Christmas in the Old Style Orthodox tradition

Christmas is one of the three major religious holidays in the eastern orthodox tradition , along with Easter and Pentecost , in the romanian ecclesiastic tradition they are collectively  referred as "Sarbatori Domnesti"(Royal Holidays).  It is interesting to note the fact that not all the eastern orthodox christians celebrate Christmas in the same date , many of them celebrate it on the 25th of December together with the catholics and protestants , the other half celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ on the 7th of January , many of you would find awkward and maybe interesting in the same time the fact that the followers of a confession are divided in to two  faction over the date in which Christmas is celebrated . 

  The difference originates from the replacement of the old Julian Calendar  with the new Gregorian Calendar , this change was quite controversial ,  many easterners interpreted as a "toxic influence" of the Church of Rome over the eastern churches of byzantine tradition.  

   As a result , many of the church followers opposed the new calendar and slowly detaching from the mother church , eventually founding their own . 

  The change of the calendar was not a exclusive to the church , it effected all the economic sectors of the state in which it was adopted . 

  There are cases in which the national churches adopted the new calendar but those who still followed the old one didn't split apart from it , there are also cases in which a part of the followers of the old calendar grouped  in to a distinct church and a part remained members of the national church .

   All the eastern states officially adopted the Gregorian Calendar , as a result , the old calendar christians celebrate their Christmas on the 7th of January according to the national calendar and the New Year on the 13th of the same month , those being a 13 day difference between the Gregorian and Julian Calendar Christmas and  New Year. 

   In Romania the old calendar tradition is associated with the russian-lipovan , armenian and moldovan communities. The romanians of the Republic of Moldova , unlike the ones from Romania , use the old calendar do to their historical contacts with the eastern slavs. The most compact old style orthodox communities in Romania are found in Tulcea County , its members having lipovan ethnic backgrounds .  

  The old style orthodox tradition is a integral part of the ethnic identity of the lipovans , often considered the most distinctive characteristic that they have opposed to the russians .  Being celebrated apart from the dominant community , the lipovans managed to preserve very well the true spiritual side of Christmas , their celebration of this holiday is most often characterized  by family meetings , carol singing , church attendance and rituals with religious and spiritual connotation . 

   Christmas is celebrated on two plans that intersect each other , in a individual and family plan and in a community plan where different members engage in ceremonies or rituals that are directed to both individuals or groups within the community (families). The Gregorian Calendar was perceived , especially  in the ethnographic space of the eastern slavs , as a threat to the stability and continuity of a group's ethnic identity , which had a big  spiritual-religious old style orthodox component attached to it. .