Orthodox Christmas Is 7, January

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AN ANCIENT CALENDAR TRADITION: Christmas comes again
For Orthodox Christians, the celebration is just beginning. (Detroit Free Press)

Abbot Pachomy of St. Sabbas Orthodox Monastery in Harper Woods prepares Wednesday for traditional Russian Christmas services Friday and Saturday. Those who celebrate Christmas after Dec. 25 may be few in metro Detroit, "but we represent a large part of the Christian world," he said. (KATHLEEN GALLIGAN/Detroit Free Press)

Where to celebrate
These local churches are among those welcoming visitors for Christmas celebrations:

St. John Armenian Orthodox Church, 22001 Northwestern Highway, Southfield. A Holy Theophany liturgy will begin at 7 p.m. today and continue at 10:30 a.m. Friday.

St. Sabbas Orthodox Monastery, 18745 Old Homestead, Harper Woods. Christmas services will be at 6:30 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. Saturday.

St. Lazarus Serbian Orthodox Church, 4575 E. Outer Drive, Detroit. Christmas services will be at 6:30 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. Saturday with the burning of a yule log at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

DAVID CRUMM

DAVID CRUMM

Merry Christmas!

It's still an appropriate greeting for thousands of Michigan families with roots in Armenia, Russia, Serbia and other parts of Eastern Europe.

"Most Christians in this country start taking down lights and throwing their trees into the street on Dec. 26, but millions of Christians in Eastern Europe and Russia are just getting started," Abbot Pachomy, head of the St. Sabbas Orthodox Monastery in Harper Woods, said Wednesday.

He was preparing to welcome hundreds of visitors for a traditional Russian Christmas on Friday night and Saturday in his monastery chapel.

"We may be a small number in metropolitan Detroit, but we represent a large part of the Christian world," Pachomy said.

Michigan's diversity of immigrant groups, drawn mainly to auto-industry jobs during the last century, has left a colorful sprinkling of Christmas customs across metro Detroit.

That includes an unusual Armenian Orthodox Church observance of Jesus' birth tonight and Friday in congregations such as St. Sarkis in Dearborn and St. John in Southfield.

"The Armenian Church is one of the oldest churches in the world, and we still celebrate an ancient tradition from the early church that joins two Christian feasts into what we call Holy Theophany," the Rev. Garabed Kochakian, pastor of St. John Armenian Orthodox Church, said Wednesday. "In this double feast, we celebrate both the manifestation of God through Jesus' birth and through his baptism."

Other Orthodox churches celebrate versions of Holy Theophany this week or later in January, but they mainly focus on Jesus' baptism.

"In the Armenian Church, Holy Theophany still celebrates both things," Kochakian said. "So, if you have Armenian friends, it would be proper to wish them 'Merry Christmas' this week."

One day after the Armenian observance, thousands of Russians, Serbians and other Eastern Europeans will celebrate Christmas for a different reason. They're parishioners at more than a dozen local churches that still follow an ancient calendar for Christmas that runs 13 days later than the modern secular calendar.

"There are about 15 to 20 old-calendar churches in the area," Pachomy said.
One of the biggest of the old-calendar Christmases will start at 6:30 p.m. Friday at St. Lazarus Serbian Orthodox Church in Detroit.

"We'll jam about 1,400 people into the church Friday night for the service, then about 7:30 p.m., we'll go outside for the burning of the yule log," said the Rev. Radomir Obsenica, a priest at St. Lazarus.

The 8-foot-long section of an oak tree still has dried leaves clinging to its branches "and as sparks from those leaves fly up into the heavens, there's an old song that's sung, saying that we hope blessings in the new year may go up like the sparks," the priest said.

"These Christmas celebrations are important because they're not related to commercialism. They remind us of who we are as people," Obsenica said. "For Serbs, there's something very organic about the nature of the nation itself that we remember in this Christmas celebration."
Pachomy, who has spent six years developing outdoor shrines and gardens around his elaborately decorated chapel at the Harper Woods monastery, said, "It's important to provide places where people can step out of the busy urban landscape and step into a traditional place of peace and reflection.

