Saint Nicholas of Myra looks out from the window of the Grandfather Frost Christmas store in downtown Sitka. St. Michael’s Cathedral — the seat of Orthodox Christianity in Alaska — is in the reflection. (KCAW photo/Robert Woolsey)
The Feast of the Nativity (or “Russian Christmas,” as it is commonly called) is celebrated throughout the Orthodox Church in America on January 7. But it’s not as if Eastern and Western Christianity couldn’t agree on the date to celebrate the Nativity. Much of Orthodox Christianity observes the Julian calendar, which is 13 days behind the Gregorian calendar. So in Sitka — as in many Alaska communities with Orthodox congregations — almost two weeks after many people have been eating turkey leftovers and writing thank you letters, December 25 rolls around for a second time!
