While many of us in the UK associate Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with December 24 and 25, it's a very different story for Orthodox Christians.
The Orthodox Church, sometimes called the Eastern Orthodox Church, operates on the Julian Calendar which differs slightly from the Gregorian Calendar used by many western Churches such as the Roman Catholics and the Church of England. Because of this, many of the Orthodox Church's religious holidays and Saints' days are celebrated at different times of the year than those usually seen in the west.
With its own distinct traditions, celebrations, and beliefs, the Orthodox Church is the second-largest Christian Church in the world behind the Roman Catholic Church. Some of the countries most commonly associated with the Orthodox Church include Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Macedonia, and Moldova.