"We'll be close to capacity for Christmas, but we do invite the public to come in and join us at 6:30 p.m. Friday or 10 a.m. Saturday," he said.

Contact DAVID CRUMM at 313-223-4526 or crumm@freepress.com.

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http://www.orthodoxytoday.org/articles5 ... istmas.php

The Nativity: Real Beginning and Legacy
Fr. George Morelli
"Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham." This is the first sentence of the gospel read at the Sunday before the Nativity in the Orthodox Church. I suggest the gospel reading actually should begin with the first "real" ancestor of our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ.

Of course, the reason the gospel starts with Abraham is because, despite being surrounded by polytheistic, idol worshipping, pagans, Abraham acknowledged that God is unseen and one. God made a covenant with him that made him the leader of God's people -- the people of the First Covenant (Genesis 17) -- and the "father of many nations."

A complete understanding the nativity of Our Lord reaches back even farther, to the first ancestor of mankind: Adam. In Hebrew "Adam" means "man." Adam too, is a first ancestor of Our Lord, in that Jesus was both fully human (being born of woman) just like all mankind, although fully God as well by being conceived of the Holy Spirit.

The scripture account is a narrative but also a great theological mystery. Adam and Eve were made in God's image and called to be like Him. They start out in Paradise with the potential of full union with God but still experienced testing. They fail the test by the sin of pride. They are cast out of paradise into the world and are disordered -- inclined to sin and destined for death. We are the offspring of Adam and partake of these same maladies.

Everything in the Orthodox Church tradition -- the Scripture, the Church Fathers, the Divine Liturgy and other worship services, the architecture of the temple [building] the icons and the iconostas, and more -- tell the story of salvation from the primordial beginnings.

For example, every Church has an iconostas, a screen of icons with three doors, a middle or royal door before the altar, a north door to the left, and a south door to the right separating the holy of holies or altar area from main area where the people of God are located. This symbolizes the separation between mankind and the kingdom and the paradise that was lost after Adam's sin. The icons function as windows to heaven (or paradise).

The relation between paradise and the heavenly kingdom is a great mystery. St. Gregory of Sinai talks about a "paradise of Eden and a paradise of grace." Nikitas Stithatos, the disciple and biographer of St. Symeon the New Theologian tells us, "...we should learn what the kingdom of heaven is, what the kingdom of God is, and what paradise is, and how the one differs from the other;" (Philokalia, V 4). Or consider the words of Our Lord to the thief on the cross, "today you will be with me in paradise" (Luke 23:43).

In the Divine Liturgy paradise is at least paralleled with the Kingdom of God. The priest starts the Liturgy in front of the altar (which seen though the open Royal Doors) by chanting, "Blessed is the Kingdom of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit."

The icon of St. Michael the Archangel who expelled Adam and Eve from paradise is on the north door of the iconostasis. St. Michael to this day prevents all, except those who have earned it, from getting into the Kingdom. The archangel at the south door is Gabriel who said to Mary, "Hail (Ave) Full of Grace ...you are to bear the Son of God...." She responded, "Be it done unto me according to your word." Gabriel's gift to mankind is to announce the the way back to the Kingdom, to paradise (Luke 1: 28-38). Mary's response to God's invitation, her consent to the command of God through Gabriel becomes the a key that opens the door of paradise to all mankind.

Our Lord voluntarily "emptied" (kenosis) Himself when He took on human nature through Mary. In the Divine Liturgy of the Orthodox Church this self-emptying is twice proclaimed. During the Small Entrance, the priest exits the sanctuary through the north door carrying the book of the Gospels -- the Word of God. He who was born in the flesh comes out of paradise to be among us who are presently out of the Kingdom to give us His Word. This liturgical action is a beautiful symbol of the public life of Jesus when He taught His disciples and apostles and still teaches us today. After few hymns, the priest returns to the sanctuary through the Royal Doors, a liturgical action representing a return to the Kingdom of God.

The second exit a little later is at the Great Entrance. Ordinary bread and wine is carried in procession by the priest again out of the same North door and brought back through the Royal Door and laid on the altar. The bread and wine will be transformed into the very body and blood of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, when the priest says the words of Jesus, "This bread is my body, this wine is my blood" and asking that it be blessed by the Holy Spirit.

