The Nativity of Christ is one of the twelve main, so-called twelfth, feasts of the Christian church. Christmas falls on. On this day, the church celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ was born of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the city of Bethlehem.

The establishment of the celebration of the Nativity of Christ dates back to the first centuries of Christianity. Until the 4th century, in the Eastern and Western Churches, the feast of the Nativity of Christ was celebrated on January 6, was known under the name of Theophany, and at first referred to the actual Baptism of the Savior. Later, Christmas was singled out as an independent holiday.
The celebration of the Nativity of Christ on December 25 in the Eastern Church was introduced later than in the Western, namely, in the second half of the 4th century. For the first time, the separate celebration of the Nativity of Christ and the Baptism of the Lord was introduced in the Church of Constantinople around the year 377 at the direction of Emperor Arcadius, following the custom of the Roman Church and thanks to the energy and power of the eloquence of St. John Chrysostom. From Constantinople, the custom of celebrating the Nativity of Christ on December 25 spread throughout the Orthodox East.

The celebration of the Nativity of Christ is preceded by a forty-day fast, which is the preparation of a Christian for this event. Fasting is established for unity with God, it serves to ensure that on the day of the Nativity of Christ, all Christians are cleansed by prayer, repentance, and that their hearts are cleansed before Jesus Christ, who was born and appeared in our world.
The duration of the Advent Lent was not immediately established. Only under the Patriarch of Constantinople Luke and the Byzantine Emperor Manuel was the final period of fasting forty days established for all Christians. Lent begins on November 15 and runs until December 25 - this is according to the old style, and according to the new style - from November 28 and ends. Also, in the Church Charter, fasting is called as - Forty Days.

Christmas is the day of reconciliation, kindness, peacefulness, the day of the glorification of Christ. Church services are held everywhere on Christmas Eve. All the candlesticks are burning, the chandelier is burning, the choir performs the doxology. And in the old days, when the clock struck midnight, everyone exchanged gifts, congratulated each other, made wishes. It was believed that at Christmas the sky opens up to the earth, and the forces of heaven fulfill everything planned, while the wishes must be necessarily good.

The day of the Nativity of Christ has since ancient times been ranked by the Church among the great twelve feasts, in accordance with the Divine testimony of the Gospel, which depicts the celebrated event as the greatest, most joyful and wonderful. The Holy Fathers in their writings call it the beginning and basis for other holidays.
The celebration is preceded by the Eve or Christmas Eve - a special service with the reading of the royal hours, which recall the prophecies and events related to the Nativity of Christ.
Christmas Eve is a day of strict fasting, it ends with the Christmas fast preceding the holiday. The very name "Christmas Eve" comes from the word "sochivo". This is a special lenten dish that is prepared on this day, otherwise called kutya, and is a wheat or rice broth with honey and fruits. According to a long tradition, they do not eat on this day until the first star appears in the sky - in remembrance of the Bethlehem star, which showed the Magi the way to the place of the Nativity of Christ.
On Christmas Eve, a festive Divine Liturgy is celebrated. On the very day of the Christmas holiday, believers break their fast (they eat not lean, but fast food).

The celebration of Christmas in the family circle began with listening to the vigil in the church. A visit to the temple was considered by the peasants to be desirable, but not strictly obligatory. Peasant families, unable to get to the church for the Christmas service, prayed that night in front of home icons.
Christmas was also celebrated with two meals: on Christmas Eve and directly on Christmas Day.
The meal, arranged on the eve of Christmas, always had a family character. The arrival of strangers or even close relatives who lived separately into the house during the meal was not approved. In some villages, it was believed that this could bring misfortune to the house. The meal began with the appearance of the first evening star in the sky. The owner of the house, seeing her in heaven, read a prayer. All members of the family were baptized and in solemn silence were taken to the meal. Pancakes or pancakes with honey, lean pies with mushrooms, potatoes, porridge, juicy - unleavened pies with berries, as well as kutya from large grains of wheat with berries were served on the table. In many villages, porridge boiled in water was also put on the table. All these dishes were considered ritual. They were served at the most important moments family life: during weddings, births, commemorations, on memorial days.

The meal that took place on Christmas Day, after the end of the vigil, was already modest and assumed a rich and varied dinner, during which many meat and dairy dishes, pies were served, beer, mash, and wine were put in abundance.
At the end of the meal, the children took part of the remaining kutia to the homes of the poor so that they could celebrate the event of the Nativity of Christ. After eating food, they did not remove any dishes, food, or tablecloth until morning, believing that the deceased parents would come to the table to also eat.

In ancient times, the feast of Christmas Eve was memorial meal and dedicated to ancestors. It was believed that on this day all the dead ancestors of the family gathered in the house for a joint meal with the living. It sealed the sacred union of ancestors and descendants, was a kind of appeal to the dead with a request for help. In addition, the Christmas Eve meal ended the past year, ended the strict Advent fast, and was a kind of transition to the festive feast of the following days. It was also interpreted as a repetition of the modest meal of the Holy Family on the night of the birth of Jesus Christ.

The next day after Christmas is dedicated to the Mother of Christ the Savior, the Blessed Virgin Mary. From the gathering of believers to the temple to glorify and thank Her, this day is called the Cathedral Holy Mother of God. Glorifying the Mother of God, the Church remembers the flight of the Holy Family to Egypt.

The Nativity of Christ in the peasant calendar was one of the biggest holidays, according to the popular idea that on this day "the sun plays." The people believed that this phenomenon happens in addition to Christmas four more times a year: on the holidays of the Epiphany (see Baptism), the Annunciation, Easter and Ivan Kupala.

The twelve following days after Christmas are called holy days or Christmas time (until January 17). Fasting is canceled these days. Christmas, which opened Christmas time, was the first day of performing various rituals that were supposed to ensure well-being in the coming solar year, protect the house, family, livestock from troubles and misfortunes, and find out the future. On Christmas Eve, they began to carol (“click the oatmeal”, “sing grapes”, “call Kolyada”), guess about fate.

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January 7 marked new life of all mankind. Now the worship of pagan idols is a thing of the past. There were no more human sacrifices to please these gods. To date, the only "Sacrifice" offered Orthodox Christian to the Lord is a candle and a sincere prayer.

In ancient times, the whole family set to work to prepare this unique dish. Each of its members, from young to old, for several evenings in a row, sorted through wheat in order to use only best grains. Barley was used a little less often than wheat.
Modern kutya is usually made from rice, but recipes that use wheat and barley are gradually returning to us. The dish is served to the table, seasoned with poppy seeds and bee honey. Sometimes she was refueled and full. This is also honey, only diluted. It's not as sweet and much more liquid.

