Orthodox Christmas 2027

Why is Orthodox Christmas on January 7?

Orthodox Christians celebrate Christmas on December 25, the same date as Western churches, but many of them count that date on the Julian calendar. Introduced by Julius Caesar, it adds a leap day every four years, which makes its average year slightly too long.

The Gregorian calendar, introduced by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582, corrected this by skipping leap days in century years not divisible by 400, such as 1700, 1800 and 1900. Each skipped leap day widened the gap by one day. Russia adopted the Gregorian calendar for civil use in 1918, but the Russian Orthodox Church kept the Julian calendar for its feasts.

Since March 1900 the Julian calendar has run 13 days behind, so Julian December 25 lands on January 7 every year from 1901 through 2100. The Julian calendar adds a February 29 in 2100 that the Gregorian calendar skips, so from 2101 Julian-calendar Christmas will fall on January 8.

Who celebrates Christmas on January 7?

Christmas falls on January 7 for these churches and their members around the world:

• Russian Orthodox Church
• Serbian Orthodox Church
• Georgian Orthodox Church
• Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem
• Macedonian Orthodox Church
• The monasteries of Mount Athos in Greece

The Coptic Orthodox Church of Egypt and the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church use their own calendars, which also place Christmas on January 7 in most years. In Ethiopia the holiday is called Genna. The Armenian Apostolic Church follows a different custom and celebrates Christmas together with Theophany on January 6.

Which Orthodox churches celebrate on December 25?

Beginning in 1924, several Orthodox churches adopted the Revised Julian calendar for fixed feasts. It matches the Gregorian calendar until the year 2800, so these churches celebrate Christmas on December 25:

• Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople
• Church of Greece and Church of Cyprus
• Romanian Orthodox Church
• Bulgarian Orthodox Church (since 1968)
• Patriarchates of Alexandria and Antioch
• Orthodox Church of Ukraine (since 2023)

Ukraine also moved its official Christmas holiday from January 7 to December 25 in 2023, although some Ukrainian parishes still celebrate on January 7. Whichever date they use for Christmas, nearly all Orthodox churches still calculate Easter with the Julian calendar; the Orthodox Church of Finland is the main exception.

Where is January 7 a public holiday?

Orthodox Christmas is a public holiday in Russia, Belarus, Serbia, Georgia, North Macedonia, Kazakhstan, Egypt and Ethiopia. In Russia it falls inside the New Year break of January 1 to 8, and Belarus gives a day off on both December 25 and January 7.

January 7 is not a public holiday in the United States, Canada, the UK or Australia, though Orthodox parishes there hold Christmas services. See the full list of January holidays for other dates in the month.

Orthodox Christmas traditions

Nativity Fast

The 40-day Nativity Fast runs from November 15 to December 24 on the church calendar, which is November 28 to January 6 for Julian-calendar churches. Observant believers give up meat and dairy, with stricter rules on some days. The Coptic fast before Christmas lasts 43 days.

Christmas Eve on January 6

For Julian-calendar churches, Christmas Eve falls on Wednesday, January 6, 2027, the same day as Western Epiphany. In many Slavic Orthodox homes, families fast until the first star appears in the evening sky, recalling the star of Bethlehem, then share a meatless supper before church services that run late into the night.

Sochelnik in Russia

Russian Christmas Eve is called Sochelnik, a name linked to sochivo, a dish of boiled wheat or rice with honey, poppy seeds and nuts eaten at the evening meal. A similar dish, kutia, is served in many Eastern European homes.

Badnjak in Serbia

On Serbian Christmas Eve (Badnji dan), families bring home a badnjak, a young oak branch or log, and burn it in the evening, and many churches light a public badnjak fire. Straw is spread on the floor to recall the manger. On Christmas Day the family breaks česnica, a round bread with a coin baked inside, and whoever finds the coin is said to have luck all year. The Christmas greeting is Hristos se rodi (Christ is born), answered with Vaistinu se rodi (Truly he is born).

Genna and Coptic Christmas

In Ethiopia, Genna is marked with church services through the night, often attended in traditional white clothing, and with a hockey-like game also called genna. In Egypt, Coptic Christians attend a Christmas Eve liturgy on the night of January 6 and break their fast afterward with a festive meal.

Old New Year on January 14

January 14 is January 1 on the Julian calendar, 13 days after New Year's Day. It is celebrated as the Old New Year in Russia, Belarus, Serbia, Montenegro and North Macedonia, mostly with a second round of New Year's parties; in Serbia it is known as Serbian New Year. It is generally not a public holiday.

The date is sometimes called Orthodox New Year, but the Orthodox church year actually begins on September 1. In Julian-calendar churches, January 14 is the feast of the Circumcision of Christ and of St. Basil the Great. Like Christmas, the Old New Year will move a day later, to January 15, from 2101.

Orthodox Christmas dates 2024–2035

Julian-calendar Christmas stays on January 7 until 2100, so only the weekday changes. The January 2027 calendar shows the date in a printable month view.

Related

• Epiphany
• January holidays
• January 7
• January 14
• New Year's Day
• January 2027 calendar