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| Christmas thieves. Why is it important for the Orthodox to keep the date of the holiday |
| 2023-08-04 |
| Direct Translation via Google Transalte. Edited. by Sergey Khudiev [REGNUM] The Ukrainian Orthodox Church will continue to celebrate Christmas on January 7, despite the new law to postpone the holiday to December 25. Metropolitan Kliment , chairman of the Synodal Information and Education Department of the UOC, said this. Obviously, the law on the postponement of Christmas is intended to once again emphasize the "undesirability" of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, to divide believers into "right" and "wrong". But why is it so important for Ukrainian Orthodox to stick to the traditional date of celebration? Some reproach them with a senseless adherence to the old calendar, as if the calendar were the most important thing in the Christian life. But the issue is not really about the calendar. Some Christians celebrate the Nativity of the Savior on December 25, others on January 7. The problem is not so much which date people choose, but for what reasons they do it. Telling us about the birth of the Savior, the Gospels do not indicate the exact date of this event. Traditionally, it began to be celebrated on the day of the winter solstice - December 25th. This is due to the fact that Christ in the Bible is called the “Sun of Truth”: “But for you who revere my name, the Sun of righteousness will rise and healing in its rays” (Mal. 4:2). The difference in dates arose due to the fact that the eastern and western churches use different calendars: the eastern Julian, which arose in the Roman Empire, the western - the Gregorian, which contains changes made in the 16th century by Pope Gregory . The discrepancy between these two calendars by the current moment was 14 days, hence the different dates for celebrating Christmas. From time to time we have talk about the transition to a new style (some Orthodox churches have already), but they get stuck for fear of causing a split. At one time, it happened in the Greek church, which began to celebrate Christmas on December 25th. Then the so-called “Old Calendarists”, who adhered to the old calendar, separated from it (and still remain in schism). But celebrating Christmas on December 25 is not a heresy or a sin in itself. As the holy Apostle Paul says, “One person distinguishes day from day, while another judges every day equally. Everyone act according to the assurance of his mind. He who distinguishes the days distinguishes for the Lord; and he who does not distinguish the days does not distinguish for the Lord” (Rom. 14:5,6). What then is the problem with the law to change the date of the celebration of Christmas? In its motives, first of all, and also in the fact that decisions regarding the life of the Church are made by the state, and not by the Church itself. I will try to illustrate this with an example. Is it a sin to wear a Scottish kilt (is this, if anyone does not know, a plaid men's skirt)? Obviously not - the brave Scots themselves wear it, and nothing. This custom is even dear to them, in the complex history of Anglo-Scottish relations they were tried to be forced to abandon kilts, but the Scots eventually defended their right to dress as they see fit. A Scot in a kilt can be both courageous and pious, why not. But if our authorities for some reason decided to Scottishize the population and ordered all civil servants to appear at work without fail in kilts, this would cause considerable grumbling. Not out of hatred for kilts per se, but because in order to change established customs, there must be some good reason. You should not force people to change clothes simply because of the passion of the authorities for dressing up. It would look like gross tyranny. As an underline of his power - "you will all dress as I say." It is all the more rude to interfere with religious customs. Let's continue our analogy with the kilt. Suppose the authorities would have ordered everyone to attend worship, dressed in kilts. This would pose two problems. Firstly, is it a sin, in principle, to enter the temple in a kilt? Well, probably not, if you're a pious Scottish Highlander back in Scotland. But in our area it is somehow unusual and can confuse people. Secondly, is it appropriate for the authorities to prescribe to believers the rules of the internal life of the church and make a clear distinction between the “correct” communities, where everyone is as one in kilts, and the “wrong”, where only women wear skirts, and men are all in trousers, like from the ancient fathers? But back to the date of the celebration of Christmas. Usually the state goes towards the church calendar that has already developed in the country. In Western Europe, the majority of the population celebrates Christmas on December 25, in Ukraine and Russia - on January 7, and this was reflected in the state calendar. The question of when to celebrate church holidays can only be within the competence of the Church. When a personally religiously indifferent person, moreover, representing an officially secular state, prescribes to believers when they should celebrate Christmas, this is no longer a question of the calendar - it is a question of whether non-believers can dictate to the Church in matters of her inner life. To accept this diktat means to recognize the right of external, purely worldly forces to rule within the Church. Especially when this diktat is connected with the explicitly declared goal of fitting into the “civilized world”. What this world requires from its faithful adherents is already very clear. And, having obeyed in a calendar issue, it will be more difficult for you to refuse others. Therefore, the heroic perseverance of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which, being subjected to disasters from all sides, preserves the structure of church life, is not only understandable here, but also deserves deep respect. |
| Posted by:badanov |
| #1 Even in the Levant, the sheep are not out in the fields in December. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2023-08-04 13:10 |