Poppy milk was gradually added to kutya later. In fact, this is not milk, in its pure form, but pre-steamed and carefully crushed poppy seeds.
In the event that there is no honey, you can simply add sugar to the dish. Also, the trend of modern cooking is raisins and nuts in kutya. Previously, only nuts who had them could be added.
There are a lot of recipes for this dish. Here is one of the most popular, still used by our ancestors.
It uses wheat or barley grains, previously crushed in a wooden mortar. But, they should not be fragmented. the main task- remove the husk with which they are covered.
Further, these grains were poured into a pot, filled with water and placed in the stove. They cooked until done.
Ideally, if the water, after that, did not need to be drained, that is, it was completely boiled out.
The finished grain was poured with dried fruits: pears, apples, plums, sometimes - apricot fruits. The grain is laid out in bowls separately, a bundle is added there, you can put a spoonful of honey. Grain can be poured and full.
In the modern interpretation of kutya, nuts, raisins, sugar are added to it instead of honey (but not necessarily.
January 7 - bright Christmas.

On the first day of Christmas, the 7th, an early lunch was set on the table. Meat dishes allowed to use in unlimited quantities.
However, everyone knew that it was impossible to abuse it, since the gastrointestinal tract must be rebuilt for a new diet after such a long fast. Blood and meat sausage, porridge with roast, lard with boiled pork, and so on were allowed. At lunch, there should have been one (at least) dairy dish on the table. It could have been vermicelli with milk.
They served church services, fasted, and after that they went to visit guests. Sleeping at night is an unaffordable luxury, this applies specifically to Christmas night. Why? It was believed that whoever falls asleep, he can oversleep all his happiness and good luck. But, it was not possible to sleep especially even with all the desire: carols under the windows, the ringing of church bells, noise and din, talk about the bright holiday of people returning from service (from church)!
On a bright Christmas, it was necessary to have fun and rejoice, spend time with the family, and then at a party. And, what is extremely important, to forgive any insults, letting go of them and not remembering them anymore. Only joy, because the son of God was born.
By the way, all the customs and traditions mentioned above have survived, in one form or another, to this day. And soon it will be time to remember them again. After all, the Christmas holidays are at stake.
Fortune telling on the night before Christmas.

Guessing at this time everywhere. And even though the church officially forbade doing this, this practice did not lose its popularity. And it has not been lost to this day.
The most common were fortune-telling on a bow in the name of one's betrothed, fortune-telling with a golden ring, with a comb, with glasses, fortune-telling with the help of a cat, with a rooster, and so on. And each of them is a whole rite, which has a lot of features. Let's take an example of one of them.
Fortune telling on the betrothed on the bulbs. Before Christmas night, a week before it, the girl selected several bulbs, on each of which she made a note with the initials "Candidate". I put them in water. And during fortune-telling, at night, she whispered over the bow: "onion - onion, whisper to me, who is my fiancé?" Then the size of the shoots was measured. The longest one, with initials, pointed to the groom.
Christmas traditions and customs.
January is the month of holidays, after Christmas there will be a baptism on January 19th. But continuing the theme of Christmas, I cannot but mention interesting signs At Christmas.
Christmas omens.
The main signs that they believed in then, and which continue to exist now:
Morning snow on January 7 - for wealth and good luck.
It is forbidden to sew for Christmas so that all family members have excellent eyesight.
A snowstorm that day - early spring and lush foliage on the trees.
The starry sky is a big crop of peas.
Kutia cooked by the main mistress of the house - good health to those who eat it. On the eve of Christmas, it is better not to take light and fire out of the hut. Not a single plate should be empty on the table. And most importantly: as Christmas passes, so will the whole year! These, of course, are not the only signs. A few volumes are not enough to list them all. But, before you, the most interesting of them.

The meaning of the holiday was forever predetermined in scale after the universal reckoning was divided into "before Christmas" and "after". The Son of God with his coming not only marked the birth of a new religion, but also shaped the worldview of thousands and even millions of people. We do not think, but morality, standards of decency, concepts of good and evil - all this was revealed to the world by Jesus Christ. Not surprisingly, all believers celebrate the holiday on a grand scale. But how did it all start?

How the date was set

From the second century AD to the fourth, all Christians celebrated the Epiphany on the sixth of January. Then they also mentioned the day when Jesus appeared.

In his opinion, winter time chosen specifically. Faith in one God no longer wanted to put up with pagan remnants, strong enough in the Empire of Rome. After the adoption of Christianity, they continued to celebrate their holidays.

Before the feast of the Nativity of Christ was moved to the twenty-fifth of December, the Romans organized their festivities in honor of the Invincible Sun. It was the most important celebration. The cult of the pagan deity became an addition to the Christian one, and the story of Christmas began. And the first entry in the "Filokal Calendar" for the year 336 of our era.

Differences in churches

For a long time, the history of Christmas originates on December 25 according to the Gregorian calendar by the Roman Catholic Church.

At the same time, the Russian temple, as well as Athos, Georgia, Jerusalem and Serbia, are celebrated at this time, but only according to the old Julian chronology. If we take into account the recalculation of days, it turns out that Christmas is on the seventh of January.

But there are other options for dates. Cyprus, Constantinople, the territory of Hellas, Romania, Bulgaria and the Church of Alexandria celebrate the twenty-fifth of December so far. They follow the New Julian calendar. Until the year 2800, this will continue until the dates no longer coincide.

Date of birth of the son of God

To this day, scholars continue to debate about when the story of Christmas began. The date of the twenty-fifth of December was established by the Roman Church, and approved by Ecumenical Council. Starting from the fourth century, the first memories of Christmas appear.

Historians cannot establish for certain the existence of such a person as Jesus Christ. And yet, if he existed, then the dates of his life are very vague. Most likely, he was born between the seventh and fifth years BC.

For the first time on December 25, the writer and ancient historian Sextus Julius Africanus in the year 221 of the birth of Christ.

The date was confirmed already in our era by Dionysius the Small, who served as an archivist under the Pope. He took into account the early records of the year 354 and decided that Jesus was born at a time when the Roman Empire was ruled by Caesar. Dionysius placed his reign in the first year of the new era.

Some researchers using New Testament as a source, they claim that the star of Bethlehem that lit up the sky was Halley's comet. She swept over the Earth in the twelfth year BC.

It is quite possible that he was born in the seventh year of our era, when the indicated census of the entire population of Israel was carried out.