Holy Communion was instituted at the Last Supper and the events that followed it: the passion, death and resurrection of Christ conquered death and opened the door for those 'in whom He now indwells' to enter the Kingdom. The Nativity started this salvific act. Mary, the teenage virgin from Palestine, by her simple obedience was the key that allowed Emmanuel (God with us) to bring us salvation. She became the "New Eve," the Theotokos (God-bearer), Our Mother. The Nativity is united with the whole life of Jesus, his teaching, the Last Supper, Calvary, and the Resurrection.

The Nativity is understood in our heart, not in rush and press of a commercialized Christmas. The secularists who want to remove the word Christmas from the public square by taking Christ out of Christmas and replace it with an X, who want to ban Christmas trees or Nativity scenes, who won't allow children to sing a carol in school, may unwittingly have point. The real meaning of Christmas is to have Christ born in us, indwelling in our hearts.

V. Rev. Fr. George Morelli Ph.D. is a licensed Clinical Psychologist and Marriage and Family Therapist, Coordinator of the Chaplaincy and Pastoral Counseling Ministry of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese, (www.antiochian.org/counseling-ministries) and Religion Coordinator (and Antiochian Archdiocesan Liaison) of the Orthodox Christian Association of Medicine, Psychology and Religion. Fr. George is Assistant Pastor of St. George's Antiochian Orthodox Church, San Diego, California.

Posted: 23-Dec-05

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http://www.orthodoxytoday.org/articles/ ... istmas.php

The Twelve Days of Christmas
Rev. Johannes L. Jacobse
Orthodox Christians need to remain faithful to their traditions.

In the Christian tradition of both east and west, the twelve days of Christmas refer to the period from Christmas Day to Theophany. The days leading up to Christmas were for preparation; a practice affirmed in the Orthodox tradition by the Christmas fast that runs from November 15 to Christmas day. The celebration of Christmas did not begin until the first of the twelve days.

As our culture became more commercialized, the period of celebration shifted from Thanksgiving to Christmas Day. Christmas celebration increasingly conforms to the shopping cycle while the older tradition falls by the wayside. It's an worrisome shift because as the tradition dims, the knowledge that the period of preparation imparted diminishes with it.

Our Orthodox traditions -- from fasting cycles to worship --exist to teach us how to live in Christ. The traditions impart discipline. These disciplines are never an end in themselves but neither can life in Christ be sustained apart from them.

The traditions only make sense only when they have the Gospel as their reference. If we forget that these traditions are given to us to help us lay hold of Christ, then they appear to be superfluous and the disciplines they encourage us to do seem to serve no real purpose. We start to evaluate the discipline by the values of the dominant culture -- by a cost-benefit calculus, rather than seeing them as ways to morally reorient ourselves towards Christ.

Instead of preparing for the birth of Christ through inward reorientation, we follow the direction of the dominant culture and skip any preparation altogether. We party instead of fast. We get caught up in the commercial energy of the season rather than wait on the Spirit of God.

It's a dangerous path. Our culture is becoming increasingly secularized; the sacred dimension of creation is slipping from view. This loss of this sacred sensibility has grave ramifications for society that are expressed in many different ways such as the vulgarization of popular culture or the reduction of an unborn child to a commodity. If this view prevails our culture will inevitably view man as nothing more than an animal or a machine.

But man is more than an animal or a machine. The scriptures reveal man is created in the image and likeness of God, a phrase that means that man is not complete unless he partakes of God -- God must be part of man's life. This longing -- this innate knowledge that man is created for God -- never leaves man although a person can bury it if he so chooses.

A secularized mind is blind to the inherent holiness of life. Maintaining our traditions is one way to avoid this debilitating malady. Christmas is not just "Jesus' birthday" (an impoverished notion heard more and more even among Orthodox faithful), but much more.

The birth of Christ and His baptism ought never to be divorced. Both events define the Christmas season. It imparts to the Christian the knowledge that Christ's coming into the world and Christ's sanctification of the waters makes our new life possible -- a sonship by adoption accomplished through baptism.

