Culture
Julian and Gregorian calendars
The Old Rite church keeps the Julian calendar. The Romanian Orthodox Church, after the 1924 reform, keeps the revised calendar, close to the civil one. In Dobrogea that means two Christmases and two Easters, in neighbouring villages.
The gap
The Julian calendar runs 13 days behind the Gregorian. Lipovan Christmas falls on 7 January. Their Epiphany, on 19 January. Easter is calculated differently: sometimes the same Sunday, sometimes a week or more later. We do not publish the hour of the service.
What it means on the ground
On 25 December, in a Lipovan village, it is not their Christmas Eve. On 7 January, in a Romanian village, carolling ended two weeks ago. In Sarichioi and Slava Rusă you ask before you come near a yard. The carolling guide is etiquette, not a schedule of troupes.
What we do not do
We do not glue the two calendars onto one poster of “Delta holidays”. We do not say in which village the cross comes out of the water. Their fast is another guide: the Lipovan winter fast.