth year is a leap year, when one more day is added in February - February 29. However, the Julian calendar did not take into account one more day, which accumulated every 128 years.
In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII recognized the Julian calendar as inaccurate (the clergy had problems calculating the date of Easter). An error was found in it: the lag of calendar accounting from astronomical. As a result, on October 4, 1582, a new, “Gregorian” calendar was introduced in Catholic countries by Gregory XIII, which is used today in most countries of the world. At the time of the reform of 1582, there was a discrepancy of 10 days between the dates in the Julian and Gregorian calendars.
The Orthodox tradition, while maintaining the true calculation of the date of Easter, unlike the Catholic Church, did not switch to the Gregorian calendar, and all calculations of Orthodox events are carried out according to the old Julian calendar. True, in 1923, at the initiative of the Patriarch of Constantinople, a meeting of the Orthodox Churches was held, at which a decision was made to correct the Julian calendar. This is how the so-called church, which was not accepted by all Orthodox Churches and their separate divisions, appeared. "New Julian" calendar, currently coinciding with the Gregorian.
So Christian churches and denominations today use three calendars at once - Julian, New Julian and Gregorian. Hence the discrepancy in the celebration of the Nativity of Christ and other Christian holidays.
Political Christmas
In Moldova, the first attempt to celebrate Christmas “in European style” was made by Chisinau Mayor Dorin Chirtoaca. It was in 2007 and resulted in the famous “Christmas tree wars”.
In December 2007, the General Mayor of Chisinau ordered to dress up Christmas trees in the city, including the “central” green beauty, on December 10 or 15 - so that “Chisinau in this regard keeps pace with major European cities.” Vice Mayor Anna-Lucia Kulev reported at a meeting of the city hall that by December 25, in honor of Christmas, a festive cultural and artistic program would be prepared in the new style.
In general, the capital's leadership was going to celebrate the "European" Christmas in a big way. However, the central communist authorities ruling at that time forbade the mayor's office to install a Christmas tree on the central square of Chisinau before December 30th. Chirtoaca did not listen. The tree has been set up. Two activists of the Liberal Party were assigned to her - for protection. However, on the same night, the “Chirtoaca tree” suddenly “moved” from the central square of the city to a nearby park.
In 2008, the “Brad de craciun” operation was repeated. Only this time, the “Chirtoaca tree” was not allowed to reach the capital at first (on the way to Chisinau, it was intercepted by the police, who said that there were no documents for the tree, which means it was forbidden to transport it), and then the mayor’s office had problems with Christmas tree decorations. December 25 failed again.
Everything changed in 2009, when the Alliance for European Integration came to power. In November 2009, the government of Vladimir Filat, despite the indignation of the Orthodox clergy, unanimously voted to declare December 25 a public holiday. The Moldovan Metropolis immediately sent a letter to the government asking them to reconsider their decision on Christmas, since this is a religious, not a secular holiday, and religious holidays are determined according to the church calendar.
“If the authorities made this decision taking into account the fact that other religious denominations celebrate Christmas on December 25, then in this case there is no less bewilderment. The Orthodox Church in Moldova respects the representatives of all confessions officially registered on the territory of our country, however, the announcement of a day off at the national level for the holiday of a religious minority seems strange,” the statement of the Metropolis said (according to the 2004 census, 93.3% of citizens Moldovans identified themselves as Orthodox Christians, and according to the 2014 census, this figure was 96.8%.
The ambiguity of the situation, according to the Orthodox clergy, also consisted in the fact that the motive for this decision of the government was not clear, since both the Metropolis of Moldova and the Metropolis of Bessarabia, in accordance with their status, follow the Julian calendar, which excludes the possibility of celebrating Christmas on December 25th. “We live in a country where people honor holidays and traditions that characterize us as a people, as well as our culture. We have no right to lose what we have inherited and betray our identity,” the Metropolitanate emphasized in a statement.
However, the government, declaring that it wants to keep pace with Europe, declared December 25 a day off and a public holiday in 2010, 2011, and subsequent years. And the Chisinau mayor's office generally refused any celebration of Christmas on January 7th. The city authorities then commented on the new approach to the Nativity of Christ: “The celebration of Christmas was organized on December 25 in the Great National Assembly Square with music and dance. There will be no events on January 7th.”
The final point on the issue of celebrating Christmas in the Republic of Moldova was put by the Parliament in 2013. new style, was declared an official holiday along with January 7 and 8 (Old Style Christmas). The communists, who were in opposition, then stated that now, logically, Catholic Easter, the Jewish New Year and Ramadan should also be declared official holidays in Moldova, since representatives of these religions and confessions are also represented in Moldova, constitute a religious minority and now have the right to demand satisfaction of their right, once the precedent is set.Thus, the Republic of Moldova has been officially celebrating Christmas twice for ten years already - according to the Gregorian and Julian calendars, but this is not something unique. Christmas is celebrated twice in a number of other countries. For example, in Belarus, Lebanon, Eritrea and Ukraine. Moreover, the last to come to the Christmas double was in Ukraine - in 2017, and also for political reasons. As Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada Andriy Parubiy said in December 2017, the new Christmas law “liberated Ukraine from Moscow’s mental occupation and returned it to the family of the free peoples of the world.”
