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Christmass at COE
#1
I wonder when COE celebrates Christmass on 25 Dec. or 7 Jan.
I heard that COE switched from Julian to Gregorian calendars
around 1967.
Thanks.
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#2
Shlama Akhi Ivan,

Yes, that is true. And before that we switched to the Julian Calendar from the Semitic (lunar) calendar.

In fact, the early Church of the East did not celebrate Christmas at all. It rather celebrated the Epiphany on Jan. 7th. To this day, in fact, "Christmas" is a rather unimportant day (liturgically speaking.) It is "Easter" that is much more important liturgically.

Ah, the western innovations have not escaped us entirely ... <!-- sSmile --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/smile.gif" alt="Smile" title="Smile" /><!-- sSmile -->

+Shamasha

PS - a schismatic group, the "Ancient Church of the East", split in 1968 partly over this issue. They continue to celebrate "Easter" according to the Julian Calendar (which, to my amusement, they call "the old calendar" <!-- sRolleyes --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/rolleyes.gif" alt="Rolleyes" title="Roll Eyes" /><!-- sRolleyes --> ).
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#3
Akhi Ivan,

I hope you find the following quote from Mar Eashai Shimun, the Patriarch of the Church of the East, interesting. It is from an interview he gave to the Baghdad Observer on Thursday, April 30 1970:

[Image: mar_shimun_christmas.jpg]

+Shamasha
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