Christmas is the most beloved holiday, covered with light and joy. It contains so much warmth, kindness and love that you want to give away these feelings along with gifts to friends and relatives. But sometimes it happens that they celebrate this event on a completely different day. How is this possible? When should Christmas be celebrated, and what are the differences? 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 census. Due to the influx of visitors, all the hotels were occupied, so they had to settle in a cave that served as a barn for cattle. It was there that the Son of God was born. An angel brought the news of His birth to the shepherds, who hurried to bow to Him. Another banner of the appearance of the Messiah was the delightful star of Bethlehem, which lit up in the sky and showed the waymagi. They brought gifts to the Child - frankincense, myrrh and gold - and honored Him as the King of the Jews.
First celebration
Surprisingly, there is no exact evidence anywhere about when Christmas came according to the calendar, that is, the exact date is not indicated. For this reason, the early Christians did not celebrate this holiday at all. The appearance of the date itself - from January 6 to 7 - was facilitated by the Copts, Egyptian Christians, their faith in God, who is born, dies and rises, has existed since ancient times. It was from them, from Alexandria, the center of knowledge and science, that the tradition of celebrating this event these days spread to the entire Christian world, and initially all the followers of Jesus celebrated the Nativity of Christ and Theophany at the same time. But in the IV century, the Roman Empire postponed the celebrations on the occasion of the birth of the Messiah to December 25th. Not everyone followed this example, for example, the Armenian Church remains faithful to the ancient tradition of celebrating two holidays at the same time.
Calendar twists and turns
Further events turned out so that in the 16th century Gregory VIII, who at that time was on the papal throne, introduced his own chronology, which was called the "new style". Prior to this, the Julian calendar, introduced by Julius Caesar, was in use, the definition of "old style" was assigned to it. Now the difference between them is 13 days.
Europe, following its spiritual shepherd, switched to a new calendar, and Russia did this only after the victory of the revolution in 1917. But the church did not approve of such an innovation andremained with its chronology.
There was another interesting event: in 1923, at the Council of Orthodox Churches, on the initiative of the Patriarch of Constantinople, corrections were made to the Julian calendar: the "New Julian" calendar arose, which so far completely coincides with the Gregorian. Representatives of Russia were not present at the meeting due to the political situation, and the attempts of the then Patriarch Tikhon to enforce the decision of the majority were unsuccessful, so the Julian chronology is still in force here.
When do different groups of Christians celebrate Christmas?
The result of the spread of various systems of reckoning was confusion with dates. As a result, Vatican adherents and Protestants celebrate Catholic Christmas, when December 24 is replaced by the 25th. Together with them, these dates are honored by 11 local Orthodox churches, but they check with their own, New Julian, calendar.
From January 6 to 7, Christmas comes for Russian, Georgian, Ukrainian, Jerusalem, Serbian Orthodox churches, Athos monasteries that recognize 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 their own calendar.
Christmas Eve: Orthodox Traditions
January 6 is a special day, Christmas Eve. It is customary to call it Christmas Eve. On the evening of this day, the Christmasall-night service, lasting about three hours. Usually the whole family gathers in church. It is after the end of the service that the moment comes when Orthodox Christmas begins officially. Believers congratulate each other and rush home to the festive table.
Traditionally, it was customary not to eat on Christmas Eve until the appearance of the first star or church service. But even after that, albeit festive, but lenten dishes were put on the table. Among other edible assortment, a special place was occupied by sochivo, or kutya - porridge made from wheat or rice with honey, nuts and poppy seeds. It was cooked only this Christmas night.
On Christmas Eve, they decorated the house, decorated the Christmas tree and laid out gifts under it, which could only be touched after the festive dinner. Then the family gathered at the green beauty, and one of the children distributed the souvenirs intended for them to everyone. The recipient of the gift unwrapped and showed it to everyone, thanked.
It was customary to dedicate the evening to loved ones, family, but it was possible to invite lonely people to celebrate the holiday together and share a meal.
Folk beliefs
Christmas Eve evening was considered a favorable time for all sorts of forecasts for the future. Before dinner, it was customary to go outside and "watch the stars", which, thanks to various signs, could tell about the upcoming 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 offspring of livestock and an abundance of wild berries. Frost on the trees was a harbinger of a successful grain harvest.
Before the meal, the host had togo around the house with a pot of kutya three times and then throw a few spoons of porridge over the threshold - a treat for the spirits. To appease "frost", doors were opened for him and invited to the table.
The kutya was not eaten to the end, spoons were left in it, which was a symbolic tribute to the poor.
First day of the holiday
January 7 Christmas began to be celebrated with all the breadth of the soul. After the morning Liturgy, the Orthodox went to visit each other. The festive fast food table was bursting with pickles, it was not cleaned, because the acquaintances who came to congratulate the hosts were constantly replaced. It was considered a good tradition to visit all relatives, especially those who are old and lonely.
Catholic customs
According to Western Christians, no one should be left without a gift on Christmas Eve. The main donor was Saint Nicholas (Santa Claus). He distributed gifts in a very remarkable way: he laid them out in socks and hung them over the fireplace, and then he himself disappeared into the chimney.
The custom of caroling has been preserved, when children and youth went from house to house with songs. At the same time, the participants of the action dressed up 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" - these are special unleavened wafers lit during Advent. They were eaten when Christmas was celebrated at the festive table or during congratulations to each other.friend.
Not only spruce, but also other species of trees could act as a festive decoration. In addition, the house was decorated with special wreaths of twigs and flowers, which were a 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 you so want to deliver something pleasant to those who are nearby. After all, it is not so important when Christmas comes for certain people, the main thing is that it comes and renews the human soul.