When the link between Christmas and Theophany is broken (and by neglecting the proper preparation we break it), the cultural memory of the promise of new birth expresses itself in weakened and ultimately insufficient cultural forms. These forms function as a new tradition.

Religion is not the product of culture; religion is the source, writes philosopher Russell Kirk. "It's from an association in a cult, abody of worshipers, that human community grows...when belief in the cult has been wretchedly enfeebled, the culture will decay swiftly. The material order restson the spiritual order."*

Orthodox Christianity can contribute to the recovery of the moral foundation of American culture by imparting knowledge that can strengthen and deepen that foundation. It won't happen however, if the Orthodox faithful adopt the practices of the dominant culture in place of their own tradition.

*Russell Kirk "Civilization with Religion" The Heritage Foundation Report (July 24, 1992).

Copyright © 2005 Johannes L. Jacobse. Rev. Jacobse is a priest in the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.

This article was published in "The Hellenic Voice," January 7, 2003

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It's odd Non-ChalcedoniansCelebrate Orthodox Christmas with such loveand reverence while new calendarists use their shared PAPAL holiday for further secularization...
R

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Diocese News : Christmas Message from His Holiness Pope Shenouda III - January 2005
on 9/1/2005 (283 reads)

Christmas Message - January 2005
His Holiness Pope Shenouda III
Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark

My beloved children and brethren in all our churches in the lands of immigration:

Peace to you and grace from the Lord, wishing you a joyous feast, a blessed year, a holy life and success in all that you do.

In the Feast of the Nativity of the Lord Christ, to whom is all glory, we remember that He came for all, to care for each person, and uplift everyone.

He cared for the weak and sinful, and uplifted the tax collector more than the Pharisee, and about Zacchaeus the tax collector, He said “Today salvation has come to this house…” He chose Matthew the tax collector and made him one of the twelve, and uplifted the sinful and said “I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.” And He forgave the sinful woman (Luke 7, John 8, Luke 19, 18)

The Lord Christ uplifted the children who were cast out by the elders and said “Let the children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God.” (Luke 18:16) He said “…unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven…” (Matthew 18:3) and He blessed the children.

He also uplifted the status of the women, and blessed the females and their service, “And many women who followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to Him..” He used to go to the house of Mary and Martha in Bethany (Luke 10:38-42). He blessed Mary Magdalene and made her His disciple, and firstly appeared to her after the resurrection (Mark 16:9), and sent her to preach to the disciples (Matthew 28:10). He defended the repentant woman who wet His feet with her tears, and preferred her over the Pharisee (Luke 7:44-46).

The Lord also uplifted the Gentiles and invited them to His Kingdom, whereas they were previously outcast by the Jews, being strangers without covenants or promises, without a law or hope. He said “…many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 8:11) He included them in evangelism saying “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them…” (Matthew 28:19) and about the gentile Centurion, “Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!” (Matthew 8:10)

The Lord commended the faith of the Canaanite woman, and said to her “O woman, great is your faith!” (Matthew 15:28) despite that she is from a people that were previously cursed!

The Lord had a big heart giving His compassion to all: He was compassionate towards Peter, despite that he denied Him three times, and He confirmed him in the Apostleship saying “Feed My lambs…Tend My sheep” (John 21:15, 16) And that great man Nicodemus, the member of the Sanhedrin, who, despite his greatness feared the Jews, his fear was not detested by the Lord, when he came to Him by night so that no one will see him (John 3:2). He lowered Himself to his weakness, and little by little, planted faith in his heart. After this, he became one of His disciples, and defended Him when He was attacked by the Pharisees (John 7:50, 51). Later, he shared with Joseph of Arimathea in shrouding Him (John 19:39, 40).

The Lord, in His incarnation, was a hope to those who have no hope and a help to those who have no help, especially to the sick who had incurable diseases, such as to the sick man of Bethesda, who spent thirty eight years in his sickness (John 5), and to those who were blind or paralyzed, or struck with leprosy, or have unclean spirits. In Him, they all found comfort and healing.

