Christmas in Russia

Common card · No. 412836

Christmas in Russia (Russian: Рождество Христово, Rozhdestvo Khristovo), called Е́же по пло́ти Рождество Господа Бога и Спа́са нашего Иисуса Христа (Yezhe po ploti Rozhdestvo Gospoda Boga i Spasa nashego Yisusa Khrista) in the Russian Orthodox Church, is a holiday commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ. It is celebrated on 25 December on the Julian calendar, which corresponds to 7 January on the Gregorian calendar (the calendar that is mostly used in Western society) until 2100, when it will move to January 8 in 2101. It is considered a high holiday by the church, one of the 12 Great Feasts, and one of only four of which are preceded by a period of fasting. Traditional Russian Christmas festivities start on Christmas Eve, which is celebrated on 6 January [O.S. 24 December]. Christmas was largely erased from the Russian calendar for much of the 20th century due to the Soviet Union's anti-religious policies, but many of its traditions survived, having been transplanted to New Year's Day...

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