Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 7 (PTI) Russian compatriots gathered at a local church here and celebrated? Russian Orthodox Christmas on Saturday.

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They assembled at the Mar Aprem Orthodox Church for the special Mass. Fr George Varghese led the special prayer.

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The Russian House, in association with the Honorary Consulate of Russia in Trivandrum and Malankara Orthodox Church, used to organise special events on 7 January regularly before the outbreak of the pandemic.

This year, they performed Christmas carols, a statement said.

Fr Varghese said that his church was glad to receive guests from Russia.

Ratheesh C Nair, Honorary Consul of Russia and Director of the Russian House here, said that in Russia, Christmas is celebrated according to the Julian calendar.

Although Russia follows the Gregorian calendar, like India and most of the world, the country's Orthodox Church still follows the Julian calendar and celebrates Christmas on January 7, corresponding to December 25 on the Gregorian calendar, the statement added.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)