Orange County Register newspaper article on Orthodox "Nativity"

[Jacob4707]

http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/news/columns/article_1537054.php

I never knew about the "straw on the floors" thing.

[Nickolai]

:doh: Why would the article state "In 1925, some Orthodox churches adopted the Gregorian calendar" if it was written by an Orthodox Priest. There is no Orthodox Church on the Gregorian calender.

[Ilian]

We put the straw on the dinner table.

Regarding the calender, the autonomous Church of Finland is completely on the Gregorian calendar for both fixed and movable feasts. The "Revised Julian" calendar is the Gregorian for all intensive purposes. I doubt the priest would feel the need to go in to an explanation of that in the newspaper article.

[Nickolai]

Well, As the gregorian calender has several anathemas against it, I dislike it when I'm told that my Church uses it.

[Ilian]

The "Revised Julian" and Gregorian calendars don't deviate from each other for something like 7,000 years. To say they're different in my opinion is just hair splitting. They are effectively the same calendar.

I don't jump up and down about the issue, but I think the adandonment of the church calendar was a tragic mistake.

[Nickolai]

They start to deviate in 2800, which I agree is a long time. I just don't like when an Orthodox Priest writes something so wrong. It wouldn't have taken any more effort to say "In 1925, some Orthodox churches adopted an adapted form of the Julian Calender that made Nativity fall on Dec 25th on the secular calender".

I'm sorry if this seems like splitting hairs, but this is just flat out misinformation.

[MariaRegina]

I believe that the priest was correct because all the feastdays that are not associated with the movable feast of Pascha are affected, including the Apostles' Fast.

This year we have a common date of Pascha and so the Apostles' Fast lasts almost the entire month of June for those on the New Calendar, but a month plus two extra weeks for the Old Calendarists. But sometimes we who use the Gregorian Calendar for Christmas only fast one day while those on the Julian Calendar fast for 14 days.

Check it out. Those on the Julian Calendar always fast 13 days longer for the Apostles' Fast. And that can add up to more than a month of fasting for those who follow the Old Calendar ... and then we inadvertently taunt them with foods that they are not supposed to be eating. Isn't that called an unknown sin. And aren't we responsible for causing our Old Calendar brothers and sisters to sin?

[MariaRegina]

I agree, even though I am on the New Calendar. We should all be celebrating the Nativity on a common date and the majority of Orthodoxy celebrates Nativity on January 7.

[Jacob4707]

They start to deviate in 2800, which I agree is a long time. I just don't like when an Orthodox Priest writes something so wrong. It wouldn't have taken any more effort to say "In 1925, some Orthodox churches adopted an adapted form of the Julian Calender that made Nativity fall on Dec 25th on the secular calender".

I'm sorry if this seems like splitting hairs, but this is just flat out misinformation.

Well, you could call or write him, or send him an email expressing your concerns:

http://www.westsrbdio.org/info/showarticle.php?article=church_orange

Nativity of Most Holy Theotokos Serbian Orthodox Parish
2148 Michelson Drive, Irvine, CA 92612
tel.(949) 830-5480

Rev. Blasko Paraklis E-mail: FrParaklis@aol.com (FrParaklis@aol.com)
24236 Olivera Dr., Mission Viejo, CA 92691
tel.(949)830-5480

[Oblio]

"In 1925, some Orthodox churches adopted an adapted form of the Julian Calender that made Nativity fall on Dec 25th on the secular calender".


24 words


Gregorian calendar

2 words


A order of magnitude different. Word count is precious in newspaper articles. IMO, the importance of brevity in order to get the EO message out to the teeming millions of heterodox far surpasses being nitpicky about the vagaries of our calendar 'issues' which 99.9% of the target readership neither understands, nor cares about. YMMV