Christmas on January 7

  A couple of days ago, I asked everyone to pray for a Christmas truce.  I'm amending the length of the truce.  Remember a little while ago I blogged about the Julian and Gregorian calendars?  Well, the Russian Orthodox follow the Julian calendar, whereas, we follow the Gregorian.  Hence, the Russians wouldn't be celebrating Christmas on December 25.  Their Christmas is January 7 and their Christmas season would run until the Baptism on Jesus on January 19.  

Actually, this is better because the truce would be extended.  Let us pray for a Christmas Truce from Dec. 25 through January 19.  (Hoping for the war to never start up again.)

Consecration of the Altar & Liturgy at Holy Virgin Protection Church

Interesting. This is the Russian Orthodox Church's ceremony to consecrate an altar.  The altar is washed with wine and rose water.  It is sprinkled with Holy Water and anointed with Holy Chrism.

Understanding with Love

Image: Vasily Ivanovich Surikov, Boyarina Morozova
 The image above represents the arrest of Morozova, an influential member of the Russian Orthodox sect, the Old Believers, who broke off from mainline Orthodoxy in the seventeenth century over certain small points of popular and liturgical piety, most notably making the sign of the cross with two fingers rather than three. The still-extant Old Believer schism points to the need to understand cultural incarnations of faith, in all their power and complexity.

May God preserve us from counting the number of angels on a pin.  I mean making mountains out of molehills, losing sight of what's important, due to the peripheral exuberance.  Lord have mercy.

The above image captivated my attention.  I "googled" it and read about the dispute that caused split between the Old Believers and the accepted Russian Orthodox Church.

What a shame that Christians can't practice what Christ taught them.  I guess they could if they could agree on what Christ taught.  The devil is alive and well, isn't he?  

St. Michael the Archangel help us.