The 7th of Jan. or Dec. The 25th and Why? :
Every year, according to the Coptic calendar, our Coptic Orthodox Church celebrates "Christmas" in the 29th of "Kiahk"-a Coptic month-which is simultaneous to the 7th of Jan. while all of us is wondering saying: Why the Eastern "Christmas" differs from the Western "Christmas"?
Till the year 1581 A.D the time of "Christmas" in the 29th of "Kiahk", a Coptic month, was simultaneous to the 25th of Dec. but a sudden change happened when the Pope of Rome "Christmas" in the 29th of "Kiahk" became in the 4th of Jan. then the difference began to exceed 3 days every 400 years .By the year 1800 till 1899 the difference became 12 days where "Christmas" was celebrated in the 6th of Jan. while recently the difference became 13 days from 1900 till 2099 where "Christmas" is and will be celebrated in the 7th of Jan.
Christmas in Egypt
© 2002 by Maria Hubert von Staufer
he Coptic Christmas follows the old calendar, and takes place on the 6th January. The Coptic Church is Catholic. It was founded by St Mark who spent much time in Egypt, and it is said that he wrote his Gospel there.
The Coptic Christian Rite is very old. Being a smaller Church, they have had little need to move so much with the times, so much of their liturgy is unchanged, and a little strange to the Western ear. The clashing of small finger cymbals throughout parts of the Holy Mass was quite strange for me the first time I heard it. They also go in for more fasts than we do in the West. Fasting is supposed to purify the body and lead the mind to spiritual things. It was more common in the Western Church several hundred years ago than now, when the only fasts we observe are those for Good Friday and Ash Wednesday in remembrance of our Lords Crucifixion.
But one touch I warmed to was that children are admitted to the Eucharist whilst still babes in arms, and it was delightful to see a young child of no more than six months, being spoon fed the consecrated bread and wine, and the priest carefully wiping the baby's mouth afterwards! Coptic priests marry, as do most of the Eastern Catholic clergy, and I enjoyed seeing them with their families at the various parish excursions. It somehow brought family life closer into the parish.
Persecution at home is one of the reasons we have a Coptic Monastery and Parishes in England:
At least six Coptic Christians and a security official have been killed in a drive-by shooting outside a church in southern Egypt, officials say.
The shooting came as worshippers left the church in Naj Hammadi after a midnight mass on Coptic Christmas Eve.
A car pulled up and gunfire was sprayed into the crowd.
Officials say they suspect the attack is in revenge for the rape of a 12-year-old Muslim girl by a Christian man in the town in November.
There were five days of riots in the town, with Christian properties torched and damaged, following the rape.
Police said the chief attacker in Wednesday's shooting had been identified but no arrests had yet been made.
Tensions in the area are said to be high, with reports of clashes.
The church's Bishop Kirollos said there had been threats in the days leading up to the Christmas Eve service - a reason he decided to end his mass an hour earlier than normal.
"For days, I had expected something to happen on Christmas Eve," he told the Associated Press.
He said he left the church minutes before the attack.
"A driving car swerved near me, so I took the back door," he said. "By the time I shook hands with someone at the gate, I heard the mayhem, lots of machine-gun shots."
Two Muslim passers-by were among 10 people reportedly injured in the attack.
Naj Hammadi is 40 miles (64km) from Luxor, southern Egypt's biggest city.
Coptic Christians - who make up 10% of Egypt's 80 million population - have complained of harassment and discrimination.
Some Copts argue that previous attacks on them have gone unpunished or have drawn light sentences.
Most Christians in Egypt are Copts - Christians descended from the ancient Egyptians.
Their church split from the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches in 451AD because of a theological dispute over the nature of Christ, but is now, on most issues, doctrinally similar to the Eastern Orthodox church.
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