Nelson Otto
Jefferson City
Dear Editor:
I would like to once again thank KHJR 88.1 Catholic radio for playing Christmas music and to all the people who have kept their Christmas decorations up for the entire 12 days of Christmas. All too often in America, we get caught up in the commercial Christmas and forget it is more than just one day. It is also at this time of year I do lots of research on Christmas because by far it is my favorite holiday, especially Christmas Eve. One of my most recent discoveries is that there are actually three Christmases. I had known about two. The western is from Roman Catholic, and the other is Eastern Orthodox. The Orthodox Church uses the Julian calendar so its December the 25th falls on our Jan. 7, which at the time of this writing is the Orthodox Christmas Eve. What I recently learned is that there is a third Christmas, which is the Armenian. They also use the Julian calendar but their Christmas is Jan. 7, which on the Gregorian calendar is Jan. 19. In the city of Bethlehem, all three are celebrated. So in the coming year don't be in such a hurry to tear down everything after the Gregorian December the 25th and celebrate our 12 days and on Jan. 7 and Jan. 19 wish your Orthodox and Armenian friends and neighbors a Merry Christmas. I know they will appreciate you remembering.
So Merry Christmas and thanks again.