I got told a few days ago that it was Orthodox Christmas 'today.'
And I was confused. From letters, the IF celebrated Christmas on 25th December, like other Christians. Or did the celebrate it both times? Or am I mixing it up with another festivle?
It has to do with the Russian calendar. Think of it like a huge time zone. Everybody celebrates New Year's Eve at midnight, right? But when it says midnight on my clock in Detroit, clocks in Los Angeles say it's only 9:00. I celebrate New Year's when my clock says midnight, and folks in LA celebrate when their clocks say midnight. It doesn't mean I celebrate "early" or they celebrate "late." It's just a difference in our time zones.
In a similar way, Orthodox Christians celebrate Christmas when their calendar says December 25th. It just so happens that their calendar (the Julian calendar) is 13 days behind the western (Georgian) calendar. It's like a 13-day time zone. So when their calendar says December 25th, ours says January 7th.
Still confused? Go to your calendar and put your finger on the square that says January 7. That's when the IF would celebrate Christmas if they were alive today. We call it January 7, they call it December 25 -- either way, it's the same square. If you wanted to wish them a Merry Christmas, that's the day you'd do it. Why? For the same reason you wouldn't wish someone in a different time zone a Happy New Year at midnight on YOUR clock. You'd wait until it's midnight on THEIR clock.
