I thought it might be interesting to write a little about the winter holiday season in Georgia. Georgia is not a Western country. (Though the modern West is, unfortunately, creeping into the mentality--a sign of the times, the "spirit of the age," to quote St. Seraphim of Platina (yes, I know he's uncanonized as of yet); the last Orthodox countries are falling into schismatic, universalist, pluralist, and even atheist mentalities just like the rest of the world has--and though only the most honest Georgians would admit to this being present in Georgia, many of the more Church-conscientious see the dangers in this freely-accepted modernism, in the name of "progress.") As such, its traditions are very different from what the average Westerner is used to.
First of all, the Georgian Church is on the Old (Julian) Calendar, as are many (though not all) other Orthodox patriarchates, meaning that Christmas comes 13 days later, on December 25 Old Calendar, Jauary 7 New (Gregorian) Calendar. But Christmas is also celebrated very differently. Yes, on TV you still see some wintertime celebrations and carols, but a lot of it is Georgian folk or otherwise secular songs (sometimes also Georgian chant) and dances and so forth, which you wouldn't be able to understand except vaguely (they do sing some Western Christmas carols and secular Christmas songs, but it's not the majority). But if you don't like to spend a lot of time glued to the TV, Christmas can really sneak up on you (assuming you're not an Orthodox Christian--i.e., going to Church, following the fast, et cetera). Cities do a little winter decorating, and a few families get Christmas trees (or a few branches nailed to the wall and decorated, as in my family--quite funny, I must say, and I would have probably laughed a good bit when I first saw it in the house, if I didn't think it could have hurt the family's feelings), but they're not really that common (and generally, unfortunately quite artificial and tacky, I could note). They don't give gifts at Christmas, or on any other holidays [excluding birthdays, but even then it's usually smaller gifts than we do in America, and certainly isn't one of the more major parts; the celebration is all in the supra], but instead celebrate with supras--a really wonderful tradition, as supras aren't just feasts in terms of food or drink, but are occasions for people to really come together and to speak from the heart, about each other and all other things that really matter. I can't fully explain what separates the supra (or any time Georgians drink a little wine together) from the Western feast, but it's marked.
Not being bogged down with all the secular fluff makes the time approaching Christmas truly peaceful, and at least for me, it helped bring my mind to the true occasion for the celebration--the humility of God, and his quiet and, by most living at the time, unnoticed, entrance into the world in the flesh, restoring our fallen nature in so doing, in His mercy. From the Gerontikon:
A brother consulted an Elder, saying, "What am I to do, for I am afflicted by pride?" The
Elder said to him: "You do well, for you created Heaven and earth." Moved to compunction
at this, the brother made a prostration, saying: "Forgive me, for I have done nothing of the
kind." The Elder replied: "If He Who created these things came in humility, why are you, who
are mere clay, vainglorious? What work do you have to boast about, you pitiful man?"
This is the true reason for the season: the only one who can come in glory of His own right came instead in lowliness befitting a creature--what a Mystery, strange to angels and the minds of men! And how difficult to see amidst the secular distractions in modern Western society, a society which encourages a "treat yourself--you deserve it" mentality at nearly all times, and which in arrogance of its own thought philosophized away the Creator of this very mind; a society which does not allow anything public to even reference God in a simple "Merry Christmas," let alone offer true homage to Him, in order "not to offend." Forgive me my ranting, but I tire of the Western pride in one's own mind as the ultimate criterion of all things--and which I am still trying to escape in my own self, and certainly am not yet completely free from.
No, in Georgia, we Orthodox, rather than feasting before Christmas, deny ourselves a little, that we may realize how weak we are, that we may turn to humility and realize we depend on God for everything--trying to cut off our own fallen wills in deference to His perfect Will--and as such see this great Mystery of His Incarnation in light of humility (realizing, all the while, that He will come again in His Glory). On Christmas Eve, we go to the Church and chant in great joy for four or five hours and eat the very Flesh and Blood He took on in the womb of his most-pure mother, and we glorify the majesty of He who is King of all, came as a servant to all, and was born in a manger in a cave with ox and ass. The following day, we gather at the Church and sing our Christmas praises as we process through the vilages or cities. And in the days to come, people come together in warmth over the feast of the supra to praise His Incarnation--dideba upals!