Dates after 4 years BC look unlikely. Both in the letters of the Evangelists and in the Apocrypha, it is mentioned that Jesus lived during the reign of Herod. And he died only in the fourth year before the birth of Christ.

Late time is also not suitable because there is an approximate time of execution. If we take our era, it turns out that he was killed at a very young age.

History of Christmas

The day of the birth of Jesus Christ is described in several sources, canonical and apocryphal.

In the first texts, the story of the Nativity of Christ is told in sufficient detail. The main sources are the letters of Matthew and Luke.

The Gospel of Matthew tells why Mary and her husband Joseph went to Bethlehem even though they lived in Nazareth. They hurried to the census, in which representatives of one nationality had to be with their own.

Joseph, who married the lovely Mary, having learned about the pregnancy before the wedding, was going to annul the marriage. But an angel came to him. He said that this son is a blessing from God, and that Joseph should raise him as his own.

When the contractions began, there was no room for them in the hotel, and the couple had to settle down in a barn where straw was laid for the animals.

The first to see the newborn were the shepherds. An angel showed them the way, in the form of a star that shone over Bethlehem. The same celestial body led the three wise men to the barn. They generously endowed him as a king: myrrh, frankincense and gold.

The evil King Herod, warned of the birth of a new leader, killed all the kids in the city who were not yet two years old.

But Jesus survived because the angel who was watching him told Joseph to flee to Egypt. There they lived until the death of the evil tyrant.

Apocryphal texts add some fragments, and the story of the Nativity of Christ becomes more accurate. They describe that Mary and Joseph spent that significant night in a cave where cattle came to protect themselves from bad weather. While the husband went for the midwife Solomiya, the woman managed to give birth to Christ herself, without help. The texts indicate that the process was very easy.

Solomiya only confirmed the fact that Mary was previously innocent. The texts say that Jesus was born and the sun blinded those who came. When the radiance ceased, the child approached the mother and lay down at her breast.

History of Christmas

The church for a long time could not determine when such a significant and large-scale religious holiday should be celebrated.

Among the church dates, Easter, the moment of resurrection, was more important.

But when the Greeks joined Christianity, they brought with them the tradition of celebrating the birth of the son of God.

Initially, the celebration was called the Epiphany. It included both the appearance of Jesus into the world and his baptism. Over time, the church divided the events into two.

The first mention of the birth of the Savior was made in the year 354 in the Roman source Chronograph. The entry in it suggests that Christmas appeared as a holiday after the great council of Nicaea.

Other researchers believe that the early Christians celebrated the holiday even before the church schism, that is, even in the third century. Then, in their opinion, the exact date appeared.

Christmas: the history of the holiday in Russia

This holiday was persecuted for a long time, exterminated, it was transferred, but still it retained its original sacred meaning. Even in pre-Petrine times, this day was celebrated, and stories about Jesus were passed on from the older generation to the younger.

pre-revolutionary holiday

Under Tsar Peter the Great, a tradition came into use to install and decorate a Christmas tree in houses - a Christmas tree. She symbolized, like laurel and mistletoe, immortality, a long life in prosperity.

About these beautiful traditions in the pre-revolutionary Russian Empire preserved in the memoirs of the writer Ivan Shmelev. While in Paris, in exile, he spoke with longing about the old days.

The empire loved this day so much that at first one church of the Nativity of Christ appeared, and then the number increased every year. Such shrines appeared in all large cities.

It should be noted that the most famous thematic temple is located in the capital of Russia. It is called in honor of Christmas - Christ the Savior. He has his own long and amazing story. Years have passed. The Church of the Nativity of Christ still stands where it used to be.

In 1812, when the army of Alexander the First defeated the French, on the twenty-fifth of December, an imperial decree was issued on the construction of a new temple. It said that it was God who helped save the country from inevitable death. In honor of this, Alexander ordered the construction of a temple that would stand for many centuries.

Christmas ban

But there came a time when religion became banned. Since 1917, it has been forbidden to talk about Christmas. Churches fell one after another. They were robbed. Marauders stripped the gilding from the naves. It was customary to work on religious holidays to prove one's devotion to the party.

It would be wrong to say that after the ban on the Christmas holidays, they were not celebrated. People secretly brought into the house fir branches, saw the clergy, performed rituals, baptized children. They sang Christmas carols at home. Even in political prisons or in exile, where many priests were kept, the traditions were quite strong.

The celebration of a forbidden event could end not only with dismissal from work, but also with years of repression, deprivation of liberty, and execution.

People secretly entered dilapidated churches to listen to the service on Orthodox Christmas.

New time in the history of Christmas

In 1991, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the celebration of the day of the birth of Christ was officially allowed.

The force of habit, the upbringing of people who were forbidden to celebrate religious events for a long time, was so great that even now many people associate the holiday with a secondary one. It is inferior in popularity to the New Year.

From the moment of formation Russian Federation the traditions of Christmas carols and the use of certain symbols on the holiday are being revived.

Features of Christmas

There is a lot of meaning in this ancient sacred act. It has many symbols that the church interprets. Each of them completes the whole picture.

Light is what first appeared at the time of birth. The path that the messenger of God traveled to go down to sinful people was illuminated.

Star - according to the New Testament, a sign appeared over Bethlehem during the birth of Jesus. He was like a bright star in the sky. Only true believers could understand it correctly.

Census of people. Under Augustus, who at that time led the Roman Empire, a recount of all citizens was carried out. He did this in order to introduce an orderly system of taxation. Those who lived in other cities at the time of the census had to return and register. So did Joseph and Mary.

Winter. It is debatable whether Christ was born in winter. However, for the church, this time of the year has become a symbol of darkness, which was illuminated by the son of God. He also appeared at the moment when winter began to wane.

Shepherds. The whole city was asleep at the time when the savior came into the world. No one noticed this, except for the ordinary poor shepherds who guarded the flock on Christmas Day. An angel descended from heaven to tell them the good news. Shepherds personify pure souls, not corrupted by wealth or vanity. They mostly interacted with animals.

Bethlehem is a city that many believers associate with spiritual blindness. All the people in it were so obsessed with their own problems that they did not even notice how Christmas came to them in Bethlehem. And then they failed to recognize the Savior.

Magi. The first to appear before Jesus with their gifts were wise men, philosophers. They were not kings, they did not possess great wealth. Magi are those believers who constantly searched for wisdom in the sacred writings. They knew the truth. The long road to self-knowledge, faith, was crowned with a blessing.

Gifts. Jesus received frankincense, gold and myrrh for his birth. Precious metal was a symbol of power, incense was a sign of divinity, and myrrh meant the future of Christ, his self-sacrifice for the human race and death with a further resurrection.

