Christmas eve begins for Russian Orthodox Christians
It’s Christmas Eve for Russian Orthodox Christians. They are ending a four-week fast during which they confessed and received the Communion. Church services commemorating the great event of Christ’s birth that ushered in a new era will be held on Sunday evening closer to midnight.
Patriarch Alexey II of Moscow and All Russia will conduct the main Christmas service at the Christ the Saviour’s Cathedral in Moscow. It will begin at 22:00 Moscow time and will end at 01:30 on January 7.
Unlike the previous years, the night services will be broadca
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st live by four federal channels. The two central channels will transmit the service from the Christ the Saviour’s Cathedral, the TVTS channel will show a service at the Moscow Monastery of the Meeting of the Lord. The fifth channel will broadcast live from the Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg.
In his Christmas message Patriarch Alexey II urged all the Christians to bestow a gift in response to God’s love, i.e “ardent and forceful love for each other and for all the people around us.”
Alexey II recalled that 2008 had been announced a Year of Family in Russia. “Happiness and the plentitude of everyday life are in love, mutual responsibility and readiness to devote your life to those who love.”
According to an opinion poll conducted by the analytical centre of Yuri Levada, 67% of the respondents said they would celebrate Christmas this year. In 2007, 69% replied they would mark Christmas compared to 60% two years before.
It’s Christmas Eve for Russian Orthodox Christians. They are ending a four-week fast during which they confessed and received the Communion. Church services commemorating the great event of Christ’s birth that ushered in a new era will be held on Sunday evening closer to midnight.