Christmas lasts seven days in the Orthodox Church; the eighth is His circumcision (see Lk 2:21), His fulfilment of the covenant given to Abraham and to us sinners, from which He was exempt but deigned to partake of, so as to fulfil it for us and free us, in Him, from it. The next day, we begin the forefeast of Theophany (in the West, more commonly known as Epiphany), the Baptism of Christ, which is celebrated on January 6 (in Old Calendar countries, this is January 19 by the world's reconing). It is a wonderful, joyous season.
Now, there's also New Year's to throw into the mix. This is problematic, because for Orthodox, New Year's is September 1 (on whichever calendar; i.e., in Georgia, this is September 14 on the world's calendar), as it always was in the ancient world, with the bringing in of the harvest--we still see a few remnants of this even in today's secular world; for example, when school starts every year, and other such things. Now, you can't really celebrate New Year's more than once in a year--it just doesn't make sense--but many Georgians celebrate it two, if not three times! First there's the secular world's New Year's Day, January 1. If we truly agree with the Church and celebrate according to its Calendar (knowing that nothing in the Church is done without reason), then this should be enough of a reason for us not to celebrate it on this date. Further, not only is its celebration at this time of secular origin (from Roman pagan celebrations), it also really throws off the fast, and indeed in the last week thereof (in which it gets a little stricter and more intense)! Next there's January 1 on the Old Calendar--i.e., January 14 in the Gregorian. This is the one that really makes no sense to celebrate, as only the Church uses the Old Calendar, and the Church has never had anything to do with a New Year's any other time than in the fall. Yet, many Georgians celebrate this as well (if you but turn on the TV on the eve thereof, you'll see celebrations of it all over the place). The more conscientious Georgians agree that we cannot celebrate New Year's on this date (and though I can't speak to the former January 1, as I was travelling at the time and couldn't obserce how or if it is celebrated by the more Church-minded, I would imagine it's much the same with it). Yet, of course, the world searches for every opportunity to feast (i.e., in mammon, not in piety; for there are many types of "feast"), clutching it, saying, "eat and drink, for tomorrow we die" (although in our world, commonly and conveniently forgetting that latter part, obvious as it is).
All in all, the season is what one makes it here. If one wants to turn off the TV, fast, and go to Church, it's a beautiful, peaceful, and humbling season. If one wants distractions, he has plenty of new TV specials, and all the more opportunities to eat and drink all the more, and to sleep to his heart's content. God deliver each of us from the mentality of the latter--there's still a bit of the old man left in each of us. Let us take him off, and put on the New, born to us, as we are, in this, the season of His Incarnation.
First of all, the Georgian Church is on the Old (Julian) Calendar, as are many (though not all) other Orthodox patriarchates, meaning that Christmas comes 13 days later, on December 25 Old Calendar, Jauary 7 New (Gregorian) Calendar. But Christmas is also celebrated very differently. Yes, on TV you still see some wintertime celebrations and carols, but a lot of it is Georgian folk or otherwise secular songs (sometimes also Georgian chant) and dances and so forth, which you wouldn't be able to understand except vaguely (they do sing some Western Christmas carols and secular Christmas songs, but it's not the majority). But if you don't like to spend a lot of time glued to the TV, Christmas can really sneak up on you (assuming you're not an Orthodox Christian--i.e., going to Church, following the fast, et cetera). Cities do a little winter decorating, and a few families get Christmas trees (or a few branches nailed to the wall and decorated, as in my family--quite funny, I must say, and I would have probably laughed a good bit when I first saw it in the house, if I didn't think it could have hurt the family's feelings), but they're not really that common (and generally, unfortunately quite artificial and tacky, I could note). They don't give gifts at Christmas, or on any other holidays [excluding birthdays, but even then it's usually smaller gifts than we do in America, and certainly isn't one of the more major parts; the celebration is all in the supra], but instead celebrate with supras--a really wonderful tradition, as supras aren't just feasts in terms of food or drink, but are occasions for people to really come together and to speak from the heart, about each other and all other things that really matter. I can't fully explain what separates the supra (or any time Georgians drink a little wine together) from the Western feast, but it's marked.
Not being bogged down with all the secular fluff makes the time approaching Christmas truly peaceful, and at least for me, it helped bring my mind to the true occasion for the celebration--the humility of God, and his quiet and, by most living at the time, unnoticed, entrance into the world in the flesh, restoring our fallen nature in so doing, in His mercy. From the Gerontikon:
A brother consulted an Elder, saying, "What am I to do, for I am afflicted by pride?" The
Elder said to him: "You do well, for you created Heaven and earth." Moved to compunction
at this, the brother made a prostration, saying: "Forgive me, for I have done nothing of the
kind." The Elder replied: "If He Who created these things came in humility, why are you, who
are mere clay, vainglorious? What work do you have to boast about, you pitiful man?"
