CHRISTMAS IN RUSSIA
This past Sunday, January 7th, many people in Russia celebrated Christmas.
You may find yourself surprised by this fact: why were they almost two weeks late?? By then most of the Christian world had already celebrated Christmas in the end of December. Well, the reason is that the Russian Orthodox Church, the largest Christian denomination in the country, refuses to adopt the modern Gregorian calendar that was proposed 450 years ago b Pope Gregory to correct for accumulated error in the length of the astronomical year. Instead, the Russian Orthodoc Church continues to observe all religious holidays according to the old Julian Calendar, which is currently 13 days behind the modern one.
Is it still a big deal?
Is Christmas in Russia as big of a deal as it is in many other Christian countries in other parts of the world? Well, not really. The New Year’s celebration took over many Christmas traditions after the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, and Christmas itself was banned under the Communist Regime until the Soviet Union dissolved in the end of 1991. Even though celebrating Chrismas is not forbidden in Russia any longer, most people see the New Year’s Eve as a bigger and more important holiday. People spend December 31st with families, around a dinner table laden with traditional seasonal foods, decorate the tree, and exchange the presents. When Christmas Day arrives a week later, only very religious people observe it properly, by visiting the church on that day, but not doing much more in the way of celebration. Most people simply don’t care about Christmas.
Some people argue that if the Church switched to the Gregorian Calendar and re-synched its timeline with the rest of the world, then Russian people would be more incentivise to observe and celebrate Christmas. However, the Church hasn’t made any statements regarding a possibility of such reform.
What does Christmas mean for you?
How is it in your country and in your community? Do people celebrate Christmas there? Do you? (of course, I am aware that not every person reading this happen to be a Christian). Is it a big deal in your country or your part of the world? What do people give and get for presents? Please share in the comments below and I’ll be delighted to learn more about your country’s traditions!
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Hi my dear oleg326756! Long time no see!
Just in time for the MAW vote and resteem. =)
Hmmmm Christmas in South Korea is way different than I am used to. It is seen more as a couples day. You see couples everywere and all the fancy restaurants are full to the brim with lovebirds. Think all the kids are home with grandma. Kids still get presents but it's not a big family gathering as in other countries.
Hello there mate!
Haha, well, to be completely honest, it was MAW vote and resteem that sort of "forced" me to make a post. I didn't want to miss this opportunity. And, since the Russian Orthodox Christmas wasn't too far behind, I decided to make it into a topic of my newest post.
I rather like the Korean concept of Christmas. I would like to experience it myself one day. I hope you had a pleasant time over the holidays yourself! ;)
As you already know, many Americans celebrate Christmas on December 25th, Christian or not. It has become more of a commercial holiday here, but, I have found that only if you let it.
We usually will spend the holidays together with the family somewhere in the middle of where we all live. Last year, we enjoyed the Washington, DC area so I didn't have to go anywhere. It is a time for family and friends and we put aside the gift giving unless it is something from the heart that we want to give or say. (we still have relatives that send gifts to our house though) I was given a letter from my mother who passed away not to long ago and my brother took a journal she had been writing for me (spanning most of her adult life) and wrapped it up and gave it to me. I am pretty sure I will never have another moment that will compare with this one.
We go to church, we still love the ritual and pagentry of Christmas Eve and the story acted out.
I guess I would say that it is a time of love, togetherness, faith, and charity. We always adopt a family with no means and make a Christmas for the kids. We are fortunate enough to be able to do this and there isn't anything in this world that I need or want, except perhaps a little peace on earth.
That I will take. tip!
Thank you for your beautiful feedback, Denise! And thank you for the tip! Now, if I could reciprocate by giving you peace on Earth… It's a work in progress though, so it might take a little more time. :D One small step at a time…
The present that you got was truly once-in-a-lifetime special gift. It must have felt overwhelming, I can only imagine…
Here in Sweden the emphasis is on the Christmas Eve, December 24th. The actual Christmas Day is spent resting, relaxing, idle chatting with family and friends, going on walks and generally taking it easy after all the build-up and excitement of the previous day. Most shops and cafés are closed on Christmas Day, so people stay at home and working on the left-overs from the Christmas dinner. :D
Nice to see you posting again!
