Two “Orthodox” Christmas Celebrations In UKRAINE: Adiaphorous Or Planned To Be Prejudiced?

A Series of Questions and Answers with an Orthodox Hieromonk

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Recently another recognized researcher into the fate of the imperial Russian Romanov family confided to me that an Orthodox friend of hers in Ukraine had written to her expressing surprise that the celebration of Jesus’ birth would be held 2024 in her parish on December 24/25, rather than the millennial old tradition of January 6/7. What did I make of it, was her question to me. Indeed, Catholics and Uniates (those parishes using an Orthodox liturgy but adhering to the Vatican in ecclesiastical hierarchy) had been using the date of the Western Church for a number of centuries, but an “Orthodox” church?

To have a clearer understanding of the situation and hear a canonical Orthodox explanation this author approached a long time friend and distant relative who is an hieromonk in a ROCOR (Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia) monastery. An hieromonk (Иеромонахъ) is a monk who has been ordained into the priesthood.

The following will be a series based on questions with answers from his point of view offered to readers as a means to decipher what is happening in the Ukrainian realm of Orthodox Christian faith.

Question 1:

There are reports that some Orthodox churches in Ukraine, formerly using the traditional Orthodox Julian calendar date for Christmas falling on January 6/7, celebrated using the Western Gregorian calendar date of December 24/25 in 2024.

Before we explore this phenomenon, why is Christendom divided on its use of calendars and dates?

HIEROMONK:

The Roman pontiff’s scientists decided that the Julian calendar was in error, and that eventually (in thousands of years), we would be celebrating Christmas in the summer. Of course, that is what people in Australia and Argentina do.

So, they came up with the Gregorian calendar. But this was also a test of the pontiffs’ authority over the world. For this reason, in the 16th century, the new calendar was not accepted by the Protestants nor the Orthodox. However, eventually, when freemasonry overpowered Protestant Europe, they did accept the new calendar, in the 18th century. That is why, for example, for George Washington’s birthday, they will list the date of both that of the new calendar and the old calendar, as when he was born, the old calendar was still in use in America.

As far as the Orthodox Church is concerned, the old calendar remained in force until the 20th century, when, again under strong masonic influence, the New Calendar was accepted by the Church of Greece, whose patriarch was an infamous freemason, and under pressure from Western Europe. Later, the Romanian and eventually the Bulgarian churches also adopted the New Calendar, not with little resistance. In fact, this caused schisms in all of the churches. In Russia, at first Patriarch Tikhon, who had been misinformed that the whole Orthodox church was
changing to the new calendar, also adopted it, but later he withdrew his blessing when he realized the background of this contention.

With the new calendar, sometimes, the Apostles’ Fast does not exist. If Pascha (aka Easter) is late, this fast, which always starts 8 days after Pentecost and ends on July 12 (new calendar), the Feast of SS Peter and Paul, does not exist, since Pentecost can be as late as the end of June.

This goes against the First Ecumenical Council, which adopted the Julian Calendar and anathematized any changes to the calendar and in particular the change in any of the fasts. So the calendar change goes against the ecumenical council, the ultimate voice of the Church and has caused divisions, which is to the satisfaction of freemasonry.

It is interesting to note, that in the 1920’s when the Church of Greece adopted the New Calendar, on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross according to the old calendar, the faithful old calendarists gathered outside Athens at a church and celebrated the feast according to the traditional date.

A huge Cross in light appeared in the sky over the church. This was seen by thousands of people.

Series will continue with Question 2.

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