He “went about doing good” (Acts 10:38), and every person that met Him, received from Him a special blessing. Even Saul of Tarsus, who was persecuting the Church, the Lord appeared to him and called him (Acts 9). Even the thief crucified next to Him… The Lord was an open heart to all, young and old, to the simple fishermen as well as to the educated like Saul who was brought up at the feet of Gamaliel (Acts 22:3). Even the Samaritans who were despised by the Jews, who did not deal with them, Christ received them unto Himself, spoke to them, and many of them believed (John 4:39, 41). Even the soldier who pierced Him with the spear upon the Cross, had a share and believed (Matthew 27:54).

Likewise all those who live in toil, have a share in this big heart, Who said “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)

Because of all this, I want all of you to live in the manner of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to care about each person, just like our teacher John the evangelist said about the Lord “He who says he abides in Him, ought himself also to walk just as He walked.” (1 John 2:6) May the Lord help you all in building His Kingdom.

May you all be well, healthy in the Lord, and absolved from His Holy Spirit. May you be in the fullness of grace every year.

H. H. Pope Shenouda III
4/1/2005

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http://www.moscowtimes.ru/doc/HotNews.html#65245

Orthodox Christians celebrate Christmas on January 7

RIA NOVOSTI. January 5, 2006, 3:13 PM

MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti commentator Anatoly Korolyov.) For Orthodox Christians New Year, celebrated on January 1, is not a holiday. On this day they pay tribute in churches to the holy martyr Boniface of Tarsus, who was executed in 290 by the Romans for believing in Jesus.
The Russian believers fast during the New Year holidays. They abstain from meat and fish, sweets and wine, and eat only vegetarian food, porridge without butter, and mushrooms.
The church calendar does not coincide with the secular one, and the true believers celebrate New Year on January 13. Only on January 7, the Orthodox Christmas, do the secular and religious worlds meet. This is an official state holiday.
Traditionally, the night before Christmas is considered the triumph of all the evil forces, which are panicking before the birth of the Savior. On that day people tell fortunes, make wishes , and perform magic rituals.
On Christmas Eve, Russian television broadcasts live the divine service conducted by Patriarch of all Russia Alexy II from Russia's main church, the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, which is usually attended by the president, prime minister, heads of the parliament chambers and other VIPs.
In Nativity Catholics emphasize the birth of Christ under the Palestinian Bethlehem Star in Palestine, which heralded the advent of the new faith. For the Russian Orthodox believers this is a more intimate holiday, the miracle of the God's birth to the Virgin. For the Russian Orthodox Church Nativity is a holiday of eternal motherhood, of the Mother and Christ, and the birth of any soul is held sacred.
Christmas is celebrated with numerous stage performances devoted to the Savior in kindergartens, Sunday schools, at different stages and ice palaces. Actors depict the images of the wise men and shepherds, Roman warriors, King Herod and the holy family: Virgin Mary, Joseph, and Christ born of the Holy Spirit.
During the New Year holiday and Christmas city residents go skating in yards and parks, and, among other delicacies, vodka is served in glasses made of ice. After drinking vodka in the frost, the glasses are hurled to the ground to shiver.
The Russians believe that shivered glassware is a happy omen

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http://www.beliefnet.com/story/5/story_573_1.html

The Benefits of an Old Calendar Christmas
On Jan. 7, the bustle is gone. All that is left is the bare essential, the one needful thing, the Christ back in Christmas.

By Reader Philip Kontos

If you too felt that premature sense of dread when the shops started sweeping the artificial cobwebs out of the corners to be replaced with the artificial frost, welcome to the club. I say premature because it seems that "Christmas" is coming earlier and earlier each year. In my local grocery store, they were scarcely rid of the Halloween candy before the Christmas candy and lights came up. I say dread because that can only mean that soon Alvin and the Chipmunks will be singing again. I must confess that, aside from the Chipmunks, I absolutely enjoy all the hullabaloo that surrounds Christmas. I just think it comes on far too soon. If I had my druthers, it would start a stately and proper four weeks before the blessed event...somewhere around December 13. Yes, I said December 13. If the average reader out there thinks the Christmas season is starting earlier and earlier, try celebrating the Nativity as many Eastern Orthodox Christians do--on the Julian (or "Old") calendar, January 7.

