Presentation on Russian Xmas

1. Russian Orthodox
Christmas

2. Christian denominations
Christianity may be broadly represented as
being divided into five main groupings:
Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy,
Oriental Orthodoxy, Protestantism and
Restorationism.

3. Roman Catholicism
The (Roman) Catholic Church is comprised
of churches, headed by bishops, in
communion with the Pope, the Bishop of
Rome, as its highest authority in matters of
faith, morality and Church governance.

4. Eastern Orthodox
A number of conflicts with Western Christianity
over questions of doctrine and authority
culminated in the Great Schism in 1054 which
divided Christianity into Eastern (Greek) and
Western (Latin) branches, which later became
known as the Eastern Orthodox Church and the
Roman Catholic Church.

5. Eastern Orthodox
• The term “Orthodox” translates from the Greek
to mean “Correctly Believing” or "Correctly
Glorifying God“
• The Orthodox Church considers Jesus Christ to
be the head of the Church and the Church to be
His body. Thus, there is no one bishop at the
head of the Orthodox Church

6. Russian Orthodox Church
By the end of the first millennium AD,
eastern Slavic lands started to come under
the cultural influence of the Eastern Roman
Empire. In 863-869, Saint Cyril and Saint
Methodius translated parts of the Bible into
Old Church Slavonic language for the first
time.
In 988, Prince Vladimir of Kiev officially
adopted Byzantine Rite Christianity — the
religion of the Eastern Roman Empire — as
the state religion of Kievan Rus'. This date is
often considered the official birthday of the
Russian Orthodox Church.

7. Julian and Gregorian
Calendars
• The Julian calendar, a reform of the Roman calendar, was
introduced by Julius Caesar in 46 BC, and came into force in 45 BC.
It has a regular year of 365 days divided into 12 months, and a leap
day is added to February every four years. Hence the Julian year is
on average 365.25 days long.
• Although the new calendar was much simpler than the pre-Julian
calendar, the pontifices apparently misunderstood the algorithm for
leap years. They added a leap day every three years, instead of
every four years. This resulted in too many leap days. Augustus
remedied this discrepancy after 36 years by restoring the correct
frequency. He also skipped several leap days in order to realign the
year.

8. Julian and Gregorian
Calendars
• The Julian calendar was in general use in Europe and
Northern Africa from the times of the Roman Empire until
1582, when Pope Gregory XIII promulgated the
Gregorian Calendar.Reform was required because too
many leap days are added with respect to the
astronomical seasons on the Julian scheme.
• As a ruslt, the Julian calendar gained a day about every
134 years. By 1582, it was ten days out of alignment
from where it supposedly was in 325.

9. Julian and Gregorian
Calendars
The Gregorian Calendar was soon adopted by
most Catholic countries. Protestant countries
followed later, and the countries of Eastern Europe
even later. In the British Empire (including the
American colonies), Wednesday 2 September
1752 was followed by Thursday 14 September
1752.

10. Julian and Gregorian
Calendars
Russia remained on the Julian calendar until 1917,
after the Russian Revolution. During this time the
Julian calendar continued to diverge from the
Gregorian. In 1700 the difference became 11 days;
in 1800, 12; and in 1900, 13, where it will stay till
2100.

11. Julian and Gregorian
Calendars
Although all Eastern Orthodox countries
had adopted the Gregorian calendar by
1927, their national churches had not.

12. Julian and Gregorian
Calendars
The Orthodox Churches of Jerusalem, Russia, the
Republic of Macedonia, Serbia, Georgia, Ukraine, and
the Greek Old Calendarists continue to use the Julian
calendar for their fixed dates, thus they celebrate the
Nativity on 25 December Julian (which is 7 January
Gregorian until 2100).

13. Christmas Service in Our Savior’s
Cathedral

14. Christmas traditions
Christmas Fast
No meat, dairy, eggs
Fish on Saturdays and Sundays
Oil on Tuesdays, Thursdays,
Saturdays and Sundays

15. Christmas traditions
Blessing the food

16. Christmas traditions
Christmas fortune-telling
Wax
Husband’s appearance