Two calendars, thirteen days apart
The Julian calendar, introduced under Julius Caesar, assumes a year of exactly 365.25 days. The real solar year is about eleven minutes shorter, so the calendar slowly drifts against the seasons - roughly one day every 128 years.
In 1582 Pope Gregory XIII introduced the Gregorian calendar to correct the drift, and it is the calendar most of the world uses today. Many Orthodox churches kept the Julian calendar for their church year. The gap between the two has grown since: it is thirteen days now, and will stay thirteen until 2100.
So December 25 on the Julian calendar falls on January 7 on the Gregorian one. Same feast, same date in the church's own calendar, different square on the calendar on your fridge.
Who celebrates on January 7
- The Orthodox churches of Russia, Serbia, Georgia and Jerusalem, and the monasteries of Mount Athos, which keep the Julian calendar.
- The Coptic Orthodox Church in Egypt and the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, whose own calendars also place Christmas on January 7.
- Many Orthodox families around the world who belong to these churches.
Not every Orthodox church does. The Greek, Romanian and Bulgarian churches, among others, use the Revised Julian calendar for fixed feasts and celebrate on December 25. In 2023 the Orthodox Church of Ukraine moved its Christmas to December 25 as well. Within one city, neighbours can celebrate two weeks apart.
The Nativity Fast
Where Western churches have Advent, the Orthodox tradition has the Nativity Fast: forty days of preparation before Christmas. On the Julian calendar it runs from November 15 to December 24, which on the Gregorian calendar is November 28 to January 6.
Christmas Eve, January 6, ends the fast. In many families the evening meal waits until the first star appears in the sky, and the dishes are meatless - the feast itself comes the next day.
New Year comes first
One curious result: for families who celebrate on January 7, New Year's Eve arrives a week before Christmas. In countries such as Russia, where New Year is the big secular holiday with a decorated tree and presents, Christmas becomes the quieter, religious feast that follows. Some places also mark an "Old New Year" on January 14 - the Julian January 1.
Counting down to January 7
Almost every advent calendar sold in shops runs from December 1 to 24, which leaves families who celebrate in January with an empty fortnight before the feast.
Christmas Advent Calendar has an Orthodox Christmas setting that runs the countdown from December 14 to January 7, so the doors open on the days that matter to your family. A parental lock keeps the setting in place once you have chosen it.