Orthodox Christians who follow the traditional Julian calendar celebrate Christmas on January 7. Christmas is an annual sacred Christian holiday that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, the spiritual leader and founder of Christianity. While many people celebrate Christmas to honor Jesus’s birth, it’s also celebrated as a cultural holiday across the globe, IPN reports.
The faithful who fasted before Christmas can receive the Eucharist and are allowed to eat anything. They usually put special sweet bread, rice and minced meat wrapped in grape or cabbage leaves and ring-like braided bread on the holiday table.
The Christmas Day Liturgy contains special texts and songs and is preceded by the Christmas Eve Liturgy. After the main service, they sing carols in churches and then groups of carolers go from home to home to announce the birth of Jesus Christ.
Christmas is a time of spiritual reflection on the important foundations of the Christian faith. It’s also a celebration. It’s when Christians celebrate God’s love for the world through the birth of the Christ child: Jesus. It’s a time when family and friends come together and remember the good things they have for all year passed. People, and especially children, also like Christmas as it’s a time when you give and receive presents.
The day after Christmas, on January 8, the Orthodox Christians celebrate the Synaxis of the Theotokos. The next day, it is observed the Feast of Saint Apostle and Archdeacon Stephen the Protomartyr.