But in Belarus, double Christmas is an established tradition for another reason: the country is at the intersection of the spheres of influence of two confessions - Orthodoxy and Catholicism, and double Christmas is used here as a symbol of the unification of the people and mutual understanding between the Catholic and Orthodox churches.
“Representatives of the Orthodox Church take part in the celebration of Christmas on December 25, we take part in the celebration of Christmas on January 7. People like it, they see that we are acting like brothers. I don't see any problem with this. This is how people want it, so it will continue like this,” the Catholic Archbishop, Metropolitan of Minsk and Mogilev Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz told the Belarusian press in 2017.
So somewhere double Christmas divides the society, and somewhere on the contrary - it unites.
In the Republic of Moldova, citizens try not to be divided on this issue - the majority does not condemn those who have a holiday on December 25 and have a rest on this day with pleasure, but celebrate Christmas according to the tradition inherited from their ancestors - January 7 and 8.
Vladislav Bordeianu
It is time to celebrate one of the greatest holidays for all believers - the Nativity of Christ. This is a great day, personifying the coming of the Savior to Earth.
In 2017, like in any other year, Christmas is celebrated on January 7th. The Christmas post has finally come to its logical conclusion. Now abstinence and humility are replaced by joy and fun, because the baby Jesus Christ was born.
History and meaning of the holiday
This is one of the oldest holidays in Christianity. The beginning of the celebration of Christmas dates back to about the 4th century, but the form that it has now acquired this holiday only by the time of the Middle Ages - approximately by the 12th century.
This holiday is not only dedicated to the salvation of mankind, but also to the courage, willpower of the Mother of God. It is very difficult to even remotely imagine how a mother can feel, who knows for sure that her child is destined to die for the sins of people. Even as a little girl, Mary knew that her destiny on this earth was other than just getting married and having children.
An angel who appeared to her once said that she would give birth to a son from the Holy Spirit, who would breathe strength into her womb. This child will save the world from original evil and sin. The task of Mary was the birth of a son and care for him. That is why it is generally accepted that the salvation of mankind began with the Virgin Mary herself, and not with the Savior, for the Mother of God had to endure many hardships and difficulties. Her life was filled with suffering, which led her to happiness. She became closer to Heaven during her lifetime.
Immediately after the birth of Jesus Christ, they tried to kill. Herod, the king of the Jews, ordered that all children under the age of 2 be killed to make sure that the Messiah was dead. While Mary's husband went to Bethlehem to take part in the census, labor began. Joseph returned and seeing that Mary needed help, he went for the midwife. On the way back, they witnessed a miracle: the cave in which the Son of God was born was illuminated by a bright unearthly light. Entering the shelter, they saw a child in the arms of the Intercessor.
As the Magi presented their gifts to the infant Christ, so we present our gifts to small children, placing them under the Christmas tree. The star at the top of the spruce symbolizes the very star that the Magi saw on the eve of the birth of the Savior.
This is the brightest holiday for all of us, because it gives us hope for a brighter future. He teaches us to believe in miracles and in the power of the word of God, for everything happened just as the Lord himself said. On January 7, we are charged with goodness for the whole next year. An ancient Russian proverb says: the kinder you are on Christmas, the kinder the world and God will be to you.
Traditions January 7, 2017
Christmas is included in the list of 12 major Orthodox holidays, so this date has many well-established customs. Here are the main Christmas traditions:
- At Christmas, Orthodox Christians try to visit the temple of God and pray for happiness and prosperity. You can also do this at home in front of any icon of the Mother of God and the Christ Child.
- Most of all, we all look forward to a festive meal. The festive table contains any food, so those who denied themselves something can finally eat plenty of meat, sweets, pastries and other forbidden foods.
- Gift exchange. This is a favorite tradition of all children and many adults. It's always nice to receive gifts. Christmas in this regard is similar to the second New Year.
- Home decoration. People have been putting up a Christmas tree for almost a thousand years - this is one of the most ancient traditions. Garlands and lights are a reminder of the bright light of the Christmas star.
- In Russia, it was customary to visit and sing songs. This was done mainly by children, for which they received goodies.
- In most churches, the festive service ends with a procession.
Christmas signs:
- If the weather is warm at Christmas, then the summer will be very favorable and fruitful.
- If a random person does good to you, then this will be a sign that you need to forgive one of your offenders.
- Snow at Christmas - God's grace and a sign of blessing from above.
Do not forget to do only good deeds at Christmas. Negative thoughts repel the spirit of the holiday, so you should not be offended by anyone from January 7 to 18 - right up to Epiphany Christmas Eve. May love and joy live in your heart.
The most joyful prayer song for Christmas is the Troparion:
“Your Christmas, Christ our God, rise to the world the light of reason, in it, for the stars serving as a star, I learn to bow to You, the Sun of truth, and lead You from the height of the East. Lord, glory to Thee"
These lines are traditionally sung in all houses. This is how Christians express their respect for the coming of the Messiah to the mortal world.
At Christmas it is also customary to read "Our Father", "Symbol of Faith", "Living Help". Every Christian should know these main prayers, because at such moments they are truly miraculous and carry great power. On January 7, the world will be transformed, becoming brighter. Let your soul get rid of everything dark, as if a star shone inside you. Strong faith to you, and do not forget to press the buttons and
