Who celebrates Christmas in January?

[goddessmum]

Some people who rent a house near us have just put up a Christmas tree, I think they are Polish. Do some nationalities/religions celebrate Christmas in January?

[dannydingbat]

"Armenian Christmas," as it is popularly called, is a culmination of celebrations of events related to Christ's Incarnation. Theophany or Epiphany (or Astvadz-a-haytnootyoon in Armenian) means "revelation of God," which is the central theme of the Christmas Season in the Armenian Church. During the "Armenian Christmas" season, the major events that are celebrated are the Nativity of Christ in Bethlehem and His Baptism in the River Jordan. The day of this major feast in the rmenian Church is January 6th. A ceremony called �Blessing of Water� is conducted in the Armenian Church to commemorate Christ�s Baptism.

It is frequently asked as to why Armenians do not celebrate Christmas on December 25th with the rest of the world. Simply, the exact date of Christ's birth has not been historically established, it is not recorded in the Gospels. However, historically, all Christian churches celebrated Christ's birth on January 6th until the fourth century. According to Roman Catholic sources, the date was changed from January 6th to December 25th in order to override a pagan feast dedicated to the birth of the Sun which was celebrated on December 25th. At the time Christians used to continue their observance of these pagan festivities. In
order to subdue this pagan practice, the church hierarchy designated December 25th as the official date of Christmas and January 6th as the feast of Epiphany. However, Armenia was not effected by this change for the simple fact that there were no such pagan practices in Armenia, on that date, and the fact that the Armenian Church was not a satellite of the Roman Church. Thus, remaining faithful to the traditions of their forefathers, Armenians have continued to celebrate Christmas on January 6th until today.
In the Holy Land: it is January 18th as the Orthodox churches use the old calendar (which has a difference of twelve days) to determine the date of the religious feasts.

[spudqueen]

I think that the Russian Orthodox Church did not agree to the calender change when it happened about 300 years ago, that is why they celebrate Christmas on what is our January 6th, it is still their December 25th. Seems a bit late to be putting up a Christmas tree now though, maybe they're getting ready early for next Christmas!

[Grunty]

spudqueen - the Gregorian calendar was adopted at different times in each country. England changed in 1752, when eleven days were omitted to bring us into line. Russia changed in 1917, by which time Christmas was well established. Soon after that, Christmas was 'discouraged' by the Bolshevik government.

[breddan]

I can't begin to imagine why someone is putting up a christmas tree on 22nd January.

If they are Polish, it's a fair chance that they are Russian Orthodox in which case their Christmas day would have been on the 7th Jan (not the 6th as stated in an earlier answer)

Why not pop in and say hello and wish them a happy Christmas and then you can pop back here and tell us all exactly who they are and why they are erecting a tree at this time.

[goddessmum]

I did think about that, but we hardly ever see them, they are out at 7.30am and not back until 9.30pm!