December 24 Events Pre-1600 * 502 – Chinese emperor Xiao Yan names Xiao Tong his heir designate. * 640 – Pope John IV is elected, several months after his predecessor's death. * 759 – Tang dynasty poet Du Fu departs for Chengdu, whe ...

Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar The Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar describes and dictates the rhythm of the life of the Eastern Orthodox Church. Passages of Holy Scripture, saints and events for commemoration are associated with each date, as are many times special rule ...

December 26 Events Pre-1600 * 887 – Berengar I is elected as king of Italy by the lords of Lombardy. He is crowned with the Iron Crown of Lombardy at Pavia. * 1481 – Battle of Westbroek: An army of 4,000 to 5,000 soldiers raised by David of Bu ...

All fixed commemorations below are observed on January 7 by

Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, also called the Orthodox Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 220 million baptized members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops vi ...

es on

Old Calendar Old Calendarists (Greek language, Greek: ''palaioimerologitai'' or ''palaioimerologites''), also known as Old Feasters (''palaioeortologitai''), Genuine Orthodox Christians or True Orthodox Christians (GOC; ), are traditionalist groups of Easte ...

. For December 25th, Orthodox Churches on the Old Calendar commemorate the Saints listed on

December 12 Events Pre-1600 * 627 – Battle of Nineveh: A Byzantine army under Emperor Heraclius defeats Emperor Khosrau II's Persian forces, commanded by General Rhahzadh. *1388 – Maria of Enghien sells the lordship of Argos and Nauplia t ...

Feasts

* The Nativity, according to the Flesh of our Lord, God and Savior

Jesus Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

:December 25/January 7
Orthodox Calendar (PRAVOSLAVIE.RU). * The

Adoration of the Magi The Adoration of the Magi or Adoration of the Kings is the name traditionally given to the subject in the Nativity of Jesus in art in which the three Magi, represented as kings, especially in the West, having found Jesus by following a star, ...

: ** Melchior, Gaspar, and Balthasar. * Commemoration of the shepherds in

Bethlehem Bethlehem (; ar, بيت لحم ; he, בֵּית לֶחֶם '' '') is a city in the central West Bank, Palestine, about south of Jerusalem. Its population is approximately 25,000,Amara, 1999p. 18.Brynen, 2000p. 202. and it is the capital o ...

who were watching their flocks and came to see the Lord: **

Annunciation to the shepherds The annunciation to the shepherds is an episode in the Nativity of Jesus described in the Bible in Luke 2, in which angels tell a group of shepherds about the birth of Jesus. It is a common subject of Christian art and of Christmas carols. B ...

; and Adoration of the shepherds.

Pre-Schism Western saints

* Saint

Eugenia of Rome Eugenia of Rome (died c AD 258) was an early Christian Roman martyr whose feast day is celebrated on December 25 in the Roman Catholic Church, on December 24 (January 6, New Style) in the Eastern Orthodox Church, and on January 23 in the Armenia ...

(c. 258)December 25
Latin Saints of the Orthodox Patriarchate of Rome. (''see also

- East '') * Saint

Anastasia of Sirmium Saint Anastasia (died December 25 A.D. 304) is a Christian saint and martyr who died at Sirmium in the Roman province of Pannonia Secunda (modern Serbia). In the Eastern Orthodox Church, she is venerated as St. Anastasia the ''Pharmakolytria'', ...

(c. 304) (''see also

December 22 Events Pre-1600 *AD 69 – Vespasian is proclaimed Emperor of Rome; his predecessor, Vitellius, attempts to abdicate but is captured and killed at the Gemonian stairs. * 401 – Pope Innocent I is elected, the only pope to succeed h ...

- East '') * Saint Adalsindis, a nun at Hamay-les-Marchiennes Abbey, near Arras in France (c. 715) * Saint Æthelburh of Wilton (Alburgh, Alburga), a member of the royal house of

Wessex la, Regnum Occidentalium Saxonum , conventional_long_name = Kingdom of the West Saxons , common_name = Wessex , image_map = Southern British Isles 9th century.svg , map_caption = S ...