We Old Calendar Orthodox Christians get a lot of questions about this. But there are definite advantages to putting the feast off for almost two weeks after many Christians celebrate:

1. You are more likely to have a white Christmas than if you went with the crowd and celebrated on the Gregorian Calendar. I remember the first year I, as a convert, celebrated my first "Old Christmas." It snowed--in Atlanta, Georgia. We have had a total of two white Christmases in the past four years--if you count eight snowflakes and a run on the bread and milk at the grocery store as a white Christmas, which I do. (For those trying to manufacture a white Christmas, a word of advice: potato flakes work much better as fake snow than soap powder, and they are more environmentally safe. They don't foam up and wash away in the rain. On the contrary, when the potato flakes are moistened by rain, they fluff up more and are less likely to blow away.)

2. Santa is well rested by January 7.

3. Fruit cakes keep forever, and unto ages of ages.

4. When you forget to buy a gift for someone, you can say, "I didn't forget. I'm pious." This will not go over well, but it's hard to argue with. This actually addresses a subject that many people assume to be true: You get to shop all the after-Christmas sales and get all the great deals. This is untrue. To illustrate my point, look at your Thanksgiving turkey three days after that holiday. You tell me if there's anything worth eating.

5. You can put up your decorations later and keep them up longer without actually being eccentric. True, everyone will still think you're eccentric, but you can be secure in the knowledge that you are not. It is also easier to get a cheap tree. If you wait until just after Gregorian Christmas, you run into the turkey problem, but if you cruise a few choice neighborhoods on January 2 or 3...well, if you don't mind a dry tree, you can find some really nice ones. Some still have the tinsel on them!

6. On Old Calendar Christmas Eve, you are not likely to use television as an excuse to miss an evening service. No one, and I mean no one, has ever missed a church service in favor of a "Love Boat" marathon on TVLand. 7. Because of the extra days off from work or school, I no longer envy my Jewish friends.

7. You get to play Christmas music for two weeks more! (Chipmunks notwithstanding.)

8. You get to hear the animals talk on Christmas Eve. It's true. There is a venerable tradition that on Christmas Eve at midnight, the animals can talk. I read once that some scholars "checked this out" and, of course, found that the animals did not talk. A venerable old farmer told them that they were checking on the wrong night (the Gregorian Christmas Eve).

I chuckled when I read about this, but then I got curious. So, late one Old Calendar Christmas Eve, I crept out into a cow pasture and froze as I awaited the hour at which the cows would talk. When the hour arrived, I asked a nearby cow what she was thinking.

That was my mistake. The only reason that she didn't answer me was, I think, that cows are not actually thinking of anything worth saying. This year, I'll try to talk to a dog. Cats would probably remain silent out of spite. I am confident.

And finally...

1. There is something special about celebrating a holiday when the noise and bustle and excitement are out of the way, the New Year's confetti has been tossed, the chipmunks have sore throats, and all that is left is the bare essential, the holy day, the one needful thing, the Christ back in Christmas. I would never say that those on the New Calendars don't experience this in their own way, but it's easier to remember when it's quiet.

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Orthodox Church To Celebrate Christmas On January 07
Tbilisi. January 06 (Prime-News) – Orthodox of Georgia celebrates Christmas on January 07.

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Tbilisi. January 06 (Prime-News) – Orthodox of Georgia celebrates Christmas on January 07.

The Prime-News was told at the Patriarchy of Georgia that regarding the great holiday the Catholicos patriarch of all Georgia Ilia II will hold a night service at the Saint Trinity Cathedral.

The service will begin on Friday at 23:00 p.m.

The service will also be held in all acting churches of Georgia.

Regarding the holiday a special procession ‘Alilo’ will be held.

The procession will begin at 13 p.m. on Saturday and finish at The Saintly Trinity Cathedral.

‘Alilo’ was initiated by the Patriarchy in 2000.

‘Alilo’ is a symbol of gift, which was given by the Magi.