Christmas isn't over yet
The Christmas season is over? No, not entirely. The Eastern Orthodox, the second largest Christian communion in the world, numbering approximately 1,200,000 adherents in the United States, celebrated Christmas on Jan. 7, which is Dec. 25 in the Julian calendar. The Gregorian calendar, the reformed Julian Calendar we use today, was implemented by a Catholic Pope, Pope Gregory XIII, in 1582, but to this date it has not been recognized for religious observances by many Eastern Orthodox Churches around the world.
There are many similarities between the Western and Eastern Christmas celebrations, one being the strong family and social appeal, which brings all generations of a family together. A difference is that Christmas ranks supreme among the Western Churches, but the most important religious observance for the Eastern Orthodox is Easter. The Western Christmas, as we surely know, is very commercial; the Eastern Orthodox Christmas does not have that commercial side to it.
The Eastern and Western Christians shared the same faith until 1054, when there was a final split over a conflict with Rome. The Orthodox did not believe in the papal claim to supreme authority and doctrine of the Holy Spirit; that is, the supreme power of the Pope. With the failure of the Council of Florence in the 15th century, the break from the Catholic Church became final. The actual divisions between the Eastern and Western Churches was gradual as over the centuries the Roman Empire broke apart. The final break was when the Eastern Churches believed that the Church should keep the language of the community, whereas Latin became the language of the Western Church.
The Orthodox Churches and Western Churches use the same Bible, the difference being that the Old Testament is not based on Hebrew but on an ancient Jewish translation into Greek. There is one small visible difference between the two: a Roman Catholic crosses him/herself from left to right; an Eastern Orthodox from right to left.
Eastern Orthodox Churches in this country are gradually changing the Christmas date to the 25th, and there have been court battles between the parishioners and the bishops instigating change. My husband's diocese in Pennsylvania is a holdout. Its parishioners have retained the Jan. 7 date to celebrate Christmas. My husband says they are smart because the big sales begin the 26th!
Most Eastern Orthodox adherents refer to themselves not as Eastern Orthodox, but rather they use the prefix denoting their nation of origin; i.e., Russian Orthodox, Serbian Orthodox, Greek Orthodox, etc.
To my husband, who is both Russian and Russian Orthodox, I wish you a Merry Christmas — and a Happy New Year January 14th!
Pat O'Buck
Plains