When is Christmas in 2026, for the main churches?
For most Christians, Christmas is December 25. That includes the Orthodox churches that follow the revised calendar, such as the churches of Greece, Cyprus and Romania.
Orthodox churches that keep the old Julian calendar, such as the Russian Orthodox Church and the Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem, celebrate on December 25 too, but on their own calendar’s December 25. The Julian calendar today runs 13 days behind the calendar most of the world uses, so their Christmas falls on January 7.
The Coptic Orthodox Church of Egypt keeps Christmas on the 29th of its month of Kiahk, and the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church keeps Genna on Tahsas 29. This season, both fall on January 7.
In the Armenian Apostolic Church, Christmas comes on January 6, and one feast honors both Jesus’ birth and his baptism; the evening before, its churches hold the Jrakalouyts, the lamp-lighting service. In Jerusalem, the Armenian Patriarchate still keeps the old calendar, so its Christmas falls on January 19.
The dates of the Christmas season
From the start of Advent to Candlemas: the days we have checked, the date each one falls on and who keeps it.
| The day | Date | Who keeps it |
|---|---|---|
| Advent begins | Western churches (the Sunday on or nearest to November 30) | |
| Hanukkah begins at sundown | Jewish families everywhere (eight nights, to nightfall on December 12) | |
| Saint Nicholas’s Eve | families in many countries, who set out shoes for Saint Nicholas | |
| Last day to send letters to Santa through USPS Operation Santa | the US Postal Service’s Operation Santa (letters must be postmarked by this date) | |
| Saint Nicholas Day | churches on the Gregorian and revised calendars, and families in many countries | |
| Last day to send letters to Santa through Canada Post | Canada Post’s Santa letter program (Santa Claus, North Pole, H0H 0H0) | |
| Saint Lucia’s Day | Sweden | |
| Las Posadas begin (nine nights, to December 24) | Mexico | |
| Simbang Gabi begins (nine Masses, by tradition at dawn, to December 24) | the Philippines | |
| Saint Nicholas Day (old calendar) | churches that follow the Julian calendar | |
| Christmas Eve (Nochebuena) | churches and families that keep Christmas on December 25; the main celebration in many countries | |
| Christmas Day | most Christians, including the Orthodox churches on the revised calendar | |
| Epiphany (Catholic Church in the United States) | Catholics in the United States, who keep the Epiphany on the Sunday after January 1 | |
| Twelfth Night | counted from Christmas Day, the eve of the Epiphany | |
| Armenian Christmas Eve (Jrakalouyts, the lamp-lighting service) | the Armenian Apostolic Church | |
| Epiphany, Three Kings’ Day (Día de Reyes) | Western churches; the Three Kings bring presents in Mexico and La Befana in Italy | |
| Armenian Christmas, the Nativity and Theophany | the Armenian Apostolic Church (Jerusalem’s Armenian Patriarchate keeps it on January 19) | |
| Christmas on the old (Julian) calendar | the Orthodox churches that keep the old calendar, such as the Russian and Polish churches and the Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem | |
| Genna, Ethiopian Christmas | the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church (Tahsas 29) | |
| Coptic Christmas (29 Kiahk) | the Coptic Orthodox Church of Egypt | |
| Armenian Christmas Eve in Jerusalem (procession to Bethlehem) | the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem, on the old calendar | |
| Armenian Christmas in Jerusalem | the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem, on the old calendar | |
| Theophany, Christ’s baptism (old calendar) | the Orthodox churches that keep the old calendar, such as the Russian church | |
| Candlemas (Día de la Candelaria) | churches that keep the forty days of Christmas; tamales in Mexico |
Why are there different dates?
It comes down to calendars. In 1582 Pope Gregory XIII brought in a corrected calendar, the Gregorian calendar, which most of the world uses today. The Orthodox churches did not follow the Pope’s reform and kept the older Julian calendar.
In 1923 Orthodox church leaders met in Constantinople, where a revised calendar was proposed whose dates match the Gregorian one. Several Orthodox churches took it up, and they celebrate on December 25. Others kept the old calendar, and celebrate on its December 25, which is January 7 on the calendar most of us use.
More to read
Where our facts come from
- Orthodox Church in America, "Lives of the Saints", December 25, 2026, Page date heading "Friday, December 25, 2026"; the feast "The Nativity of our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ"
- Erin Blakemore, "Why some people celebrate Christmas in January", National Geographic, December 26, 2019 (updated December 30, 2022), Intro; section "Christianity's great calendar schism", paragraphs 1–4 (Pope Gregory XIII, 1582, the Gregorian calendar; the Orthodox Church rejected it and kept the Julian; "By 1923, there was a 13-day difference"); section "Resolving the Orthodox calendar crisis", paragraphs 1–4 (May 1923; the revised Julian calendar, which "shares its dates with the Gregorian calendar"; adopted by the churches of Greece, Cyprus and Romania, among others; others kept the Julian calendar and celebrate on January 7)
- Holy Trinity Russian Orthodox Church (a parish of the Moscow Patriarchate), "Fixed Great Feasts", List entry 1 ("January 7 – The Nativity of our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ")
- Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem, "Christmas Eve at the Patriarchate" (2019), Paragraph 1 ("On Monday, December 25, 2018/ January 7, 2019, the Patriarchate celebrated the feast of the Nativity … in Bethlehem")
- CopticChurch.net, "Synaxarium Kiahk 29" and "Readings for Thursday, January 7th" (2027), Synaxarium: title and entry 1 (the Feast of the Nativity, Christmas, on Kiahk 29); Readings: the page heading for January 7, 2027, marked "Christmas"
- Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, "Religious Holidays and Calendar: The Liturgical Year", Section "5. CHRISTMAS" (Liddet or Gena, 7th January, Tahsas 29)
- Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Church of America, "Armenian Christmas at St. Vartan Cathedral on Jan. 6, 2026", Heading "Armenian Christmas Eve (Jan. 5)" (the Jrakalouyts or lamp-lighting evening service); heading "Armenian Christmas (Jan. 6)" (the Feast of the Nativity and Theophany) and the paragraph after it (the birth of Christ and his baptism)
- Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, "Feast of the Epiphany in the Nativity Cathedral of Bethlehem", January 22, 2024, Caption (the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem "celebrates Christmas according to the old calendar, on January 19")