How Many Days Until Orthodox Christmas 2027?
Counting down to Orthodox Christmas 2027 on Thursday, January 7, 2027, in your local timezone.
Orthodox Christmas falls on Thursday, January 7, 2027. For hundreds of millions of Orthodox Christians in Russia, Ukraine, Serbia, Ethiopia, Egypt, Georgia and beyond, this is Christmas Day, celebrated 13 days after December 25 with midnight liturgies, festive meals and traditions far older than most of what fills a Western December.
Why January 7?
It is the same holiday on a different calendar. In 1582 the Gregorian calendar corrected a drift in the older Julian calendar, and most of the world eventually switched. Several Orthodox churches did not. Their liturgical December 25 still runs on Julian time, which currently sits 13 days behind the everyday calendar, landing on January 7. Nobody moved Christmas; the calendar moved underneath it. In 2100 the gap widens to 14 days, and Julian calendar Christmas will drift to January 8.
Who celebrates when
- January 7: Russian, Serbian, Georgian, Ethiopian, Egyptian (Coptic) and Jerusalem churches, plus much of Ukraine historically.
- December 25: Greek, Romanian, Bulgarian and most other Orthodox churches, which adopted a revised calendar in the 20th century.
- Both: plenty of families in diaspora communities simply celebrate twice, which children universally endorse.
How it is celebrated
The season opens with a 40 day nativity fast. Christmas Eve, January 6, centers on a meatless supper; in Slavic tradition it has twelve dishes, one for each apostle, beginning when the first star appears. Midnight liturgy follows, and January 7 itself is for feasting: roast goose or pork, kutia, and days of visiting. Gifts, where exchanged, often arrive on New Year’s Eve from Ded Moroz, Grandfather Frost, rather than on Christmas itself.
The last stop of the long season
January 7 is the final major celebration of the extended holiday calendar: 13 days after Western Christmas, 6 days after New Year, and the morning after Epiphany. The whole run is mapped on our December holiday countdown hub, and our post on what day Christmas falls each year covers the Western calendar side of the story.
Planning ahead? Browse every key Christmas date, use the Christmas planning guides, or watch the live Christmas countdown.