For Christmas, it’s about the food and spending time with loved ones! This year we split it up into two dates as the family starts to live further and further apart with schedules being harder to get aligned.
We ended up celebrating it on the 24th and sometime in the last week of January of all places, we will again. However, it will not be as big as the first one. Mostly because I don’t want to eat turkey again for a week lol.
The date of time seems to be less and less important over the years as everyone gets busier.
Hi Oleg, what a beautiful post. Christmas as a christian feast does not mea so much to me,sincei grew up without a faith that was imprinted on me - free to choose what i believe myself. But i do love the time of the year, i love to decorate the tree, do the cooking for family and friends - the whole ambiance.
And now ikow just how to extend that feeling - when christmas is over we can do it again in Russia! How good is that! All the best wishes for the new year Oleg, i havent been aroud much but i hope to be here more often from now on again
Thank you, @dutchess! I haven't been very active on Steem lately myself. But I hope that, once the light returns to Sweden and when my work is over, I'll be able to dedicate more time and energy to blogging again. The deadly combination of darkness and exhaustion from my teaching work has been sucking all my life energy in the past two months. I'm definitely ready for the coming spring, sunshine and unemployment, yay! :D
I know exactly how that feels. I come out of an exhausting traject regarding my health and its just that ..... there is no extra energy and then real life takes it all up. I know for a fact that things up north get much better halfway of may so....ha g in there! After mothers day snow will be gone and the forests will be littered with white anemones...and than she sun gives you guys there the brightest light in all of Europe - i remember this from my visits to Finnland! Take care Oleg! 😘
Hello my friend! Glad you are here again...
I've been looking for you on my post of 1500 followers :)))
Hello @pepe.maya!! Oh, I'm sorry I missed it! My belated congratulations on achieving that awesome milestone! You're doing really great and your photography works are beautiful!
Thank you, Oleg very much! I'm happy to see you :))
Спасибо что пишите про нашу страну и про наши традиции!
Спасибо, что прочитали. :) Надеюсь, я верно всё описал?
Да, все верно, вы очень прониклись этим событием и изучили историю :)
Hi Oleg!
In Norway most people celebrate Christmas.
Most do it as a cultural celebration rather than a religious one.
However Christmas eve is also one of few days during the year that most churches around the country are full. But again, I think many go to Chruch this day for the sake of tradition rather than religion and faith.
I think the message of peace is just as an important to people to gather around as the message of the birth of Christ.
When it comes to presents it has in my opinion become totally crazy.
Norwegians buy so much stuff to each other and since we have more or less everything we need in life already, the things we get for Christmas often just replaces stuff we have. This is leading to a lot of waste and it´s totally loco!
In average Norwegians use over $1400 on presents pr adult person... I know many that will spend A LOT more..
To me Christmas is about relaxing with family and friends and about fellowship around some really good meals! :)
Hi Peter!
Thank you for your reply, it was interesting to read. Christmas in Norway sounds almost exactly like what it is here, in Sweden. In my circle of friends it’s becoming more accepted to abstain from giving material gifts for Christmas and opt for donations to charities instead. Christmas can also be a good time for different fundraising initiative and for volunteer engagement for the benefit of those less fortunate ones.
This year I celebrated Christmas with my family in France. It was different both from Russia and from Sweden. More lights, more decorations, much bigger Christmas markets… Oh, and they eat duck instead of pork on Christmas Eve, haha! :)
I would eat duck instead of pork most days of the year! :)
Thanks for the post Oleg. As an American living in Russia, we definitely do most of our celebrating on New Year's Eve and I am often working on actual Christmas day (25th of December). I'm glad you took the time to point this out to your followers.
Замечательная статья, спасибо Вам!