Russian orthodox Christmas celebrations begin

Church leaders, politicians and believers across the country began celebrations of Russian Orthodox Christmas on the eve of the holiday Friday, with President Vladimir Putin sending greetings to the faithful.

The head of the dominant Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Alexy II, urged good deeds in a message to the people before a late-night service at the massive, recently restored Christ the Savior Cathedral near the Kremlin.

Alexy, who also read a liturgy this morning at the cathedral, said he hoped people’s “hearts will be filled with joy because God is with us” and urged believers to “do something good for those close to us, with whom we walk the same path of life,” the ITAR-Tass news agency reported.

Christmas falls on January 7 for Orthodox Christians in the Holy Land, Russia and other Eastern Orthodox churches that use the old Julian calendar instead of the 16th-century Gregorian calendar adopted by Catholics and Protestants and commonly used in secular life around the world.

Putin, on a visit to the frigid Siberian city of Yakutsk, was shown on television taking in a Christmas show performed in part by indigenous people in the area, lighting a candle in a cathedral and walking outside the building after dark, bundled against the cold and conversing with a cleric.

In his message to Russians who celebrate Orthodox Christmas, Putin invoked a tradition of helping those who are need. He said the holiday “gives millions of Christians high spiritual joy and hope” and helps Russia develop.

“With every year the positive influence of Christmas celebrations on the constructive, creative and social activity of Russian citizens is felt more strongly,” he said, according to the Kremlin. “It is important for traditional moral values to be organically perceived by the younger generation.”

The Russian Orthodox Church, which claims two-thirds of the country’s population of 144 million as well as millions in neighbouring countries as followers, has enjoyed a major revival since the 1991 collapse of the Communist Soviet Union and has close ties with the state.

Putin praised Alexy in a separate message, saying Russians were grateful for his efforts “in the revival of historical and cultural traditions, in the patriotic upbringing of youth and in maintaining a healthy moral climate in society.”