Via ruslovo.blogspot.com
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| 17th century Christmas card |
During the Soviet era, religious celebrations were discouraged by the officially atheist state. As a result,Christmas celebrations in Russia were not common as in Western countries. Instead, emphasis was shifted to the secular New Year celebration. In the Russian Orthodox Church, Christmas is celebrated on the January 7 (or strictly speaking, December 25 on the Julian Calendar, which is now 13 days behind the internationally used Gregorian Calendar). The tradition of celebrating Christmas has been revived since 1992, after decades of suppression by the Communist government. It is now a national holiday and increasingly important, but many Russians continue to focus on the New Year's celebration.
