Saint John the Baptist Orthodox Church, located at 9 W. Railroad St., Nesquehoning, will soon be observing the Birthday of Jesus Christ and the Christmas season according to the Julian calendar, the calendar authorized by Julius Caesar and which went into use in the Roman world on Jan. 1, 45 BC.

The Julian calendar was the calendar used in the Roman Empire during the reign of Caesar Augustus, at the time our Lord, God and Savior, Jesus Christ was born according to the flesh, and is still used as the liturgical calendar by many Orthodox Christian Churches including St. John the Baptist.

The Julian calendar is currently 13 days behind the Gregorian calendar issued by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582. Because the Eastern Orthodox Church was not under the authority of the Roman Pontiff, the Orthodox Church continued to observe Christmas, Pascha (Easter) and the holy days of the Church according to the older Julian calendar. Therefore, St. John’s Parish observes Christmas Day on Dec. 25, on the Julian calendar, which is Jan. 7 on the Gregorian calendar.

The following is a list of the major services to be observed by the faithful of St. John the Baptist Orthodox Church:

Jan. 6, at 10 a.m.: Great Vespers For The Nativity of Christ; 9 p.m.: Great Compline Service of The Nativity of Christ & the singing of traditional carols.

Jan. 7, at 10 a.m.: Divine liturgy of Christmas Day.

Jan. 8, at 10 a.m. divine liturgy for the synaxis of the birthgiver of God.

Jan. 9 at 10 a.m.: Divine liturgy for the feast of Saint Stephen, deacon and first martyr of the church.

Jan. 13, at 3:30 p.m.: Great vespers with litia for The Feast of The Circumcision of The Lord, & The Feast of St. Basil.

Jan. 14, at 10 a.m.: Divine liturgy for The Feast of The Circumcision of Christ And The Feast of St. Basil.

Jan.19, The Feast of The Baptism of Christ with The Great Blessing of The Jordan Water (Holy Water).

The Orthodox Church teaches the timeless and unchanging Christian truths taught by Her founder and Lord, Jesus Christ, who gave these teachings to His Apostles and which has been preserved in the Church by the bishops of the Church, who the Church teaches are the successors of the 12 Apostles in every age of Christian history until now.

During this Christmas season, the parishioners will worship and receive the Body and Blood of the Risen Christ, using the ancient, beautiful and traditional Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople from A.D. 398 to 404, and the older Divine Liturgy of St. Basil the Great, 4th century Bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia. Holy Jordan Water will be blessed on the feast of the Baptism of the Lord using the time-honored Prayers of St. Sophronius, Patriarch of Jerusalem from A.D. 634 until 638.

St. John’s Parish will be holding numerous fundraising events.

The next fundraiser is the annual Theme Basket Raffle, scheduled for the week of Feb. 13, culminating with the drawings on Feb. 18.

For more information about the parish, please call Father Robert Teklinski at 570-669-6623.

For more information about the fundraising events to be held in 2023, please refer to the parish Facebook page, St. John the Baptist Orthodox Church, Nesquehoning, PA or contact Mary at 484-788-2359.