Orthodox Christmas 2025 is on Tuesday, January 7, 2025: Was Orthodox Christmas celebrated during Byzantine period?

Tuesday, January 7, 2025 is Orthodox Christmas 2025. Christmas (, meaning "Christ's Mass") is an annual commemoration of the birth of Jesus Christ and a widely observed cultural holiday, celebrated generally on December 25 by millions of people around the world.

Christmas (, meaning "Christ's Mass") is an annual commemoration of the birth of Jesus Christ and a widely observed cultural holiday, celebrated generally on December 25 by millions of people around the world.

Actually, the Orthodox Churches also celebrate Christmas on December 25th, but they're using the older calendar developed by Julius Caesar instead of the updated Gregorian calendar we use today. Of note, SOME Orthodox Churches have a "Revised Julian Calendar" so their 25th of December and ours correspond to one another.

And again, it's not all Orthodox Churches...and SOME Orthodox Churches have combined the Feast of the Nativity (the proper name for Christmas) with the Feast of the Epiphany....Epiphany is on January 6th. But with the difference between Julian and Gregorian the Feast of the Nativity combined with Epiphany in some churches means Christmas is celebrated on the 19th of January on the Gregorian Calendar.

The change from Julian to Gregorian Calendars was made in 1582...this was over 125 years after the Byzantine Empire fell to the Turks...so the straight answer is no...in Byzantium they celebrated Christmas on December 25th...on the Julian Calendar...that date NOW corresponds to January 7th on the Gregorian Calendar.

Russian Orthodox Christmas?

Since the fall of the Soviet Union, January 7th has become an official national holiday. This is the date of the Russian Orthodox Christmas; Nativity of Christ; celebration. Many Orthodox Christian traditions have adopted December 25th for their Nativity or Christmas celebration which culminates with the observance of Theophany (Feast of the Manifestation), the Baptism of Our Lord, on January 6th; January 20th on the old calendar.

In the Roman Catholic and Anglican Churches, January 6th, is acknowledged as the Epiphany; the time when the Christ Child was visited by the Magi from the East, or Three Wise Men. The Baptism of Our Lord is celebrated the following Sunday.

During the ages of the early Church, there was one celebration for Christ's birth (nativity), acknowledgment as the Divine (visit of the Magi) and the onset of His ministry (Baptism). This was the Theophany celebrated on January 6/7th. Later, the West divided this celebration; Nativity (Dec. 25), Epiphany (Jan. 6 or the proceeding Sunday) and Baptism (Sunday following Epiphany). Today, many Eastern Churches celebrate the Nativity on December 25th and the Theophany or Baptism on January 6th. They do have a feast for the appearance of the Magi. The differences between East and West evolved after the Great Schism of 1054.

The Russian Orthodox Church follows the Julian or Old Calendar. Thus, the Orthodox Church Feasts and Holidays of January are:

Nativity of Our Lord (Christmas) ~ January 7th

New Year's Day ~ January 14th

Theophany (Christ's Baptism) ~ January 20th.

Do orthodox churches celebrate Christmas on Jan 7th?

The Orthodox have two calendars; the common civil calendar used in our daily lives (the Gregorian calendar) is also used as the church calendar most of the Mediterranian-related Greek and Arabic/Antiochan churches, and in the Orthodox Church in America. Most Slavic (Russian, Serbian, etc.) churches still use the "old" or "church" calendar, which is in fact the Julian Calendar used in the Roman Empire since the days of Julius Caesar. Pope Gregory changed the calendar in the west to correct for a flawed leap-year calculation in the Julian Calendar.

These two calendars are presently 13 days apart. When the church/Julian calendar says Dec 25, the Gregorian calendar is already at January 7th. So all Orthodox churches celebrate Christmas on December 25 on the calendar they use.

It's a pain, and we all hope it'll be resolved in our lifetimes.

Blessings.

/Orthodox