World. With the birth of the son of God, peace reigned on Earth for a whole year. After that, people themselves began to spoil the idyll and fight.

Cave. When the hotel closed the doors to Mary and Joseph, they found a new refuge. The couple came to the house where the cattle lived. According to church beliefs, the souls of animals are absolutely innocent. They warmed the baby Jesus with their breath. Animals gave up their own food so they could make a makeshift baby bed out of hay.

Night. This time of day is still associated with the decline of faith. At that moment, the Savior appeared, as if giving hope to all people for the future.

Expectation. Mankind suffered for its own sins. After the expulsion of Adam and Eve, people could not hope that God would be favorable to them. But the Lord took pity on his creatures and sent them his own son to atone for their sins. Jesus took upon himself all the suffering. According to the biblical canon, he redeemed original sin Adam.

Christmas: the history and traditions of the holiday of goodness and light

On January 7, Orthodox Christians will celebrate one of the most important and solemn holidays in the church calendar - Christmas.

According to the Scriptures, the Blessed Virgin Mary gave birth to Jesus Christ in Bethlehem during the then census. The city was overflowing with people who arrived for the census, and no one had a place to sleep in their houses. Mary and Joseph settled down in the barn, where they spent the night with their pets. At the moment of birth, a star appeared in the sky, which showed the Magi the way to the baby. The wise men entered the barn and presented their gifts to the future Savior: gold, frankincense and myrrh (a special fragrant oil).

When is the holiday celebrated?

Orthodox Christians celebrate Christmas on January 7, unlike Catholics who celebrate it. This tradition arose in connection with the introduction of the Gregorian calendar in Europe in 1582. In Russia, only in the twentieth century began to use the European chronology. The Church did not accept the new calendar at all and continues to count Christian holidays according to the Byzantine calendar partially reformed by Peter I.

What happens before Christmas?

Before the holiday, the Orthodox observe a 40-day fast, one of the longest in the church calendar.

On Christmas Eve (Christmas Eve), everyone gathers at the festive table. It is customary to spend this quiet pre-Christmas evening with the closest people and wait for the first star to appear in the sky, which will herald the beginning of the holiday.

Photo: Sergey Bobylev/TASS

What to cook for Christmas?

Believers usually set a table of 12 courses. The main thing on the night of January 6-7 is sochivo - wheat grains with honey, nuts, raisins or dried fruits. After the first star appeared in the sky, the Orthodox should start the meal with it, and then move on to the main dishes.

Kissel is important and symbolic on the festive table. It is prepared exclusively from the most ripe and sweet fruits or berries. If desired, it can be supplemented with a broth - dried fruit compote. In addition, there must be a fish dish on the table - a symbol of Christianity and Christ.

The main rule that all Orthodox try to adhere to is that the Christmas table should be especially generous and rich. In addition to sochiv, jelly and fish, you can add aspic, goose with apples, chicken, young stuffed pig, pancakes and much more. It is customary to serve gingerbread, sweets, nuts and fruits for sweets.

How to receive guests?

At Christmas dinner, it is customary to invite and let everyone into the house who needs it. On this day, you need to please those who cannot afford a traditional holiday. There is a belief that the Lord himself can come to dinner in honor of the Nativity of Christ, but it is not known in what guise he will appear. It is possible that this will be a person in need, so wanderers must be received with great respect.

Photo: Pavel Smertin/TASS

What is a Christmas carol?

In some villages and villages in Russia, the tradition of caroling at Christmas is still widespread.
This custom has its roots in Christmas songs, which in the old days were called carols. Believers went from house to house and sang ritual songs - this is how they glorified the Nativity of Christ. Such songs can not only talk about Christmas, but also praise the Almighty, family, children, and yourself. human life. It is customary to treat carolers with gingerbread, sweets, fruits, and also give them a small amount of money.

According to legend, when the Virgin Mary was 14 years old, She could not stay at the Jerusalem temple, since a girl at that age was already considered an adult and had to be married. According to some sources, the Blessed Virgin took a vow of celibacy in order to devote Her life to God, so the priests betrothed Her to the aged pious elder Joseph, who would be the guardian of Her virginity. According to other sources, Joseph was an ordinary young man who was going to enter into an ordinary marriage with the Virgin Mary.
The supernatural birth of the future Savior of the world is narrated in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. The Gospel of Luke tells about the event of the Annunciation: the Angel of the Lord announced to the Virgin Mary that She would become the Mother of the Son of God. The Gospel of Matthew says the following about the events of Christmas:
“The birth of Jesus Christ was like this: after the betrothal of His Mother Mary to Joseph, before they were combined, it turned out that She was pregnant with the Holy Spirit. Joseph, her husband, being righteous and not wanting to divulge Her, wanted to secretly let her go. But when he thought this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife, for that which is born in her is of the Holy Spirit, and she shall bear a Son, and you shall call his name Jesus; for he will save his people from their sins." (chapter 1, verse 18-21)
The Blessed Virgin with Her betrothed husband Joseph (in church tradition he is called the Betrothed) lived in the town of Nazareth in northern Israel. Shortly before it was time for Her to give birth, the Roman emperor Augustus issued a decree on the census of the population throughout the Roman Empire (and Palestine was then under Roman rule). Every resident of Palestine had to register in the city where he was from. Joseph, as one of the descendants of the great king David, had to go to be recorded in the city of Bethlehem, which is located south of Jerusalem. Since Bethlehem was overflowing with the descendants of King David, who in that era were very numerous, Joseph and Mary could not find a place in the hotel, and they were forced to spend the night in a barn.
Meanwhile, the time had come for Mary to give birth; She gave birth to a Son, swaddled Him and put Him in a manger (feeder) for cattle. On the icon of the Nativity, in addition to the Baby, His Mother and Joseph, animals are depicted - an ox and a donkey located in a barn.
The shepherds grazing nearby flocks came to bow to the newborn, to whom the Angel announced the birth of the Savior (Gospel of Luke, ch. 2, verses 1-20).
Some time later, wise men-magicians came to Bethlehem from the East and began to ask about the recently born Baby: "Where is the King of the Jews born? For we saw His star in the east and came to worship Him" ​​(Gospel of Matthew, ch. 2, verse 2). It turned out that they were Eastern magicians who discovered in the sky the sign of the great Lord; there is an opinion that the star of Bethlehem was a supernatural phenomenon. For a long time, prophecies about mysterious Man from Judah, who was to conquer the world. King Herod the Great, who then reigned in Judea, a cruel despot and tyrant, decided that he was dealing with another contender for his power. He called the Magi, "ascertained from them the time of the appearance of the star, and sending them to Bethlehem, he said: go, carefully inquire about the Baby, and when you find it, inform me so that I can go and worship Him." (Mat. ch. 3, vv. 7-8).
The star led the Magi to the place where the Christ Child was. The Magi bowed to Him. bringing their gifts; by revelation from above, they did not return to Herod and went to their homeland in a different way.
Meanwhile, an angel appeared to Joseph and warned him that Herod wanted to destroy the baby; An angel told Joseph to flee to Egypt, taking the Child and His Mother. Herod, in order to eliminate possible contender to the throne, ordered to kill in Bethlehem all babies under two years old. According to church tradition, there were 14 thousand killed babies. Since then, the name of King Herod has become a household name; this word began to refer to all child killers.
Joseph stayed in Egypt until the death of Herod, and then returned to his homeland and settled with his family in Nazareth.

