Christmastide: Difference between revisions

| 11-17 December || Sunday of the Forefathers<ref group=''note''="">Second Sunday before Christmas</ref> || colspan="2" | [[Divine Liturgy]] || || Colossians 3:4-11 || Luke 14:16-24

| rowspan=5 | 24 December || rowspan=5 | [[Christmas Eve]]<ref group=''note''="">If Christmas Eve falls on Saturday or Sunday, Royal Hours are said on the previous Friday and Vespers separately from Liturgy at the Vigil</ref> || rowspan="4" | [[Royal Hours]] || [[Prime (liturgy)|First Hour]] || Micah 5:2-4 || Hebrews 1:1-12 || Matthew 1:18-25

| colspan=2 | [[Vespers]] (+ [[Divine Liturgy]]) || Genesis 1:1-13<br />Numbers 24:2-3, 5-9, 17-18<br />Micah 4:6-7; 5:2-4<br />Isaiah 11:1-10<br />Baruch 3:35-4:4<br />Daniel 2:31-36, 44-45<br />Isaiah 9:6-7<br />Isaiah 7:10-16; 8:1-4, 9-10 || Hebrews 1:1-12<ref group=''note''="">at Liturgy</ref><br />''or''<br />Galatians 3:15-22<ref group=''note''="">efn|at Vigil</ref> || Luke 2:1-20

| rowspan=5| 5 January || rowspan=5| [[Twelfth Night (holiday)|Theophany Eve]]<ref group=''note''="">If Theophany Eve falls on Saturday or Sunday, Royal Hours are said on the previous Friday and Vespers separately from Liturgy at the Vigil</ref> || rowspan="4" | [[Royal Hours]] || [[Prime (liturgy)|First Hour]] || Isaiah 35:1-10 || Acts 13:25-33 || Matthew 3:1-6

| [[Sext|Sixth Hour]] || Isaiah 12:3-6 || Romans 6:3-11 || Mark 1:9-11<ref group=''note''="">continues to verse 15 in some traditions</ref>

| colspan=2| [[Holy water in Eastern Christianity|Great Blessing of Waters]]<ref group=''note''="">Also held after Liturgy on Theophany Eve</ref> || Isaiah 35:1-10<br />Isaiah 55:1-13<br />Isaiah 12:3-6 || 1 Corinthians 10:1-4 || Mark 1:9-11

It was not until the [[dissolution of the Soviet Union]] in 1991 that the prohibition ended and Christmas was celebrated for the first time in [[Russia]] after seven decades.<ref>{{cite news|url=httphttps://articleswww.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-01-07/news/-mn-5892_1_russian5892-christmas-traditionsstory.html|title=A Russian Christmas—Better Late Than Never : Soviet Union: Orthodox Church celebration is the first under Communists. But, as with most of Yeltsin's pronouncements, the holiday stirs a controversy.|last=Goldberg|first=Carey|date=7 January 1991|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|language=en|access-date=22 November 2014|quote= For the first time in more than seven decades, Christmas—celebrated today by Russian Orthodox Christians—is a full state holiday across Russia's vast and snowy expanse. As part of Russian Federation President Boris N. Yeltsin's ambitious plan to revive the traditions of Old Russia, the republic's legislature declared last month that Christmas, long ignored under atheist Communist ideology, should be written back into the public calendar.}}</ref> Russia had adopted the custom of celebrating New Year's Day instead. However, the Orthodox Church Christmas is on 7 January. This is, also, an official national holiday.<ref name=DeLaine/>

{{Further|Antireligious campaigns inof Chinathe Chinese Communist Party}}

The government of the People's Republic of China officially espouses [[state atheism]],<ref>{{cite book |last1=Dillon |first1=Michael |title=Religious Minorities and China |date=2001 |publisher=Minority Rights Group International |language=en}}</ref> and has conducted [[Antireligious campaigns inof Chinathe Chinese Communist Party|antireligious campaigns]] to this end.<ref name="BuangChew2014">{{cite book|last1=Buang|first1=Sa'eda|last2=Chew|first2=Phyllis Ghim-Lian|title=Muslim Education in the 21st Century: Asian Perspectives|date=9 May 2014|publisher=Routledge|language=en|isbn=9781317815006|page=75|quote=Subsequently, a new China was found on the basis of Communist ideology, i.e. atheism. Within the framework of this ideology, religion was treated as a 'contorted' world-view and people believed that religion would necessarily disappear at the end, along with the development of human society. A series of anti-religious campaigns was implemented by the Chinese Communist Party from the early 1950s to the late 1970s. As a result, in nearly 30 years between the beginning of the 1950s and the end of the 1970s, mosques (as well as churches and Chinese temples) were shut down and Imams involved in forced 're-education'.}}</ref> In December 2018, officials raided Christian churches just prior to Christmastide and coerced them to close; Christmas trees and Santa Clauses were also forcibly removed.<ref name="BBC2018">{{cite web |title=Alarm over China's Church crackdown |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-46588650 |work=BBC |date=18 December 2018|quote=Among those arrested are a prominent pastor and his wife, of the Early Rain Covenant Church in Sichuan. Both have been charged with state subversion. And on Saturday morning, dozens of police raided a children's Bible class at Rongguili Church in Guangzhou. One Christian in Chengdu told the BBC: "I'm lucky they haven't found me yet." China is officially atheist, though says it allows religious freedom.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Santa Claus won't be coming to this town, as Chinese officials ban Christmas |url=https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2178532/santa-claus-wont-be-coming-town-chinese-officials-ban-christmas |publisher=South China Morning Post |language=en |date=18 December 2018|quote=Christmas is not a recognised holiday in mainland China – where the ruling party is officially atheist – and for many years authorities have taken a tough stance on anyone who celebrates it in public. ... The statement by Langfang officials said that anyone caught selling Christmas trees, wreaths, stockings or Santa Claus figures in the city would be punished. ... While the ban on the sale of Christmas goods might appear to be directed at retailers, it also comes amid a crackdown on Christians practising their religion across the country. On Saturday morning, more than 60 police officers and officials stormed a children’s Bible class in Guangzhou, capital of southern China’s Guangdong province. The incident came after authorities shut down the 1,500-member [[Beijing Zion Church|Zion Church in Beijing]] in September and Chengdu’s[[Chengdu]]’s 500-member [[Early Rain Covenant Church]] last week. In the case of the latter, about 100 worshippers were snatched from their homes or from the streets in coordinated raids.}}</ref>