******MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!

Today is Old Calendar Christmas... so Christmas in Serbia, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Palestine, Egypt, and Ethiopia. And I REALLY wish I were in one of the those countries!!!!!! Don't ask why Greeks, Bulgarians, and Romanians use the Gregorian Calendar... I wish we didn't.


I suppose if I were a bit more dedicated, I could have gone to the Russian Church here in London.. but being so close to Russia (relatively), I would LOVE to experience it. How much fun do these guys look like they're having?




Not to mention, look at Vlad celebrating Christmas in Siberia (and who knew there were Orthodox who looked that Asian!):




This is GUM department store... it was the premier store in all of the USSR. I don't think anyone would imagine that it would ever be decorated for Christmas!!! But sometimes history does offer some restitution to the injured... or miracles do happen... I agree with both sentiments:



In Serbia they communally break Christmas bread (with a gold coin hidden inside much like we have on St. Basil's/New Year's day):




They also burn a yule log, which most Orthodox don't do... as it's a pagan tradition. But so what? Can't those things be accommodated within a Christian framework?




This picture is kind of sad... but a bit heartening too. It is a church that was firebombed in Kosovo: