Jingle bells, jingle bells
Jingle all the way
Oh, what fun it is to ride
In a one horse open sleigh

Oh!  you must be thinking that why am I still in the Christmas mood,  though we have ended with our December and have also entered in our New Year.

Yes, you are partially right but I would like to bring to your notice that  we have started our January but we are not have not ended our Christmas celebrations!

 I have discovered that many Orthodox Christians  celebrate Christmas Day on or near  7th January in the Gregorian calendar.

Many people practice the Nativity Fast to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ’s.

(Saying No to food ….) [Read more about Orthodox Christmas here]

People feel that fasting helps them to shift their focus from themselves to others. They also believe that spending less time worrying about food will increase their time for prayer and also for the caring of the poor. They believe that it is a time to heal the soul. It is also a time for peace and unity.

Many Orthodox Christians attend a special church ritual and celebrate Christmas with various traditions. For example, many churches light a small fire of blessed palms and burn frankincense to commemorate the three wise men’s (also known as Magi) gifts to baby Jesus.  Some parishes have joint celebrations for Christmas Day.

In some places, white cloth is used on dinner tables to symbolize purity (Baby Jesus was wrapped in white cloth). Straw may be placed on these tables to symbolize the simplicity ( where Jesus was born) and Candles may be lit to represent the light of Christ and the festive Christmas meal represents the end of fasting.

So, rain of the joy has not ended, it is still the Christmas season!

(Prepared by Seema Kumari)

  Christian, christmas, Russia