Orthodox Christians mark Christmas Eve

22:52 | 06.01.2025 Category: Culture

Chisinau, 6 January /MOLDPRES/ - The Orthodox Christians today mark the Christmas Eve – a moment when families convene, in order to observe the century-old traditions and meet the Birth of God. Some Christians are fasting on this day till the sunset, thus observing the severer fast on the day before the great holiday.

The Christmas Fast ends on 6 January and on 7 January, the day of the Birth of God holiday, the Liturgy of Saint Basil the Great is officiated in churches.

At night, children sing carols. The carol singers symbolize the angles and the shepherds who were the first heralds of the Birth of Jesus in the manger from Bethlehem.

The old-style Christmas is celebrated by millions of Orthodox Christians all over the world, including in Moldova, Ukraine, Russia, Serbia and other countries, which observe the Julian Calendar.

The separation of the Orthodox Church in Old and New Styles took place in 1923, when the switch from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian one was decided in Constantinople.

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