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WHEN WAS JESUS BORN?: M. M. NINAN<br />
grace began with the Incarnation of Christ. It <strong>was</strong> only later that he<br />
decided on January 1.<br />
Even today the Feast of the Annunciation is one of the twelve Great<br />
Feasts of the church year and is fixed as March 25. As the action<br />
initiating the Incarnation of Christ, Annunciation has such an important<br />
place in Eastern theology that the Festal Divine Liturgy of St. John<br />
Chrysostom is always celebrated on March 25, regardless of what day<br />
it falls on.<br />
Eastern Orthodox national churches, including those of Russia,<br />
Georgia, Ukraine, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and the Greek<br />
Patriarchate of Jerusalem mark feasts using the older Julian Calendar.<br />
December 25 on that calendar currently corresponds to January 7 on the<br />
more widely used Gregorian calendar. However, other Orthodox<br />
Christians, such as the churches of Greece, Romania, Antioch,<br />
Alexandria, Albania, Finland and the Orthodox Church in America,<br />
among others, began using the Revised Julian Calendar in the early 20 th<br />
century, which corresponds exactly to the Gregorian Calendar. These<br />
Orthodox Churches celebrate Christmas on the same day as Western<br />
Christianity. Oriental Orthodox churches also use their own calendars,<br />
which are generally similar to the Julian calendar. The Armenian<br />
Apostolic Church celebrates the nativity in combination with the Feast<br />
of the Epiphany on January 6. 25 December of Julian year is 7<br />
January Gregorian calendar/<br />
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