EXPLANATIONS:
1. Why is Jesus called the Christ, what does this mean?
"Christ" in Greek, and in Hebrew "Messiah" (in Greek transcription, in Hebrew transcription - "Mashiach") means "Anointed One". According to the custom of the East, when a person was proclaimed a monarch, the priest poured a goblet of oil, olive oil, which was considered a symbol of strength, on his head. The rite of anointing reminded us that power is bestowed from God, whose Spirit will henceforth dwell on the Chosen One. Therefore, even in the time of King David, every ruler of Israel was called the anointed one, the Messiah. However, over time, this title began to be attributed only to the great King of the future.
You need to know that the Lord Jesus, of course, did not claim the throne of any earthly kingdom. In a conversation with Pontius Pilate, He said: "My kingdom is not of this world" (Gospel of John, ch. 18, v. 36)
For the Israelites, the promise of the Messiah merged with the common hope for the fulfillment of the unknown plans of the Lord. God once promised King David through the prophet Nathan that he would be rewarded for his devotion to the faith: one of his descendants would become the founder eternal kingdom. The Lord Jesus was a descendant of David, since both His named father and His Mother came from the lineage of David.
2. About the celebration of Christmas.
The Russian Orthodox Church celebrates Christmas on December 25 according to the Julian calendar or January 7 according to the Gregorian calendar (according to which modern world.) Christmas Eve, January 6, is called Christmas Eve. On this day, a strict fast is prescribed: nothing is eaten until the evening, until the first star appears.
The modern European calendar counts from the year of the Nativity of Christ (the so-called "our era").

Christ Is Born - Praise!

The snow falls on the ground in an even cover... Frosty starry night...

It seems that the sky has become closer. All nature falls into a dream, and a spark of hope lights up in the heart that the world around us will become better.

Every time we cross the threshold of the New Year, the soul becomes especially warm, because in a few days the Christmas Holiday will come!

Christmas is an amazing time when the heart is filled with the expectation of a miracle... And this miracle is happening!..

"Christ is born, praise!" - rushes over the Universe, - "Christ from heaven, meet!" - the whole world sings the glory of the Creator. The angelic powers and the human race together glorify the One whose love knows no bounds. And, perhaps, that is why Christmas is called "Winter Easter".

Each of us tries to spend this day differently than any other: to give kindness and love close person to become better, and most importantly, closer to God.

The period from the Nativity of Christ to Baptism is called the Holy Days, or Christmas time. In fact, this is a continuation of the Feast of the Nativity, once these two events were celebrated simultaneously and were called Epiphany.

Christmas time in Rus' was celebrated brightly and solemnly: everyone congratulated each other, glorified Christ, spent time in God-pleasing deeds - mercy and helping others. These days, everyone understood that the Lord had become closer to him...

It would seem that the birth of Christ happened a long time ago, more than 2000 years ago, and the Church sings again and again: “Christ is born!”. And the soul of each of us can become a cave of mystery, and the heart - a manger in which the Infant Christ will be born!

We offer you amazing journey together with simple shepherds and wise wise men behind the Star of Bethlehem to the manger of the little Lord.

On the site you will find materials about the history and theology of the Feast, about folk traditions related to Christmas, tips for preparing original Christmas dishes. For the little ones - a children's page: drawings, stories, poems, contests and much more...

Peace and joy to all on the bright holiday of the Nativity of Christ!

about how, for missionary purposes, the date of the Nativity of Christ was combined with the day winter solstice read the article about. A. Kuraeva:

Human mediocrity is unable to accept Christ the Savior

According to historical data, Christ was born in the year 748 from the founding of Rome, when Augustus was emperor, and a ruler named Publius Quirinius ruled in Syria, whom the Evangelist Luke mentions in connection with the census conducted during his reign. The Virgin Mary and Joseph the Betrothed, coming from the family of King David, had to appear for the census in the “city of David, called Bethlehem” (Lk. 2.4), where, in all likelihood, their genealogical books were located. Evangelist Luke, as a conscientious historian, specifies that we are talking about the first census in the reign of Quirinius, which made it possible to accurately date the event of the Nativity of Christ.

The circumstances of Christmas were accompanied by remarkable and miraculous phenomena. In Bethlehem, where the Virgin Mary and Joseph came, so many people had gathered that the only inn was overcrowded. And then they settled for the night in a cave where the shepherds sheltered their cattle. Here (in Slavic the cave is called "nativity scene") and the Infant Jesus was born, whom the Mother of God, having swaddled, laid on hay in a manger for cattle.

At the same time, another amazing event took place: on a field near Bethlehem, angels appeared to the shepherds with the news that the Messiah, the Savior, had come into the world. As a sign of great joy about the fulfilled promise, the countless heavenly host glorified God, proclaiming to the whole universe: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill towards men!”(Luke 2:14). For the Nativity of Christ the Savior is Divine glory on every creature, and also peace and goodwill is given to the whole human race. And the shepherds came to the cave to worship the Divine Infant.

In those days, the wise men of the East, whom the Gospel calls Magi, saw a new star shining in the firmament. According to their teachings and legends, this meant the coming into the world of a great man. The Magi knew that the Jewish people were waiting for the appearance of the Messiah, their true King and Savior, and therefore they went to Jerusalem to ask where they should look for Him. Hearing about this, King Herod, who ruled Judea at that time, became agitated and called the Magi to him. Finding out from them the time of the appearance of the star, he said: “Go, carefully inquire about the Baby, and when you find it, let me know so that I can go and worship Him” (Matt. 2. 8)).

