when is orthodox christmas

Orthodox Christmas is celebrated on January 7 for most Orthodox Christians who follow the traditional Julian church calendar.

Core date

• In most Eastern Orthodox churches (for example in Russia, Serbia, and many Middle Eastern Orthodox communities), Christmas liturgies and celebrations are held on January 7 each year.

• This corresponds to December 25 on the older Julian calendar, which runs 13 days behind the modern Gregorian calendar used in everyday life.

Why the date is different

• Western churches (Catholic and most Protestant) use the Gregorian calendar and celebrate Christmas on December 25, while many Orthodox churches keep the Julian calendar for feasts, which shifts the visible date to January 7.

• A number of Orthodox churches that adopted the “Revised Julian Calendar” now celebrate Christmas on December 25 like Western churches, even though they remain Orthodox in faith and practice.

Extra notes

• Armenian Apostolic Christians are a special case: their main Christmas celebration is on January 6, reflecting an older tradition that combined Christmas and Epiphany on the same day.

• Through the year 2099, Orthodox Christmas for churches on the Julian calendar will remain on January 7; due to calendar drift, it will shift to January 8 starting in 2100 on the civil (Gregorian) calendar.

TL;DR: When people ask “when is Orthodox Christmas,” they almost always mean the widely observed January 7 celebration, which is December 25 on the Julian calendar.