This is the true reason for the season: the only one who can come in glory of His own right came instead in lowliness befitting a creature--what a Mystery, strange to angels and the minds of men! And how difficult to see amidst the secular distractions in modern Western society, a society which encourages a "treat yourself--you deserve it" mentality at nearly all times, and which in arrogance of its own thought philosophized away the Creator of this very mind; a society which does not allow anything public to even reference God in a simple "Merry Christmas," let alone offer true homage to Him, in order "not to offend." Forgive me my ranting, but I tire of the Western pride in one's own mind as the ultimate criterion of all things--and which I am still trying to escape in my own self, and certainly am not yet completely free from.
No, in Georgia, we Orthodox, rather than feasting before Christmas, deny ourselves a little, that we may realize how weak we are, that we may turn to humility and realize we depend on God for everything--trying to cut off our own fallen wills in deference to His perfect Will--and as such see this great Mystery of His Incarnation in light of humility (realizing, all the while, that He will come again in His Glory). On Christmas Eve, we go to the Church and chant in great joy for four or five hours and eat the very Flesh and Blood He took on in the womb of his most-pure mother, and we glorify the majesty of He who is King of all, came as a servant to all, and was born in a manger in a cave with ox and ass. The following day, we gather at the Church and sing our Christmas praises as we process through the vilages or cities. And in the days to come, people come together in warmth over the feast of the supra to praise His Incarnation--dideba upals!
Christmas lasts seven days in the Orthodox Church; the eighth is His circumcision (see Lk 2:21), His fulfilment of the covenant given to Abraham and to us sinners, from which He was exempt but deigned to partake of, so as to fulfil it for us and free us, in Him, from it. The next day, we begin the forefeast of Theophany (in the West, more commonly known as Epiphany), the Baptism of Christ, which is celebrated on January 6 (in Old Calendar countries, this is January 19 by the world's reconing). It is a wonderful, joyous season.
Now, there's also New Year's to throw into the mix. This is problematic, because for Orthodox, New Year's is September 1 (on whichever calendar; i.e., in Georgia, this is September 14 on the world's calendar), as it always was in the ancient world, with the bringing in of the harvest--we still see a few remnants of this even in today's secular world; for example, when school starts every year, and other such things. Now, you can't really celebrate New Year's more than once in a year--it just doesn't make sense--but many Georgians celebrate it two, if not three times! First there's the secular world's New Year's Day, January 1. If we truly agree with the Church and celebrate according to its Calendar (knowing that nothing in the Church is done without reason), then this should be enough of a reason for us not to celebrate it on this date. Further, not only is its celebration at this time of secular origin (from Roman pagan celebrations), it also really throws off the fast, and indeed in the last week thereof (in which it gets a little stricter and more intense)! Next there's January 1 on the Old Calendar--i.e., January 14 in the Gregorian. This is the one that really makes no sense to celebrate, as only the Church uses the Old Calendar, and the Church has never had anything to do with a New Year's any other time than in the fall. Yet, many Georgians celebrate this as well (if you but turn on the TV on the eve thereof, you'll see celebrations of it all over the place). The more conscientious Georgians agree that we cannot celebrate New Year's on this date (and though I can't speak to the former January 1, as I was travelling at the time and couldn't obserce how or if it is celebrated by the more Church-minded, I would imagine it's much the same with it). Yet, of course, the world searches for every opportunity to feast (i.e., in mammon, not in piety; for there are many types of "feast"), clutching it, saying, "eat and drink, for tomorrow we die" (although in our world, commonly and conveniently forgetting that latter part, obvious as it is).
All in all, the season is what one makes it here. If one wants to turn off the TV, fast, and go to Church, it's a beautiful, peaceful, and humbling season. If one wants distractions, he has plenty of new TV specials, and all the more opportunities to eat and drink all the more, and to sleep to his heart's content. God deliver each of us from the mentality of the latter--there's still a bit of the old man left in each of us. Let us take him off, and put on the New, born to us, as we are, in this, the season of His Incarnation.
In Christ,
Teopile/Theophilos Porter
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