Following the guiding star, the magi, whom St. John Chrysostom calls "the firstfruits of the Gentile believers," reached Bethlehem. Here they stepped under the vaults of the den and bowed to the newborn Savior, bringing Him gifts from the treasures of the East. Then, having received a revelation from God not to return to Jerusalem, they departed by another way to their own country. Then the enraged Herod, discovering that the Magi had slipped out of his nets, sent an army to Bethlehem with an order to put to death all male babies up to two years old from Rod. For Herod was afraid of the future King of the Jews, seeing in him a rival to his reign.

The Gospel tells that Joseph, having received a revelation from God in a dream, fled with the Mother of God and the Child to Egypt, where the Holy Family lived until the death of Herod. After that, the exiles returned to Palestine and, having learned that the son of Herod Archelaus reigned in Judea, they were afraid to remain in his power. By inspiration from above, they went north, to the borders of Galilee, and settled in the city of Nazareth. Such are the circumstances of the Nativity of Christ the Savior.

The feast of the Nativity of Christ has been celebrated by Christians since ancient times. As early as the 3rd century, Saint Hippolytus of Rome proposed that on this day, during the divine service, Chapter 1 of the Gospel of Matthew be read. The very custom of celebrating Christmas dates back to ancient times Christianity.

We do not know the day when the God-child Jesus was born. The celebration of the Nativity of Christ takes place on December 25th. This is the end of the winter solstice, when the coming day, as it were, marks the renewal of the entire universe. Once upon a time, pagan sun worshipers glorified their false sun deity on this very day. Christians, in turn, decided to celebrate the Nativity of Christ at the same time, in order to reveal their confession of Christ the Savior as the true Sun of truth, enlightening the world, leading humanity to salvation and to the knowledge of Divine truth. "Your Christmas. Christ our God, exalt the world with the light of reason,” we sing in the troparion of this holiday.

As for the established practice of celebrating the Nativity of Christ in the old and new styles, it is due to the coexistence of two different calendars: the old, Julian and the new, Gregorian. According to both calendars, Christmas is celebrated on December 25, but the difference between the two calendars is now 13 days, and therefore December 25 in the Julian calendar (old style) corresponds to January 7 in the Gregorian calendar (new style). Some believe that celebrating Christmas according to the new Gregorian calendar is more correct than celebrating according to the old Julian calendar. This point of view is completely unfounded. The fact is that chronological scrupulousness regarding the feast of the Nativity of Christ does not seem to be strictly obligatory, for this celebration takes place not in connection with the day when the Divine Infant Jesus was born, but in connection with the event of His Birth. In a sense, December 25 (January 7) is a symbolic date recognized by the entire Christian world.

So, who bowed to Jesus Christ, who accepted Him? These were the most simple and unlearned people - the shepherds, as well as the most learned and wise - the magicians. And who did not accept the born Christ and sought His destruction? The ruler and politician, ready for human sacrifices to his lust for power, is King Herod.

What does this distinction teach us between those who have accepted and those who have not accepted Christ who has come into this world? Much. Including the realization of the fact that Christ is revealed either in the simplicity of the human heart and purity of moral feeling, or in great human wisdom and great knowledge. While human mediocrity and vulgarity are unable to accept Christ the Savior, those who pursue false, illusory and sinful goals are also unable to unite with Him.

In what year from the birth of Christ was Christ born?

Publication date: 01/08/2007
Each newspaper reports with its first news that a baby was born in the family of a carpenter from Nazareth twenty centuries ago. After all, every newspaper and every informational message begins with a date, and the date indicates the starting point: "such and such a year from the birth of Christ."

The year 2000 has recently been left behind... The third millennium has begun...

The third millennium of the new era began, the third millennium from the birth of Christ since 1993. If the events of 1992 were described by an ancient Russian chronicler, he would write it down like this: "In the summer of 7500 from the creation of the world ...". And if he had been offered the calculation of years not from the Old Testament times, but from the Gospel, he would have written about "the year 2000 from the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ in the flesh."

The current/Western chronology adopted in Russia during the Petrine reforms lags behind the traditional Orthodox calendar for 8 years. Unfortunately, the very date of Christmas was incorrectly calculated in the 6th century by the Western monk Dionysius the Small. His calculations formed the basis of Western calendars.

In pre-Petrine Russia, however, there was a system of chronology. It was conducted "from the creation of the world." I don’t know about the time of the “creation of the world”, but she remembered the date of the Nativity of Christ more precisely. She attributed Christmas seven years earlier than Dionysius did. At the same time, the birth of Christ fell on the year 5500 "from the creation of the world." The saints of Patriarch Joseph, for example, determined the date of Christmas in this way: "Our Lord Jesus Christ was born in the summer of August the king, then the sole ruler in the universe. In the summer from the creation of the world 5500, index 10, circle to the Sun 12, Moon 9, on Wednesday."

In the Ribbon of Patriarch Filaret (Romanov), it was said about her in the "Order of those coming from heresies": "I curse their (Latins) false confession and their charming chroniclers' indication that our Lord Jesus Christ was not incarnated in the year five thousand five hundredth." If the modern account "from the birth of Christ" coincided with the ancient Russian and Byzantine accounts, then when translating chronicles that count years "from the creation of the world" into the modern calendar, one would simply have to subtract 5500 years. But the fact of the matter is that Western and Eastern traditions define the year of Christmas differently. And therefore, when translating, you have to subtract 5508. For example, if the date “summer 6496” is in the Old Russian text, this means the year 988 from R. X.

This is - if we are talking about centuries new era, and when counting the events that took place before Christmas, it is necessary to make an amendment not for 8, but for 7 years: since the first year of the new reckoning is preceded not by the "zero year", but by the first year BC. e., then even at the transition of the turn of the eras, the gap in the calculation of years in the West and East decreases by a year and is reduced to seven years. Thus, the first year of the Christian era, according to the Orthodox chronology, corresponds to the seventh year BC. e. in the Western calendar, and, in turn, the year 1992 according to the Catholic calendar corresponds to the year 2000 according to the Orthodox account of time.

So, according to the ancient Orthodox calendar, the third millennium began in 1993. Now we have entered the 21st century from the real Nativity of Christ, and, by the way, the "end of the world" did not happen at the same time (except for several sectarian shows under this name).
The Eastern Christian tradition has preserved a more accurate memory of those events in Palestine. Many scientific data also speak in favor of the Eastern Christian calendar. Even Kepler came to the conclusion that the Bethlehem Christmas star could be visible in the earth's sky only in 7 BC. e. Historical evidence collected by Fr. Alexander Menem in his book "The Son of Man", lead to the same date. F. Farrar, in The First Days of Christianity, and V. Bolotov, in his Lectures on the History of the Ancient Church, also lean towards it. Today, however, only the Old Believers in their calendars continue to indicate the years according to the traditional church calendar (for the year of Christmas, see, for example: Old Believer church calendar for 1986, p. 36).

