{"id":2023,"date":"2013-01-08T09:40:49","date_gmt":"2013-01-08T07:40:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/?p=2023"},"modified":"2013-01-18T10:44:00","modified_gmt":"2013-01-18T08:44:00","slug":"why-we-celebrate-christmas-on-january-7th","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/why-we-celebrate-christmas-on-january-7th\/","title":{"rendered":"Why We Celebrate Christmas on January 7th"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’m still surprised by how many people don’t know that December 25th is not Christmas in Ukraine! When I tell them that we celebrate on January 7th the usual response I get is, “Oh, so two weeks later?!” Then I say, “No, we celebrate 50 weeks earlier than the West!”<\/p>\n

That’s right yesterday we celebrated Christmas 2013!<\/p>\n

The reason for this is a difference in calendars. The Orthodox Church still follows the older Julian calendar<\/a> while most of the rest of the world uses the Gregorian calendar.<\/a> I won’t bore you with all the details, just follow the links if you want to know more.<\/p>\n

\"My

My three Christmas girls<\/p><\/div>\n

The snow started falling on Christmas Eve as we headed over to Christina’s parents for a family dinner and dessert!<\/p>\n

\"A

A few treats from Babushka for Christmas Eve<\/p><\/div>\n

The desserts were good but most important was the warm fellowship! One thing I love about celebrating Christmas in Ukraine is that no one gives gifts. I takes a lot of the stress out of the holiday and allows us to focus on Jesus.<\/p>\n

\"On

On the way home Christmas Eve<\/p><\/div>\n

It wouldn’t be Christmas without warm furry hats!<\/p>\n

\"Mishael

Mishael singing with the children’s choir<\/p><\/div>\n

The highlight of our Christmas celebration was our church’s Christmas day service. Mishael sang with the children’s choir. Can you see him in the shepherd’s outfit? Our adult and youth choirs also participated and we heard two great sermons.<\/p>\n

\"We

We even had a few sheep in the stable at our church<\/p><\/div>\n

Before the kids went to bed last night we gathered them all in the living-room for a little family time. The Christmas tree was still up and outside you could see the snow coming down.  We talked over a few plans for our family this year then sang a couple of Christmas carols. We ended by singing “Happy birthday” to Jesus. Then we all grabbed hands and prayed.<\/p>\n

Sometimes it’s nice to celebrate Christmas without all the Christmas ado!<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Yes, we had a good Christmas even though no one gave or received any gifts! We remembered Jesus and celebrated the birth of our Savior!<\/p>\n

Now the challenge for this year will be to celebrate Jesus every day!<\/p>\n

Question: What can we do to help us celebrate Jesus every day?<\/h4>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’m still surprised by how many people don’t know that December 25th is not Christmas in Ukraine! When I tell them that we celebrate on January 7th the usual response I get is,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2025,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[36],"tags":[59],"class_list":["post-2023","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-family","tag-christmas"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/DSC02165.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3izZc-wD","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4870,"url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/why-ukraine-celebrates-christmas-on-january-7th\/","url_meta":{"origin":2023,"position":0},"title":"Why Ukraine Celebrates Christmas on January 7th","author":"Caleb Suko","date":"January 7, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Today is January 7th and it's Christmas day here in Ukraine. I've received a few questions about why Ukraine doesn't celebrate Christmas on December 25th, so here's an explanation for you. Religious holidays in Ukraine are determined by the Orthodox Church, which follows the Julian calendar, introduced by Julius Cesar\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ukraine"","block_context":{"text":"Ukraine","link":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/category\/ukraine-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/10893317_10152534286352405_417121065_n.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/10893317_10152534286352405_417121065_n.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/10893317_10152534286352405_417121065_n.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1665,"url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/benefits-of-celebrating-christmas-2-weeks-late\/","url_meta":{"origin":2023,"position":1},"title":"The Benefits of Celebrating Christmas 2 Weeks Late","author":"Caleb Suko","date":"January 7, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"If you already took your Christmas tree down then today would be a great day to grab it out of the trash and put it back where it belongs! Just because December 25th is now 2 weeks behind us doesn't mean that Christmas is over, especially if you're \u00a0from Ukraine.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ministry"","block_context":{"text":"Ministry","link":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/category\/ministry\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/soldiers.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/soldiers.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/soldiers.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":217,"url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/orthodox-christmas-january-7th\/","url_meta":{"origin":2023,"position":2},"title":"Orthodox Christmas (January 7th)","author":"Caleb Suko","date":"January 10, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 We had planned to head out to the village of Makarovo to celebrate Christmas with them on (Christmas is celebrated here on January 7th.) However, it was snowing pretty heavily when we were getting ready to leave. We decided to try to see if we could make it despite\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ministry"","block_context":{"text":"Ministry","link":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/category\/ministry\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4919,"url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/one-ukrainian-church-finds-joy-during-tragic-times\/","url_meta":{"origin":2023,"position":3},"title":"One Ukrainian Church Finds Joy During Tragic Times","author":"Caleb Suko","date":"January 16, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"After the attack on a civilian bus this week you might wonder if there's anything good happening in Ukraine. How can Ukrainians find joy in such tragic times? Our church, Hope for People in Odessa, Ukraine recently decided to help people see through the sadness by putting on a special\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ministry"","block_context":{"text":"Ministry","link":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/category\/ministry\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/10931029_932496780093658_4084554608465529769_n.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/10931029_932496780093658_4084554608465529769_n.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/10931029_932496780093658_4084554608465529769_n.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1916,"url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/so-how-was-your-christmas\/","url_meta":{"origin":2023,"position":4},"title":"So How was Your Christmas?","author":"Caleb Suko","date":"December 27, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Christmas is over, at least in the West. 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