, Abbess of

Wilton Abbey Wilton Abbey was a Benedictine convent in Wiltshire, England, three miles from Salisbury, probably on the site now occupied by Wilton House. It was active from the early tenth century until 1539. History Foundation Wilton Abbey is first reco ...

and a saint (810)

Post-Schism Orthodox saints

* Massacre of Monk-martyr Jonah, and with him 50 monks and 65 laymen, martyrs at St. Tryphon of Pechenga Monastery, by the Swedes (1589) (''see also:

December 15 Events Pre-1600 * 533 – Vandalic War: Byzantine general Belisarius defeats the Vandals, commanded by King Gelimer, at the Battle of Tricamarum. * 687 – Pope Sergius I is elected as a compromise between antipopes Paschal and Theodor ...

'')

New martyrs and confessors

* New Hieromartyr Michael, Priest (1930)January 7 / December 25
HOLY TRINITY RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH (A parish of the Patriarchate of Moscow).

Icon gallery

File:MCB-icon12.jpg, Byzantine icon of

Nativity of Christ The nativity of Jesus, nativity of Christ, birth of Jesus or birth of Christ is described in the biblical gospels of Luke and Matthew. The two accounts agree that Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judaea, his mother Mary was engaged to a man ...

.
(''

Byzantine & Christian Museum The Byzantine and Christian Museum ( el, Βυζαντινό και Χριστιανικό Μουσείο, links=no) is situated at Vassilissis Sofias Avenue in Athens, Greece. It was founded in 1914, and houses more than 25,000 exhibits with rare ...

, Athens''). File:Menologion of Basil 053.jpg, The Nativity.
(''

Menologion of Basil II The ''Menologion of Basil II'' (also called ''Menologium of Basil II'', ''Menology of Basil II'') is an illuminated manuscript designed as a church calendar or Eastern Orthodox Church service book ('' menologion'') that was compiled c. 1000 AD ...

'', 10th century) File:Nativity from Gostinopolye (c. 1475, Banco Intesa).jpg, The Nativity.
(c. 1475) File:Nativity Icon.jpg, The Nativity.
(16th century) File:MCB-icon11.jpg, The

.
(

, Athens) File:Magi capp.jpg, The

.
(Fresco in Cappadocia, 12th century) File:Adoration of the magi st.michael toronto.jpg, The

.
(Stained glass window in St. Michael Cathedral, Toronto, 1912) File:Magi (1).jpg, The Three Wise Men", Balthasar, Melchior, and Gaspar.
(

Basilica of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo The Basilica of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo is a basilica church in Ravenna, Italy. It was erected by the Ostrogothic king Theodoric the Great as his palace chapel during the first quarter of the 6th century (as attested to in the ''Liber Pontificalis ...

in Ravenna, Italy, c. 526 AD) File:Saint Louis Psalter 16 verso.jpg,

(top) and Biblical Magi (bottom).
(Saint Louis Psalter, 1190-1200) File:Azulejos-Adoration by the shepherds.JPG, Adoration of the shepherds.
(Vilar de Frades Church, Barcelos, Portugal)

Notes

References

Sources

December 25/January 7
Orthodox Calendar (PRAVOSLAVIE.RU).
January 7 / December 25
HOLY TRINITY RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH (A parish of the Patriarchate of Moscow).
December 25
OCA - The Lives of the Saints. * The Autonomous Orthodox Metropolia of Western Europe and the Americas (ROCOR). ''St. Hilarion Calendar of Saints for the year of our Lord 2004.'' St. Hilarion Press (Austin, TX). p. 2.

Latin Saints of the Orthodox Patriarchate of Rome. *
The Roman Martyrology
'' Transl. by the Archbishop of Baltimore. Last Edition, According to the Copy Printed at Rome in 1914. Revised Edition, with the Imprimatur of His Eminence Cardinal Gibbons. Baltimore: John Murphy Company, 1916. pp. 395–397. Greek Sources * Great Synaxaristes:
25 ΔΕΚΕΜΒΡΙΟΥ
ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ. * Συναξαριστής.
25 Δεκεμβρίου
'' ECCLESIA.GR. (H ΕΚΚΛΗΣΙΑ ΤΗΣ ΕΛΛΑΔΟΣ). Russian Sources *

Православная Энциклопедия под редакцией Патриарха Московского и всея Руси Кирилла (электронная версия). (Orthodox Encyclopedia - Pravenc.ru). *
25 декабря (ст.ст.) 7 января 2013 (нов. ст.)
Русская Православная Церковь Отдел внешних церковных связей. (DECR). {{DEFAULTSORT:December 25 (Eastern Orthodox Liturgics) December in the Eastern Orthodox calendar Nativity of Jesus in worship and liturgy