Old Calendar v New Calendar

ufonium2 said:

Do you mean Old Calendar Orthodox aren't supposed to? Because I've been to a New Year's party at a priest's house, with several clergy from various jurisdictions in attendance.

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Well, by celebrate I mean break the fast. Sorry, I thought it was obvious. I would guess that in some cases OC priests grant economia.

Xpycoctomos said:

I plan to recognize Jan 7th in my household like others have mentioned (Ilian I think?) even though by then we are in Theophany, I believe. Will I go to hell for that?

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I might do that too, so at least you'll have company. Actually I celebrated Christmas twice last year, too. Last year the OC Christmas was on Saturday, this year it will be on Sunday, so it's very convenient, but from next year on it'll be more difficult to get to go to church on that day as it will be weekdays. But of course you can go to the vigil as I did last Monday on the OC St. Nicholas day.

rusmeister said:

Well, by celebrate I mean break the fast. Sorry, I thought it was obvious. I would guess that in some cases OC priests grant economia.

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I think her point was that if one is on the NC there is no fast to break. I might be mistaken though.... is there another fast then?

Xpycoctomos said:

I think her point was that if one is on the NC there is no fast to break. I might be mistaken though.... is there another fast then?

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Originally Posted by ufonium2

Do you mean Old Calendar Orthodox aren't supposed to? Because I've been to a New Year's party at a priest's house, with several clergy from various jurisdictions in attendance.

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She said, "Old Calendar Orthodox", for whom it would be fast-breaking.

rusmeister said:

She said, "Old Calendar Orthodox", for whom it would be fast-breaking.

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I think that Ufonium is on the NC (I coild be wrong). I took her post to mean that she was assuming you were ONLY referring to Old Calendar Orthodox SINCE she knows that this is at least NOT true in her NC experience. So, she wasn't trying to negate what you were saying, only to clarify what you were saying. But, perhaps Ufonium is OC... Ufonium, you there?

John

This brings up a question. I read on the Net that for Russians a HUGE holiday is New Years Eve with a lot of partying (a hold over fromt he communist era where they were no longer able to publicly recognize feast days... but New Years was allowed). Does it seem that most priests there allow dispensations for this day or do they expect their parishioners to forgo the partying (or at least the food and vodka etc) on that night sinc ethey are still in the Nativity fast until Jan 7th?

This question is geared towards russians or those who have lived there a long time.

John

Xpycoctomos said:

This brings up a question. I read on the Net that for Russians a HUGE holiday is New Years Eve with a lot of partying (a hold over fromt he communist era where they were no longer able to publicly recognize feast days... but New Years was allowed). Does it seem that most priests there allow dispensations for this day or do they expect their parishioners to forgo the partying (or at least the food and vodka etc) on that night sinc ethey are still in the Nativity fast until Jan 7th?

This question is geared towards russians or those who have lived there a long time.

John

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None of our Russophiles know?

John, you're right. I was asking if he meant specifically that Old Calendar Orthodox aren't supposed to party on New Year's, because New Year's is during the Nativity Fast if you're OC, or if he meant there was some Orthodox prohibition against celebrating New Year's in general. I thought maybe that because New Year's is an intentionally secular celebration in Russia, as you mentioned, that there was a ban on New Year's for that reason, and not because it happens to fall during a fast. So I was asking if the ban on New Year's that he's been told about was a calendar issue or a "we shouldn't do this because the soviets made it up to steal Christmas's thunder" deal.

ufonium2 said:

John, you're right. I was asking if he meant specifically that Old Calendar Orthodox aren't supposed to party on New Year's, because New Year's is during the Nativity Fast if you're OC, or if he meant there was some Orthodox prohibition against celebrating New Year's in general. I thought maybe that because New Year's is an intentionally secular celebration in Russia, as you mentioned, that there was a ban on New Year's for that reason, and not because it happens to fall during a fast. So I was asking if the ban on New Year's that he's been told about was a calendar issue or a "we shouldn't do this because the soviets made it up to steal Christmas's thunder" deal.

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That's a lot clearer!

Nope, no special ban on the New Year as such - it just winds up being conducted during the Nativity fast, and so people who celebrate (Moscow Patriarchate in Russia is OC) are de facto fast-breaking (if they eat, drink, etc.). This is where it is plain how the Bolsheviks really messed things up, by forcing the NC and shifting the heavy-duty celebrations to the New Year. New Year is the biggest holiday of the year for Russians, and even Orthodox Christians feel the intense pressure of the celebration of the New Year. Society shuts down (even though it's technically Dec 18th on the OC), schools close, businesses wind down as they do for Christmas for us in the West.

As to your question about dispensation, John, I have to say I don't know. I ask for dispensation to celebrate Dec 25th - that, for me, is the Biggee. It must be tough on the priests - they know that mass dispensations make a hash of the Nativity Fast.

If the Russian OC won't shift to NC, then I'd be happy for all of society to celebrate the New Year OC - on Jan 14th. The latter solution would be ideal (imo), as it would leave the commercialization and Grandfather Frost on the New Year, but Christmas would be first.
I like dreaming...

As it is, it's a big mess (as far as I'm concerned, at least).

The new year for the church is in September, so the civil new year doesn't have anything to do with the church anyway. The feast of the circumcision should be more prominent.

Our parish has a Russian New Year's party on around the 14th. This year it will be Saturday the 13th.

Ilian said:

The new year for the church is in September, so the civil new year doesn't have anything to do with the church anyway. The feast of the circumcision should be more prominent.

Our parish has a Russian New Year's party on around the 14th. This year it will be Saturday the 13th.

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yeah, but we aren't talking about that.