Given the difficulty in determining the year of Christmas, is it possible to calculate the day Jesus was born? Yes, I have. The first of the events of the New Testament, described in the Gospel, can be dated quite accurately. “In the days of Herod, the king of the Jews, there was a priest from the Avian line, named Zechariah... An angel of the Lord appeared to him" (Luke 1:5-11).

So, Zechariah is from the Avian line. The priesthood in the Old Testament was hereditary, and in order for each family to determine the time of its service in the Temple, King David divided the priestly lineage of the Levites into "cheds", that is, shifts. Abiev's lot fell eighth (1 Chr. 24:10). There were 24 such divisions in total. Consequently, each division received two weeks of service per year. As a minister of the eighth line, Abij served at the end of the fourth month of the Jewish liturgical calendar.

The liturgical calendar began with the month of Nisan (Aviv). Since the lunar calendar of the Old Testament and our solar calendar do not coincide, the month of Nisan (the month of flowers) corresponds to March-April of the modern calendar. Plus, the 12th month of the year Adar was repeated every three years and was twice a year to compensate for the shortening of the lunar month compared to the solar month (the difference reaches 12 days a year).

Add four months - and we get August as the time of the ministry of Zechariah. Zechariah returns home (not immediately after the vision, but "when the days of his service were over" - Luke 1:23) and soon "after these days Elisabeth his wife conceived" (Luke 1:24). It may seem strange that Zechariah, though speechless, completed his term of service in the Temple. Today, a speechless priest would obviously not be able to conduct Divine services, but then, at the threshold of the New Testament, it was still possible. The fact is that at that time the sacrifice that the priest brought to God was not a "verbal sacrifice", but the sacrifice of an animal, a lamb. if the service consisted only in the reading of prayers, Zechariah could not perform it. But those Old Testament services consisted of constant sacrifices. It was possible to participate in these sacrifices without a voice... But it was from them that Christ came to deliver us. So, the time of the conception of John the Baptist by Elizabeth can be defined as September (September 23, Old Style in the church calendar). The time of the birth of John the Baptist, therefore, turns out to be nine months later - in June (June 24 according to the church calendar). However, during the period of Elizabeth's pregnancy, another event occurred. The Virgin Mary was told that she would give birth to Christ. Mary does not dare to reveal what she has announced to her husband, and of her relatives, only Elizabeth was alive.

For five months Elizabeth hid her miraculous pregnancy (Ac. 1:24), and in the sixth month of her pregnancy "the Angel Gabriel was sent from God to Nazareth, to the Virgin, betrothed to her husband, named Joseph." This means that the Annunciation of Mary takes place six months after the conception of John the Baptist. This is March (according to the church calendar, the Annunciation is celebrated on March 25). Nine months later comes the Nativity of Christ. The month of Christmas is December (December 25).

The exact dates here are, of course, unknown. And yet the biblical account makes it possible to indicate quite clearly the middle of winter as the time of Christmas. In the ancient Church, Christmas was celebrated on January 6, according to the old style (when the day of Theophany, the Baptism of the Lord, is now celebrated).

At the beginning of the 5th century, the celebration of Christmas was combined with the winter solstice. The peoples of the Middle East, by that time for the most part already converted to Christianity, still had the habit of celebrating the day of the Sun on the day when solar time days began to increase. According to the pagan calendar, the celebrations of the god Mithra were celebrated on this day. In order to turn the already well-established festive moods of people on this day from pagan memories to memories of gospel events, it was decided to separate the celebration of Christmas and Epiphany, taking Christmas for 12 days and superimposing it on the national celebrations on December 25th. This is how Saints appeared.

The missionary-polemical nature of the establishment of the celebration of Christmas is reflected in the fact that the liturgical hymns of this day sing about Christ as the "Sun of Truth" who illumined the protracted winter of paganism. Let us note that the timing of the day of Christmas to the day of the winter solstice was not astronomically motivated, but purely doctrinal.

This is the traditional form of establishing a new faith: not through the complete destruction of the old symbols and shrines, but through the redirection of their meaning. By the way, the initial celebration of the Epiphany on January 6 is not due to the fact that in ancient times they more accurately remembered the date of Christmas, but to the same missionary needs. The Day of Theophany owes its date to the Gnostic heretics. It was the Valentinians who were the first to establish the Feast of the Epiphany (Theophany) with the consecration of the Nile on the 11th day of the month of Tubi (January 6, O.S.). In contrast to them, Christians established their own holiday. This ancient polemical nature of our celebration of Baptism is still visible in the prayers of the rite of the great blessing of water. "You freed the nature of our generation, you blessed the virgin womb with your birth" - this is against the teachings of the Gnostics about the origin of the human body from the hands of the evil Demiurge and about childbirth as an act of intervention of this evil force. "All creation sings of Thee who appeared: Thou art our God, Thou hast appeared on earth, and Thou hast lived with men" - against the doctrine of Jesus Christ as only one of the created celestials - eons. "You have sanctified the streams of Jordan, sending down from heaven Your Holy Spirit" - Against the occult-gnostic teaching, according to which Jesus became the Son of God only when he entered the Jordan. "And you destroyed the heads of those who nest there" - against the teaching, according to which Jesus received the gift of knowledge in the Jordan from the serpent who had previously seduced Eve in paradise (see: Uspensky N. Anaphora // Theological Works. No. 13. M., 1975. C 73.).

By the 5th century, Gnosticism had already been overcome. Other missionary and liturgical tasks appeared, and therefore both the Western and Eastern Churches accepted this new feast. And only the Armenian Church, which at the beginning of the 5th century had already begun to break away from the Universal Church, kept the old tradition and still celebrates Christmas and Epiphany on the same day - January 6th.

Later, the liturgical calendar began to shift from the strictly astronomical one. The winter solstice began to depart from December 25 Julian style. Reforms of liturgical calendars have been undertaken from time to time, but there is still no exact match anywhere.

