THUNDER BAY -- For Orthodox Christians in Thunder Bay and around the world, Christmas celebrations are about to begin.
Orthodox Christians in several countries follow the Julian calendar, which was introduced by Julius Caesar in 46 BC, in which the year consists of 365 days with every fourth year having 366.
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church of St. Volodymyr celebrated Christmas day Saturday morning with a service lead by Father Lubomyr Hluchaniuk.
“Orthodox Christmas is no different from the Latin Christmas,” Hluchaniuk said.
“We just follow the old Julian calendar…if you go back in history the whole world followed the Julian calendar, which was found to be not very accurate and it was falling behind.”
Hluchaniuk explained that Pope Gregory XIII had astrologers put together a new calendar, but the switch took more than 300 years and during that time Orthodox East never made the change.
“Ultimately, it’s about the birth of Christ,” Hluchaniuk said. “It’s about God taking on the human nature and that’s what the celebration is all about.”
The celebration is about God coming from above and redeeming people from their sins.
Hluchaniuk said he came down to show that God is with us and that God has come down to us to join his creation.
Saturday’s service was the same structure as Sunday. It’s called The Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, but the hymns change to acknowledge the birth of Christ.
Hluchaniuk said one of the great feasts of the Orthodox Church is celebrated 12 days after Christmas.
“That’s where we get the saying 12 days of Christmas,” he said. “The early Christians always started celebrating on Christmas Day and then celebrated for 12 days until Theophany.”
The early Christians would fast and restrain from partying before any major feast and then they would party and celebrate on the feast day until Theophany, which was 12 days later.
Theophany commemorates the day Jesus Christ was baptized in the Jordan River.
“We have a special service for that and we bless the waters, because Christ sanctified the water by being blessed in the Jordan River.”
Thunder Bay’s Ukrainian community will also celebrate the New Year with the Zorya Ukrainian Dance Association on Jan. 14.
