OT: Can someone explain to me why Russian and Greek Christmas isn't celebrated on the 25th of Dec?
- Thread starter Mr. Potter
- Start date
My Mom was Irish Catholic and my Dad was Eastern Orthodox. I had two Christmas and Easter holidays every year.
I‘m sure it’s all just a misunderstanding.
Eastern use Julian calendar , Western use Gregorian calendar
Nobody knows the true birth date. A date near the solstice was chosen to co-opt the pagan celebrations you noted. Also, much of what we associate with the nativity isn't even mentioned in the Bible.
Exactly. Old Calendar Eastern Orthodox are still celebrating Christmas on December 25, just that that day is now 13 days behind the Gregorian Calendar.
Will this screw up the kickoff time for the Rose Bowl???
Did either of these calandras have pin up girls to increase circulation?
This is the correct answer! A gentleman and a scholar Sir!
Pope Gregory introduced the aptly named Gregorian calendar in 1582. Before that all of the original Roman influenced world used the Julian calendar, implemented by the Big Guy-Julius Caesar.
The Orthodox stuck with the old calendar and really, if the Pope wanted a new calendar, the Orthodox were definitely not going to go along with THAT, or any other new-fangled nonsense from Rome.*
*As someone with both Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox heritage, I wish they would all settle up and make my life easier!
Note: Both calendars were innovative attempts to deal with the errors of a 365 day calendar without a leap year.
“Circulation” has 2 meanings in this instance!
Lots of folks think the Christians picked the obscure Roman religious holiday of Saturnalia as the date to celebrate Christmas. But this is far from certain and is disputed by many scholars. There is a lot we know about Roman history, but there are also fairly large gaps about specifics and limited details about Roman religious practices.
It is more likely that it evolved around the Winter Solstice and just a generally good time of the year for a celebration, given agricultural cycles.
A reasonable second option is that when Constantine established Christianity as the state religion he picked this date for Christmas in order to compete with, and eliminate, pagan rituals around the same date. (He was not called The Great for nothing!)
Most Christian scholars do not attribute the date as the actual birthdate of Christ.
1582??? Clifford was a freshman!
That’s pretty close to the fact. The heart of the Eastern Orthodox was in Constantinople, and they referred to themselves as Roman throughout history, even though they spoke Greek predominantly.*
*The word used was “ Romaioi” or, in translation, Roman.
The upper class of the Roman elites were usually fluent in both Roman and Greek.
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He was playing for the Vesuvius Eruptions, a club football team in the newly established Bacchanal League.
What was the NIL like back then? Five vestal virgins and a goat?
You’re just trying to tempt me to be the “Bad Me’.
No, for Clifford, it was 5 goats, straight up.
I failed the test.
I always thought it was because we use a different calendar
Why is Orthodox Easter on a different day?
if you have Orthodox Christian friends or visit a predominantly Orthodox country, in the late spring you may find yourself celebrating a second Easter.
uscatholic.org
This explains the different calendarsWhy is Orthodox Easter on a different day?
if you have Orthodox Christian friends or visit a predominantly Orthodox country, in the late spring you may find yourself celebrating a second Easter.
I assume that the original question was motivated by the recent news about many Ukrainian Orthodox deciding to celebrate Christmas December 25, as in the West, rather than the traditional date of January 7, which is closely associated with the Russian Orthodox way of doing things. Ukrainian Orthodox see this as a largely symbolic gesture to highlight their desire to break ties with Russia.
I was surprised when Zelensky mentioned in his speech to Congress on December 23 that Ukraine would be celebrating Christmas in two days. It gave me an inkling that something was changing in Ukraine regarding the Christmas celebration date.
I was surprised when Zelensky mentioned in his speech to Congress on December 23 that Ukraine would be celebrating Christmas in two days. It gave me an inkling that something was changing in Ukraine regarding the Christmas celebration date.
Largely Greeks use the Gregorian calendar (technically the Revised Julian though it is synch with the Gregorian for a couple more centuries) though there are some “Old Calendar” Greeks most notably on Mount Athos. The continued use of the Julian Calendar is really centered on Russia and more Russian influenced areas (hence the recent posts about Ukraine).
Side note but the British (and their colonies like what became the US) did not switch to the Gregorian Calendar until 1752, almost 200 years after it was introduced.
What difference does it make? As JGF explained, "It all starts with I love you. It all ends with I love you."
Because Santa can only make it to so many houses in one night.
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