The Catholic Church celebrates Christmas on December 25 in the Gregorian calendar (although the solstice now falls on December 21). The Orthodox Churches of Greece, Romania, Bulgaria, Poland, Syria, Lebanon and Egypt also celebrate Christmas. The Russian Orthodox Church continues to live according to the more archaic Julian calendar, where December 25 corresponds to January 7 of the Gregorian calendar. Together with Russia, the Jerusalem, Serbian, Georgian Churches and monasteries of Athos celebrate Christmas on this day. However, parishes of the Russian Orthodox Church located in the countries of Western Europe have permission to celebrate Christmas together with the peoples of the countries in which they live. Thus, although the difference in the dates of the celebration of Christmas is annoying, this difference is not perceived as a reason for internal church divisions.

The Russian Church does not initiate a change in the calendar style, obviously, for the reason that today there is no longer a polemical need to adjust the celebration of Christmas to the day of the winter solstice, since none of the Russians perceives December 21 as "the day of Mithras." Therefore, the liturgical calendar today may no longer be rigidly tied to astronomical events. The time of astronomers and watchmakers and the time of the Liturgy do not have to coincide.

Thus, astronomical phenomena cannot be regarded as a measure of liturgical time; missionary arguments tend to favor the preservation of the "old" style. Suppose the Russian Church changes the date of its feast next year. However, this innovation will require the participation of the state. First of all, because Christmas is children's holiday. And December 25th is still a school day. Will the Ministry of Education, for the sake of the church calendar, agree to end the school year before Christmas Eve, that is, no later than December 23? Or, at the first attempt to raise this question, will the same newspapers that are now demanding the postponement of the celebration of Christmas begin to say that in a "secular and multi-confessional" state, the school schedule should not depend on the liturgical calendar? Moreover, since the second term is already the shortest of the school year, shortening it by almost a week will obviously require moving it to more early term autumn holidays. And then, for the sake of celebrating Christmas, it will take autumn vacation to separate from the "October holidays". I would only welcome the separation of school holidays from "revolutionary traditions".

But in real life in modern Russia, this would mean provoking a revival of anti-church remnants in a certain part of the people, and older people of just that threshold age for whom closeness to the Church is extremely important.

Next, on what date should we move Christmas? For December 25th? So this date, from the point of view of astronomy, is also not the date of the winter solstice (December 21). If we follow the dictates of astronomy, we should now overtake even the Catholics. And if we simply go to the Catholic date of December 25, then this action, being absurd from the point of view of science, will turn out to be strange from the point of view of church-political. It is impossible for the sake of unity with those who are far away to change your life in such a way as to enter into a break with your neighbors. In the end Western countries and Victory Day is celebrated on May 8, not the 9th. (But try to offer our veterans such a reform of the calendar - and they will rightly see this as yet another blasphemy.)

Yes, and before offering the Orthodox to redraw their calendar, it would be nice to offer the same advice to the Catholics. And see: is it possible to reform the calendar of the modern Roman Church, the last decades in every possible way welcoming any changes? And then it will turn out that the translation of Western Christmas to the astronomically correct December 21 is very difficult.
Imagine that from now on, Christmas is celebrated on December 21st. Bundle " Christmas- New Year" is under threat. So long holidays cannot afford political, financial or economic life. This means that a national holiday will not come out of such a Christmas. Holidays will remain only New Year's (only "Christmas" they will not be allowed to be made by the press under the same slogan of "multi-confessionalism"). There could be only one way out of this situation - a simultaneous change in the civil calendar: shift all the names of the days so that the current day of December 21 is called "twenty-fifth", and December 28 is called "New Year", the first of January. However, the loss of three days, especially at the end of the year, can cause unpredictable difficulties in business life. In addition, the civil calendar must be changed simultaneously in all countries. When the Catholic Church was a secular ruler and firmly held the whole of Europe in its power, it could simultaneously reform both the church and civil calendar. By the way, the absence of this kind of administrative centralization in Orthodoxy did not allow a similar reform to be carried out at the beginning of the 20th century: part of the Orthodox Churches introduced a new style, retaining the old Easter calculation system; part remained in the old style; Finally, the Finnish Church adopted both the new Easter and the new style. Today, the demand to change the civil calendar in favor of one of the confessions looks clearly utopian. So Catholics will have to come to terms with the fact that the liturgical calendar will live on its own, and the astronomical calendar will live on its own.

By itself, a two-week difference in the celebration of identity would be problem-free if not for globalism modern means mass media. On December 25, the entire broadcast was already filled with joyful exclamations and congratulations. If these congratulations were addressed specifically to Russian Catholics, they would be quite appropriate. Unfortunately, they were often formulated much more broadly: "You, dear TV viewers!"

The state television of Poland is not arranging Christmas shows on the day of the Orthodox celebration of Christmas. In France or Germany, on the right, the glorious Easter TV and radio channels are by no means overflowing with congratulations. But in these countries there are no fewer Orthodox Christians than there are Catholics in Russia, and yet the nationwide broadcasting systems, as a last resort, only remind that such and such fellow citizens have such and such a holiday today, but do not call on everyone to share this specific holiday of the minority.

Yes, for Catholics, by December 25, the Christmas fast is already ending, but for the Orthodox, it is still going on, and the two most significant, most spiritually rich weeks of it are still ahead. Congratulating on a holiday that has not yet arrived is not always possible. The fact is that the liturgical calendar includes very sharp, striking changes. Just before Christmas - Christmas Eve, the day of the most strict fasting, abstinence from almost any food. Before Easter - Holy Week, days of spiritual sorrow and remembrance of the Way of the Cross of the Savior.

Man cannot live in continuous celebration. The alternation of weekdays and holidays, days of joyful and sad memories should make up a calendar. Each nation has developed its own calendar, its own series of holidays and fasts. And it is no coincidence that every new political regime in Russia of the 20th century, he tried to create his own cycle of holidays (remember, for example, the announcement of the day of the "Yeltsin Constitution" as a non-working day). God be with him, with the political calendar. But let at least the church calendar remain with the Russian people as it is. In addition, elementary tact can suggest: every congratulation on a religious holiday should be targeted. Muslims with quite sincere cordiality can be congratulated on their holidays, Catholics - on theirs. The Orthodox, if desired, can be congratulated on Christmas on January 7th.

Those who are not interested in astronomical problems usually express one argument in favor of moving Christmas to December 25 of the new style: to get the opportunity to celebrate the New Year outside the Advent fast. But a liturgical reform carried out for gastronomic reasons is even stranger than a liturgical reform carried out for astronomical reasons.

And for me, the further Christmas departs from the New Year, the better. So it's easier not to drink away the joy of Christmas in New Year's feasts. When the uprising neo-pagan flesh wins back, when all the newspapers and all the TV presenters finally hoarse from congratulations on the year of the "blue pig", then, perhaps, a quiet Christmas song will sound more audibly: "Christ is born - praise ..."