Juggernaut 11,054 Posted January 9, 2010 Report Share Posted January 9, 2010 Merry Christmas!!!! You probably wonder why do Russians Orthodox people celebrate Christmas on January 7th? Why not on December 25th? Well, the reason is that the Russian Orthodox Church still lives according to the old Julian Calendar, which is currently 13 days behind the Gregorian Calendar, which is adopted by most countries in the world (and by the Russian government). When in the end of 1917 the Bolshevik government decided to adopt Gregorian calendar, the Russian Orthodox church decided not to follow the rules set by the increasingly oppressive civil authorities. Part of the reason was to protest against the Bolsheviks and their interference in church affairs. Another reason, perhaps, was to stick to the older rules, the ways in which generations of Russian Christians were praising the Lord, observing holidays, etc. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
kdbutler 563 Posted January 9, 2010 Report Share Posted January 9, 2010 Cool. Forgot about the julian calendar. Learned about January 7th in Russian class in junior high. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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