By Sergius Reid
Every December we hear people expressing the hope that there will be snow for Christmas. Some even ask me, jokingly, if that is why the Orthodox celebrate this great feast two weeks later than the Roman Catholic and Protestant churches. But, no, that's not why. Others have suggested we just want to buy our gift-wrap at half price. Sorry, wrong again. Actually, there are profound theological and historical reasons why Christianity now has two different dates for the celebration of Our Lord's birth.
To understand this situation, I will ask you to imagine a powerful ruler in his kingdom. He becomes convinced that the dates of important events on the calendar are ten days off from where they ought to be. So, he decrees that, after everyone has retired for the night next October 4th, upon rising in the morning it will be October 15th! Naturally, this is a surprise to everyone. And, it raises practical questions. If you're 48 years old, and your birthday is October 15th, will you turn 49 on October 15 this year, (i.e. 355 days after your last birthday)? Or is your birthday now October 25th, (365 days since your last birthday)? The same applies to anniversaries, or any important date. Also, will the tax man come ten days before you expected him?
Well, this is exactly what happened in 1582. The pope of Rome at the time, Gregory XIII, dropped ten days from the calendar, and made a provision for a further day to be dropped in three out of four centuries. Just like our leap years in February, we also have leap centuries. The next one will be in 2100. Because the two calendars drifted by an additional day in 1700, 1800, and 1900, we now have a difference of 13 days.
When Pope Gregory instituted his new calendar, (called after him, the Gregorian calendar), few countries agreed to follow immediately. Papal pressure soon came to bear and the Roman Catholic nations were brought in line. However, most of Europe was either Protestant or Orthodox, which only increased the isolation of Western European nations such as Italy, Spain, and France.
In succeeding centuries the Protestant countries gradually abandoned the former, (Julian) calendar, in favour of the Gregorian. Britain, and therefore, her colonies made the change in 1752. Still, old habits are hard to break. The founding fathers of the United States clung to the Julian calendar for many decades after, even dating the Declaration of Independence on July 4 of the Julian calendar! Pick up a copy of the Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin and there will usually be a note on the first page, or in the introduction, explaining why the dates Ben gives are all off by 13 days.
Now, after all this, you might still ask - why does the Orthodox Church maintain the Julian calendar? What difference does it make? Well, in fact, no Christian church keeps only one calendar - in fact, there are always two. There is the calendar of fixed dates, such as Christmas on December 25th, and there are the movable, (lunar) dates such as Easter and Pentecost.
In the first centuries of Christianity, when the feasting and fasting periods were being established, the calendar was still rather fluid. The movable fasts could be built around the set dates. Throughout the day-to-day practice of many thousands of early Christians, an annual cycle of the year was developed which worked together like a fine Swiss watch. However, if we now arbitrarily shift the fixed dates by two weeks, the calendar begins to look more like a traffic accident. Feast days crash into fasting periods, and strict fast days fall in the middle of fast-free weeks. The balance of the Church year is severely interrupted.
The harmony of the Church calendar is one of the most beautiful traditions we have inherited from our Christian forefathers. By it, we are kept on the straight path of gladdening sorrow - a joyful repentance. If we constantly celebrate Christ's coming into the world for our sakes, but neglect repentance, we become self-assured, and never sorrow for our sins, or seek to do better. If, on the other hand, we sorrow and fast continually, and forget God's mercy and love for us sinners, we become depressed and morose. Neither state is healthy or conducive to our salvation. Through the wonder of the Church's calendar, each year we relive the full cycle of the Church's life as well as her history.
Perhaps you are thinking that I am exaggerating and that changing to the Gregorian calendar could not bring any lasting harm to the Church's life? I would only answer that it is with sincere regret that we observe the decay of the Protestant churches and of the Roman Catholic church since the calendar change. There was a time when the Roman Catholic church observed the same twelve Great Feasts as the Orthodox do today. They also kept the same fasts during the year as we do. They dropped the Wednesday fast early in the last century, the Friday fast less than 40 years ago. Some will remember fasting during Advent, most can remember Great Lent. And the feast days - when did they disappear? Little is left beyond Christmas and Easter. It is not with pride that I say this, but rather through fear - knowing that we would do the same thing if we abandoned the Church calendar. Knowing our weakness, we cling to every aid to our salvation.
In closing, I will just say that, of course, we do use the Gregorian calendar for secular purposes - we couldn't function day-to-day otherwise. But, just as the Jews keep a separate religious calendar, as well as the secular one, we also see the need to use both. It adds beauty to each passing year, it keeps us spiritually balanced, and, as a bonus, we usually do get a white Christmas!
