&host=www.rt.com&uri=/news/orthodox-christmas-enlightens-hearts/&via=1.1 8.27.241.145:80 (Footprint 4.8/FPMCP)&ua=CCBot/1.0 (+http://www.commoncrawl.org/bot.html))
Orthodox Christmas enlightens hearts
Published: 06 January, 2010, 23:01
Edited: 07 February, 2010, 11:54
TAGS: Children, Religion, Russia, History
Christian Orthodox believers across the world are preparing to celebrate Christmas. Following a 40-day fast, the festivities will start on the eve of January 7 and will continue for almost two weeks until Epiphany.
Although the message of Christmas mainly focuses on the birth of Jesus Christ, that does not preclude the children of the Savvino-Storozhevsky monastery’s orphanage 50 kilometers west of Moscow from believing in some basic Christmas magic.
"One Christmas night when nobody was at home, suddenly under the Christmas tree a box full of presents appeared,” said Kolya, an orphan. “It was a true miracle, as I still don’t know where it came from."
The kids at the orphanage are hard at work, preparing a puppetry pageant to perform on Christmas Day.
"It’s a fun for me, because I feel hilarious when I manage to perform well,” said another foster child, Pavel. “I like nice decorations. It’s also interesting to see how people look at your performance."
Hieromonk Fiofil says that the children feel joy not only because they perform for the orphanage, but because they also play for the whole nearby town of Zvenigorod.
“When our orphanage was open, nothing special was organized on Christmas in the town, so their celebration was rather lean and dull,” Fiofdil recalled. “And we decided to make their feast brighter. And so our children present their performance to the town."
As with many Orthodox denominations, the Russian Orthodox Christmas is celebrated on January 7, and while Western celebrations have grown to include some more commercial aspects of the holiday, Christmas in Russia remains more of a religious event.
"Modern Orthodox Christmas is not much different probably from Catholic celebration, as we also have fireworks and so on,” said Fiofil. “However, our Christmas is a more cozy and warm family holiday. Even our Christmas carols have the spirit of home."
The difference in dates for Christmas lies in the calendar the two denominations use.
"Catholics, in contrast to Orthodox Christians, celebrate Christmas according to the Gregorian calendar, which was introduced later,” explained Father Valentin. “When the Orthodox believers celebrate Christmas, one can feel that the Son has indeed risen. All over the world, the counting goes according the Orthodox calendar."
Now as the Orthodox Christmas meshes with the modern Gregorian calendar, both New Year and Christmas fall into one comprehensive period of celebration for all of Russia – a time when communities all over the country can come together.
06.01.2010, 17:40
Russian spy gets busted in Poland – reportA Russian citizen, allegedly working for Russia’s Main Intelligence Directorate, has been detained in Poland, reports Dziennik Gazeta Prawna newspaper. The detainee has reportedly lived in Poland for 10 years illegally. |
07.01.2010, 01:25
3 comments
Russian Orthodox Christians mark ChristmasOrthodox Christmas services were held across the whole of Russia last night, January 6, with about three million people taking part. |
We enjoyed both the Western and Orthodox Christmas celebrations this holiday season. My wife and I celebrated Christmas with family members in Poland. After Sylwester (New Years Eve in Polish), we visited friends in eastern Poland for a few days. On a whim, we decided to travel by train to L'viv in Ukraine, about a 3 hour trip. We woke up in L'viv on 6 January, and realized that it was Christmas Eve, again! It was cold and snowing, but all of the shops were very busy, particularly with customers buying meat, fish, vegetables and spices. Then, at 14:30, everyone began closing up their shops. Two hours later, the sun had set and the market was empty and quiet. Two hours after that, and the crowds were growing again, this time in the L'viv's central square across from the huge Theater. Unperturbed by the cold and the snow, couples and families waited their turn to stand next to this strange-looking tree crafted out of what appeared to be very thick rope or grass and the color of wheat. There they would have their photo taken by a friend or family member. Everyone was well-dressed. Many of the women looked particularly stunning in beautiful fur coats and high-heeled leather boots. Their was a beautiful decorated Christmas tree in the middle of the square. It was easily more than 10 meters tall, and seemed as tall as the tree we had seen just 3 weeks earlier in central Warsaw, except that this tree was real! The next day, Christmas Day, L'viv really came to "L'ife" :-) From noon until long after dark, the city was alive with outdoor celebration. All of this took place in below-freezing temperatures in the snow. It was delightful and unforgettable.
I think this is an incredibly cute story? I have never seen a human christmas tree before. Thank you for showing us a different side of the world and how you celbrate Christmas, it was delightful to see the smiles on the faces of the kids when talking about their activities. and even though it may be a bit late... merry christmas!!!