Ethiopian and Orthodox Christmas

When: Usually January 7

Many Orthodox Christians keep Christmas on January 7, because their churches still use the older Julian calendar. In Ethiopia the day is called Genna. People fast, then go to church before dawn, dressed in white, and celebrate with a feast.

Where it came from

The Julian calendar was made in ancient Rome. Over the centuries it drifted from the real length of the year, so in the 1500s the Catholic Church introduced the Gregorian calendar, which most of the world uses now. Some churches did not change their church calendar. Today the older calendar runs 13 days behind, so December 25 on that calendar falls on January 7 on ours.

The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church is one of the oldest Christian churches in Africa. Christianity came to the kingdom of Aksum in the 300s. Ethiopia also has its own calendar, with Genna usually on January 7. Rock-hewn churches at Lalibela, carved from stone in the 1100s and 1200s, are among the most famous places to keep Genna.

How it is kept around the world

• The fast. Many Ethiopian Orthodox Christians keep a 43-day fast before Genna, eating no meat or dairy. Genna ends it.
• Dawn services. People walk to church before sunrise, wearing a white cotton shawl called a netela or shamma. The service is long, with chanting, drums and prayer.
• Lalibela. Thousands of pilgrims walk to Lalibela, to the rock-hewn churches, to keep Genna together.
• The feast and the game. After the service, families share doro wat, a spicy chicken stew, with injera bread. In some places young men play a hockey-like game also called genna.
• Russia, Serbia, Georgia and Egypt. Orthodox Christians in these lands keep Christmas on January 7. Serbs bring in an oak branch called the badnjak on Christmas Eve, Georgians hold a children's procession called alilo, and Egyptian Copts attend a midnight service.
• Churches that use the newer calendar. Greek, Romanian and Bulgarian Orthodox Churches keep Christmas on December 25.

Christians differ

The difference between December 25 and January 7 is about calendars, not about what Christians believe. Orthodox churches also differ among themselves: some follow the older calendar for all feasts, others use the newer one for fixed feasts like Christmas. Christians who celebrate on different days can still greet one another with joy.

Do it together

Ages 0 to 2

• Look at white cloth together and feel how soft it is. Say “white” and “soft”.
• Rock gently and sing a quiet song.

Ages 3 to 5

• Fold paper to make a white shawl for a toy and carry it in a small procession.
• Look at a picture of an injera or a flat bread and talk about sharing food.

Ages 6 to 8

• Find Ethiopia and Lalibela on a map and see pictures of the rock churches.
• Count 13 days on a calendar and see where the older Christmas falls.

Ages 9 to 12

• Make a two-column calendar chart: Julian and Gregorian. How many days apart are they?
• Try an Ethiopian dish with a grown-up, or read about one.

Ages 13 to 17

• Read about how Christianity came to Aksum in the 300s. How did a church in Africa begin so early?
• Discuss: how can Christians keep different dates and still be one family?

A short prayer

God, we thank you for Christians in every land and in every language. Bless them as they keep the birth of Jesus, and bless us. Amen.

Mark as done

Where this comes from

• UNESCO World Heritage Centre, Rock-Hewn Churches, Lalibela (inscribed 1978)
• F. L. Cross and E. A. Livingstone, eds., The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, 3rd ed. (Oxford University Press, 2005), entries “Christmas”, “Ethiopian Church” and “Calendar”
• Steven Kaplan, The Monastic Holy Man and the Christianization of Early Solomonic Ethiopia (Franz Steiner, 1984), for the history of the Ethiopian church

Written with AI assistance and checked against the sources listed. Please read it before sharing it with a child.