The celebration of the Nativity of the Lord, which is, along with Easter and Pentecost, the biggest church holidaymost Christians in Slovakia and the world celebrate on Thursday. During the day, believers commemorate the events in Bethlehem (Hebrew: House of Bread), a city located about eight kilometers south of Jerusalem. Joseph from Nazareth and his fiancée Mary came here for the census. And here, in a cave outside the city, according to tradition, Jesus was born.
On this holiday, believing Christians participate in solemn services, enjoying the joyful memory of the Redeemer’s arrival in the worldthey pray for understanding and peace in the world. In Catholic churches, in addition to solemn masses, nativity scenes for children or Nativity plays are held in many places in the churches.
A solemn holy liturgy is held in Greek Catholic churches during the holiday. The emphasis is on the fact that God became man, took on human nature, so that through his humiliation, death and resurrection man could receive participation in God’s life. Evangelicals gather in the morning or in the afternoon for solemn services of God with the Lord’s Supper.
Orthodox churcheswhich follow the Julian calendar, including Orthodox believers in Slovakia and the Czech Republic, they will celebrate the feast of the Nativity of the Lord only on January 6 and 7, 2026.
The Nativity of the Lord did not initially have its own holiday, but was commemorated on the day of the Epiphany – Three Kings, that is, January 6. A special commemoration of the birth of God began to appear in the West around the middle of the 4th century. The first record comes from Rome in 336. According to these sources, the holiday was celebrated on December 25. Since March 25th is generally remembered as the feast of the Annunciation, when the Archangel Gabriel announced to Mary that she would be the mother of Christ, nine months later, according to this tradition, December 25th is the symbolic day of the Lord’s Nativity.
Another hypothesis talks about Christianization and a new Christian interpretation of the Roman festival of the birth of the Sun (Natalis Solis Invicti). Roman Christians began to celebrate this pagan holiday as their own holiday of the Nativity of Christ – like the Sun – based on biblical quotes, for example, Christ as the Sun of Justice (Sol Iustitiae) or Christ – Light of the world. This date – December 25 – as the feast of the Nativity of the Lord was universally accepted and quickly caught on.
