From Russia with blogs | Christmas

Joyous holiday, celebration or supermarket?

It is nearly Christmas.  People in St. Petersburg [Russia] can be seen practicing their various traditions and customs.  Western and Orthodox beliefs stand equal during this season; people celebrate Christmas on December 25th as well as January 7th. As a result, everything blends into a long holiday season filled with Christmas trees, oranges, champagne and dinners.

According to the Orthodox calendar Christmas happens to fall after New Year’s, on January 7th.  Under the rule of the Soviet Union, all Christmas celebrations were grouped together with New Year’s celebrations.  Instead of an angel, a Kremlin star was placed on the tree.  For a long time, Christmas was sustained only in private, family celebrations.  I remember Christmas celebrations at my grandmother’s house, but I do not recall hearing anyone speaking of Christ during that time.  This day was meant for going to other people’s houses to celebrate by exchanging gifts.

After the USSR fell apart, Christmas slowly began to return to people’s lives - however, most did not know what they were celebrating; they were simply following whatever was going on around them.  To this day, it is impossible to get a true explanation behind Christmas anywhere but in a church, and not just any church at that.  In spite of this, everyone gets a holiday, which could be why people so readily accepted this excuse to celebrate.  It’s always better to rest instead of work.

So now is the Russian holiday season - that means Christmas trees, presents, corporate get-togethers, alcohol and holiday cards.  It’s impossible to astonish anyone with a holiday card that reads “Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year,” and yet, the majority of the population has no idea why Christmas is even celebrated.  As a result of a heathen past, it was very common in Russia to find people practicing various methods of fortune-telling during Christmas.  Today, books on how to predict your future during the holidays can be found next to greeting cards and all the presents.

So what does Christmas mean for most of the people in Russia?  For those that are involved in some type of business, it’s a busy and profitable season, especially for alcohol sales and any product that can be wrapped as a gift.  For most Russians, it is impossible to celebrate without alcohol.  A household has to be prepared to receive guests with alcoholic beverages and a full dinner table.  Therefore, the host has to spend money on the guest and the guest has to spend money on the host.  Santa Claus and Grandfather Frost (the Russian version of Santa) play lead roles during this season in one form or another.  Well, maybe angels play some part as well.  Not Jesus Christ, mind you, but angels.  They are also commercialized figures of Christmas.

What does Christmas means for the average citizen?  It’s simply another day off. It makes absolutely no difference who was born that day.  The most important thing is that there’s no work.

Naturally, there are Orthodox Christmas services that take place during this time.  Unfortunately, even there a lot of things have become commercialized.

For children, Christmas is just an excuse to extend the celebrations that take place during New Year’s.  There are more presents - and therefore, more joy.  Whether Santa, Grandfather Frost, or Jesus drops off those presents makes absolutely no difference, just as long as there are lots of them.

A small minority of people actually remember what is important during this time.  They remember the virgin Mary who conceived from the Holy Spirit and gave birth to the Saviour.  He was the one that took upon him the sins of the whole world.  The thought of sins does not really mix well with the joyous mood of the season, the celebrations or the alcohol, which is why nobody really speaks of it.  As a result, the true meaning of Christmas is not spoken of either.  This is why we tend to just say “Merry Christmas,” forgetting that in reality everything was not that merry.  Bread, shepherds, a young family, angels - and above all that, God’s promise.

“See, a virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and they will name him Immanuel,” which means, “God with us.” (Matthew 1:23)

Writer: Captain Vadim Khurin was born into a family of circus artists. He joined The Salvation Army in 1995 and is now an officer serving in St. Petersburg, Russia. He loves music, sports, reading and learning. He has a beautiful wife - Inna - and three children. He likes to ask hard questions and find different ways of helping people get back their wholeness and integrity.

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