CHRISTMAS EVE

According to established practice, the celebration of Christmas Eve in the Orthodox Church is slightly shifted. The Christmas Eve Liturgy should be celebrated in the afternoon of January 6 (December 24), after Vespers, and the Christmas service itself at dawn on the feast day. The analogy with Easter is obvious, especially since in Orthodoxy, Christmas is preceded by a forty-day fast, and in the services of the daily cycle of the fore-feast of Christmas, which begins on January 2, there are clear reminiscences of Holy Week.

“Mary was of David’s seed, so she went with Joseph to register in Bethlehem. She bore in her womb the Fruit not sown by man. The time for the birth was at hand. Since there was no room at the inn, the cave became a beautiful palace for the Queen. Christ is born, raising up the image that fell of old,” is sung in the troparion of the Christmas eve. The content of this hymn is especially revealed in the liturgical service on the eve of Christmas, which in Orthodox Slavic folk piety is called “Sochelnik” because of the strict fast meal.

2 On the day when the Church has already entered the threshold of the Nativity of Jesus, preceding the Great Feast of the Christian universe, It is important to try to explain the date of the celebration. In other words, this is the best moment to ask yourself the question, why the birthday of Jesus Christ is January 7, or December 25 according to the church calendar.

3 For a long time, it was believed that the date of Christmas was chosen “arbitrarily.” The fact is that the pagan Romans celebrated the Day of the Unconquered Sun on December 25. It is historically known that Roman Christians were the first to celebrate Christmas on December 25. The tradition of celebrating Christmas on this particular day originated in the Roman Church. There are studies on this topic, and theologians can talk about it in detail.

4 In the Eastern Christian world, churches celebrated Epiphany on January 6. This holiday combined all the events related to the earthly life of Jesus Christ, except for the Passion and the Paschal Mystery. Initially, there was no separate celebration in honor of the birth of Christ in the Orthodox East. The early Christians called the days of the martyrdom of saints “birthdays.” They expected the imminent return of Jesus in the Second Coming. It was not easy to give up this perspective. It was extremely difficult to begin celebrating the main holiday, apart from Easter, in honor of the Economy of Salvation and, like the deaths of martyrs – that is, birthdays - to call it the Birth of Jesus. An indication of this confusion regarding Christmas is perhaps the fact that in the Orthodox liturgical calendar it remains “only” one of twelve major feasts.

5 There is a belief that the Roman Church adapted the pagan holiday of December 25. This was supposedly done for missionary purposes, to attract pagans to Christianity. In addition, the goal was supposedly to distract, or rather, to protect Christians themselves from participating in pagan celebrations. This opinion about the origin of the date of Christmas was dominant for a long time. Even today, it is often heard in church sermons. However, it is neither exclusive nor definitive. Recently, as historical and theological science has developed, it has been increasingly called into question.

6 It turns out that at the time of the Incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ, there was a belief among the biblical people that the Righteous One, the Messiah, the Son of Man, the Savior of the World, Christ, had to die on the day of his conception. Biblical texts also mysteriously testify to this. Thus, the Righteous Job, the prototype of the Suffering Christ, curses the day of his conception: “Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night in which it was said, There is a man child conceived” (Job 3:3). And in the Pentateuch, the prohibition is repeated several times: “Thou shalt not seethe a kid in its mother’s milk” (Exodus 34:26; cf. 23:19; Deuteronomy 14:21). Is there a connection between mother’s milk and the death of a child, between the day of conception and the day of crucifixion?

7 Not long ago, scientists were finally able to calculate the day when the Lord Jesus was most likely crucified historically. It may seem surprising, but this date is April 7 according to the Julian calendar, or March 25 according to the Gregorian calendar. That is, the very day when the Church celebrates the Annunciation. If we count the prescribed nine months from the day of the Lord’s conception, we get December 25, or January 7. And this is the date we all know! Knowledge of these two possible explanations for the origin of the date of Christmas, theological and historical, and their reasonable combination, is extremely important, beneficial to the soul, and edifying. It helps us to better understand the essence of the Christian tradition of the great feast of the birth of Christ the Messiah into the world.