Society and Church: Victory of 1812 to be celebrated at Christmas

On the press conference in RIA Novosty the hieromonk Philip (Ryabyh), vice chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of Moscow Patriarchate called to revive celebrations, commemorating Victory of Russian Army over Napoleon troops at Christmas.

"Today we forget about the civil aspect of Christmas celebrations in Russia. The holiday of Christmas is another Victory day of our country: on this day the Emperor Alexander I issued a decree, which announced that the Napoleon troops had been driven away from the Russian Empire", - reminded father Philip.

He claims that in Russia the holiday of Christmas used to be celebrated as the “Victory of 1812".

That’s why the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour – the cathedral-memorial to heroes of the Patriotic War of 1812 was consecrated in commemoration of the nativity of Christ.

"I hope that this tradition of the holiday will be gradually revived", - concluded the representative of the Russian Orthodox Church.