Russians are only now re-learning Christmas. There was no official Christmas holiday in Russia between 1925 and 1992. Its reintroduction also is greatly hampered by the fact that Christmas, the new year and usually also Easter need to be celebrated twice. Vladimir Lenin, the first head of state of the Soviet Union, adopted the Western, Gregorian calendar — introduced in 1582 — in 1918, but the Orthodox Church continues to celebrate by the Julian one, which presently has Dec. 25 falling on what the Western calendar regards as Jan. 7. Presently the Julian calendar — introduced in 46 B.C. — is 13 days behind the Gregorian one.
As a consequence of the Soviet era, New Year’s — the Gregorian, worldwide one — remains the biggest celebration of the year. December 25 is not an official holiday in Russia, and most Russian celebration occurs in the first two weeks of January. Add that the Russian economy grinds to a halt between the days of the New Year’s (Jan. 1) and the “Old New Year’s” celebrations on Jan. 14.
The churches of Western origin, which remain primarily the homes of ethnic minorities — the Catholics, Lutherans and Mennonites, for example — celebrate almost exclusively on Dec. 25. Others, like the Baptists, who stress their Russianness, celebrate twice. How Baptists manage the calendar spaghetti is dependent upon the creativity of the local Baptist leadership. A friend reports that in his Baptist church, the last hours before midnight on both Dec. 24 and Dec. 31 are spent in church on one’s knees in prayer.
In his Baptist congregation, the family celebration occurs on the evening of the 24th, and the year’s most special church service occurs on the 25th. Baptists often use Jan. 7 as an opportunity to evangelize, attempting to invite persons off the street to attend a church event that day.
Caroling is done on the street on the evening of Dec. 24 or Jan. 6. This occurred even during the late Soviet period, but the caroling was done on the move without remaining at one location in order to minimize difficulties with the authorities.
Christmas gifts remain modest in Russia; there is no monthlong shopping spree to speak of. Advent, the last four Sundays prior to Christmas, also is rarely commemorated. But there are gifts for Baptist children on the evening of the 24th, and this is indeed the most special time of the year for the vast majority of Baptist children and their parents.
The evening of Jan. 6 is a terrific time for Baptists like me to visit an Orthodox church. It’s their version of an all-night hymn sing. The candles glow and the drawn-out, almost sad and highly melodious music of the Orthodox tradition reverberates until late in the morning hours. Indeed the same occurs at Orthodox Easter.
EDITOR’S NOTE – William Yoder is media spokesman and liaison to the English- and German-speaking communities for the external-relations department of the Russian Union of Evangelical Christian-Baptists.
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