Night masses were conducted at churches across the country. At dawn, a cannon was fired nine times to mark the occasion.
Ethiopian Orthodox Christians celebrated Christmas on Wednesday – along with other Eastern Orthodox Christians around the world – on Jan. 7, some two weeks after December 25, when their Western counterparts celebrate Jesus’ birth.
“The [Ethiopian] church follows the Julian calendar because it believes it is the most appropriate for counting days and years,” “Besides, the Julian calendar is derived from the Bible; it is not good to deviate from it when counting days and years.”
Nighttime masses were conducted at churches across the country. At dawn, a cannon was fired nine times to mark the occasion.
Ethiopia adheres to its ancient calendar, which is seven or eight years behind the western (Gregorian) calendar. Its New Year, Melese noted, falls in September.
In the Ethiopian calendar, one year consists of 365 days. The Ethiopian New Year begins on September 11 (or 12 on a leap year). Each year is named after one of the four Christian Evangelists: Mathew, Mark, Luke and John.
