These Feast days are all about going to church and gathering with loved ones for lavish meals. Technically, these Orthodox believers observe the Nativity and Adoration of the Shepherds on January 6, and Adoration of the Magi plus Christmas Day on January 7. The Orthodox Christians who follow the Julian calendar (most of Western Christianity uses the Gregorian calendar) include believers coming from places like Israel, Russia, Greece and Egypt, and they still celebrate Christmas on this day. Because there was/is significance to the amount of time between the spring equinox and Christmas Day, it didn't make sense for them to celebrate earlier just because many others adopted the new Dec. The date was chosen because it is nine months after the Annunciation, which celebrates Christ’s conception in the womb of the Virgin Mary, on March 25 (also the date of the spring equinox). The first recorded Christmas celebration was December 25, 336 AD. So, using the Julian calendar, as Orthodox Christians still do, just means December 25 is on a different day. With the change, over a week of days in the year were lost. It's just that the Julian calendar (also known as the "Old Calendar") was once used since Julius Caesar's time up until Pope Gregory XIII's reform, when the Gregorian calendar was adopted. Technically, the original Christmas festival was actually observed on January 7. The cult statue of Saturn himself, traditionally bound at the feet with woolen bands, was untied, presumably to come out and join the fun.According to , Pope Julius I chose December 25 "in an effort to adopt and absorb the traditions of the pagan Saturnalia festival." Why do some people celebrate Christmas Day in January? The closing days of the Saturnalia were known as Sigillaria, because of the custom of making, toward the end of the festival, presents of candles, wax models of fruit, and waxen statuettes which were fashioned by the sigillarii or manufacturers of small figures in wax and other media. The streets were infected with a Mardi Gras madness a mock king was chosen ( Saturnalicius princeps) the seasonal greeting io Saturnalia was heard everywhere. Slaves were given temporary freedom to say and do what they liked, and certain moral restrictions were eased. Remarkably like the Greek Kronia, it was the liveliest festival of the year. The date has been connected with the winter sowing season, which in modern Italy varies from October to January. Originally celebrated on December 17, Saturnalia was extended first to three and eventually to seven days.
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