Good morning! Most of the Christian world celebrated Christmas yesterday. Some according to the Gregorian calendar, some according to the Milankovic calendar. Some Christians will celebrate it on 7 January, in line with the old calendar, according to which 25 December falls on the day when, according to the new one, it is 7 January. How did some Montenegrins get confused when they came into possession of the old Montenegrin Orthodox Church calendars?
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Julian and Gregorian Calendars
The day before yesterday I watched Volodymyr Zelinsky’s Christmas message to Ukrainians. The Orthodox Church of Ukraine, which acquired autocephaly from the Ecumenical Patriarchate a few years ago, decided to adopt a new calendar and stop the practice of celebrating Christmas on 7 January. In addition, this is supported by the legal solution in which Christmas is celebrated as a national holiday on 25 December. This was done in an effort to distinguish Ukrainian Orthodox Christian tradition from Russia and Russian influence. Russia often used the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which was controlled by Moscow.
Guided by this example, many in Montenegro asked the question whether the same practice should be started in our country, and some, in the desire to find a historically based argument, went astray and equated the use of the old Julian calendar for secular and sacred purposes in the Kingdom of Montenegro. Namely, Montenegro measured not only church time but also civil time with the Julian calendar until the First World War. Christmas was not celebrated on 7 January, but on 25 December. It’s simply that in countries that didn’t use the Julian calendar, it was already 7 January at that time.
Even today, when you look at the Orthodox calendars of the Serbian Orthodox Church or the Russian Orthodox Church, it is clearly stated that Christmas is on 7 January, according to the new calendar, but that it is still on 25 December according to the old one.
Therefore, Montenegrins did not celebrate Christmas on 25 December according to the new calendar, but on 25 December according to the old calendar, which fell on 7 January according to the new one.
I hope this doesn’t need to be repeated endlessly.
The story about the calendar is important because after Montenegro, Serbia, Russia, and other Orthodox countries switched to counting time according to the new calendar for secular purposes, it was proposed that the churches follow the same decision, and the churches, in principle, accepted Milankovic’s revised Julian calendar. Not in order to adapt to the West but because that calendar was more precise. But some of the churches, like Serbian and Russian continued the Old calendar practices.
If they continue to use the Julian calendar, the Montenegrin Orthodox Church, the Metropolitan of Montenegro and the Littoral, the Serbian Orthodox Church, the Russian Orthodox Church, and other churches will celebrate Christmas on 8 January in the 22nd century. The difference between the two calendars will increase by one day. Therefore, Vesna Rivas’ slogan, “Where are you on 7 January, will no longer make sense”. If anyone remembers it in 75 years. Both Vesna and the slogan.
Joking aside, this question is very serious. I think that Montenegro and other multi-confessional countries are rich precisely because of all those colorful holidays. Catholic Christmas, as we call it, has its own traditions, and Orthodox Christmas has its own. And all that has its own charm, only when the holidays are not used as an excuse for harassing neighbors and nationalistic feasts. Unfortunately, Orthodox holidays in the Balkans have become a source of tension in recent years. From Christmas morning to the Epiphany, incidents and collective nationalist performances cast a shadow over the beautiful traditions of the Orthodox Church.
It would be nice if everything would return to normal if possible and that all holidays in Montenegro, from both Christmases through Bayram to Hanukkah, are celebrated in joy, happiness, and a good mood.
That’s it for today. We wish you a pleasant rest of the day.
Kind regards,
Ljubomir Filipovic, CdM analyst and columnist
(Columnists’ opinions and views are not necessarily those of CdM)
