January is a special month in the life of an Orthodox Christian. It was at this time that one of the greatest feasts of the Lord was celebrated in the Church. In addition to the Nativity of Christ and Baptism, there are other memorable dates in the Orthodox calendar under the January numbers.
One of the greatest holidays of the entire Christian Church, the Nativity of Christ, is celebrated in Russia on January 7th. The service is performed on the night of January 6th to 7th in every Orthodox church. The service has a special solemnity, the congratulations of the ruling bishop and the patriarch are read to the believers. The celebration of the Nativity of Christ in the Church is carried out until the beginning of the Epiphany Christmas Eve (January 18). The days of the celebration of the Nativity of Christ are popularly called Christmas time. The feast of the Nativity of Christ is twentieth (it is one of the 12 major Christian celebrations).
On January 14, the Church celebrates another holiday - the Circumcision of the Lord and the memory of St. Basil the Great. On the eighth day after the birth (according to Jewish law), the baby Jesus was brought to the Jerusalem temple and circumcised. In this the Church sees that Christ not only introduced a new law of love to people, but during his life did not reject the old law.
St. Basil the Great is known as a great teacher and saint of the Christian Church, who lived in the IV century. Basil the Great wrote many prayers, is known as the author of theological, liturgical texts. He composed the rite of a special liturgy named after him.
The second great twelfth church feast in January is the Epiphany. It is celebrated on January 19th. On this day, believing Christians are especially eager for temples to get real holy baptismal water. In the event of the baptism of Christ, Jesus is observing the fulfillment of the old law. In addition, the Savior, entering the waters of the Jordan, sanctifies the water nature and shows an example of baptism to all those who recognize him as God. Otherwise, the feast of Baptism is called the Epiphany or Enlightenment.
In addition, in January there are other church holidays. So, on the day after Christmas, the Cathedral of the Virgin is celebrated (January 8), and on January 20 the Cathedral of John the Baptist is celebrated. These are days of special commemoration of the Virgin and the Prophet John the Baptist.
In addition, in January the Church celebrates the memory of St. Philip of Moscow (January 22), St. Theophan the Recluse (January 23), the martyr Tatiana and Sava Serbsky (January 25).
