Four Reasons Why January Christmas is Better

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In Ukraine, there’s always a debate whether to celebrate Christmas on 7 January or 25 December. American Joe Lindsley likes the idea of a second-chance celebration. And he says it’s good for reasons spiritual, ecumenical – and economic.
Lviv’s main Christmas tree in front of the Opera House. It’ll be up until late January.

Lviv’s main Christmas tree in front of the Opera House. It’ll be up until late January.

By Joe Lindsley 

Most of Ukraine celebrates Christmas according to the old Julian calendar, with the «twelve days» starting 7 January. In Lviv, a city of Greek Catholicism, people live in-between East and West: They are in communion with Rome and the West, but celebrate their holidays two weeks later. And every year, people here debate whether to do something they have resisted since October 1582: to change their calendar. 

1. 7 January Christmas, which most Ukrainians celebrate, is free of commercial-corporate control.

25 December Christmas is wrapped up in buying things, so much so that I have heard Americans talking about creating a separate Christmas away from the 25th. On the other hand, Ukrainian Christmas, blissfully far away from the commercial frenzy (Ukrainians give gifts on 19 December, St. Nicholas’s Day), allows for a holiday of spirituality, ritual, and connection.

Carolers at Ukrainian Christmas in the city of Striy, January 2021.

Read more: During Ukraine’s January Christmas, an American Discovers the Soul of Music.

2. Economic: Ukraine could become a tourist destination in January, of all times.

Imagine this pitch: After your stressful 25 December rush, come to eastern Europe in January to experience an old-world Christmas, more peaceful, less commercial, full of music, ritual, and festivity until 20 January. And enjoy skiing in the nearby Carpathian Mountains. Is there any other reason why Westerners would think to visit Ukraine in January?

The Christmas villages here are operate until 20 January. Is there any other reason why Westerners would think to visit Ukraine in January?

Read more: Nobody Wants to Give up Their Traditions: The debate over the date of Christmas

3. By keeping its eastern traditions while being in union with the west, Lviv can be a model for unity. 

In Greek-Catholic Lviv, people celebrate life according to eastern ritual and calendar–and their priests are married–but they worship in union with the western, Roman church. What is needed is more storytelling and analysis about Lviv, where east and west exist together. 

The most famous Ukrainian-born Christmas song, the Shchedryk, known throughout the world as the «Carol of the Bells.»

4. Multiple calendars remind us of the mystery of time and space. 

Perhaps the coronavirus and its mutating mysteries have reminded us that we are not as in control as we think. The two Christmases, the two Easters, etc., are simply a bigger spread of time zones. We don’t all celebrate New Year at the same midnight, after all, but at our own midnights. We begin to see that as we spin around the sun how we count time is relative; our dates, arbitrary.

By Joe Lindsley (follow on Instagram or LinkedIn)

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Lviv Now is an English-language website for Lviv, Ukraine’s «tech-friendly cultural hub.» It is produced by Tvoe Misto («Your City») media-hub, which also hosts regular problem-solving public forums to benefit the city and its people.


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Щодня наша команда працює над тим, щоб інформувати Вас про найважливіше в місті та області. За роки своєї праці ми довели, що «Твоє місто» - це медіа, якому справді можна довіряти. Долучіться до Спільноти Прихильників «Твого міста» та збережіть незалежне медіа для громади. Кожен внесок має значення!