Many Orthodox Christians around the world celebrate Christmas Day on or near January 7. This is because their churches use a different calendar to figure out when their holidays are.

Many Orthodox Christians annually celebrate Christmas Day on or near January 7 to remember Jesus Christ’s birth, described in the Christian Bible. This date works to the Julian calendar that pre-dates the Gregorian calendar, which is commonly observed.

Christmas falls on a different day in the Orthodox Church because they still observe the traditional Julian calendar, which has the original dates for Christian celebrations before the Gregorian calendar was introduced. This means that, technically, Orthodox churches still observe Christmas on December 25.

The History Most Orthodox Christians for example, celebrate Christmas on January 7th as opposed to December 25th – today namely being the Coptic Orthodox Church (in Egypt) and the Russian Orthodox Church. The difference in these dates lies in the history of how these dates came about in the first place.

“To all the Christian worshippers who celebrate Christmas according to the Julian calendar with the greeting Mir Božji, Hristos se rodi (Peace of God, Christ is born), I send Christmas wishes of joy and peace on the occasion of Christ’s birthday.

Firstly, the difference between Orthodox and Catholic Christmas is quite simply an issue about dates. Therefore, while the West celebrates the birth of Christ on the 25th December (according to the Gregorian Calendar), the Orthodox Church, in accordance with the Julian Calendar, celebrate Christmas on the 7th January.

Many Orthodox Christians attend a special church liturgy on Christmas Day on January 7. Orthodox churches celebrate Christmas Day with various traditions. For example, many churches light a small fire of blessed palms and burn frankincense to commemorate the three wise men’s (also known as Magi) gifts to baby Jesus.

Catholic, Episcopal and Orthodox priests answer. Many churches don’t take down their Christmas decorations until the Sunday after Epiphany, which is on Jan. 6. According to the traditional Christian calendar, tonight marks ”Twelfth Night,” or the Eve of Epiphany, the end of the 12 days of Christmas.

When do Orthodox Christians celebrate Christmas? Orthodox Christians celebrate Christmas on 7 January. However, the celebrations often begin at midnight on “Christmas Eve”, meaning 6 January.

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