A Palestinian Greek Orthodox girl attends Christmas services at the Saint Porfirios church in Gaza City, Jan. 7.

Bosnian Serb children break the traditional Christmas bread to mark Orthodox Christmas Day festivities in Banja Luka, near Sarajevo, Bosnia, Jan. 7. Orthodox Christians celebrate Christmas on Jan. 7, according to the Julian calendar.

A man reads the book "Night before Christmas" by a Russian writer Nikolay Gogol, and a woman listens on Orthodox Christmas Eve, Jan. 6, in Sosnovo village, near Saint-Petersburg, Russia. Christmas falls on January 7 for Orthodox Christians in the Middle East, Russia and other Orthodox churches that use the old Julian calendar instead of the 16th-century Gregorian calendar adopted by Catholics, Protestants, Greek Orthodox and commonly used in secular life around the world. AFP PHOTO / KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV (Photo credit should read KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP/Getty Images)

People celebrate the pagan rite called "Kolyadki" in the village of Lobcha, some 230 km (144 miles) south of Minsk, Belarus, Jan. 7. Kolyada is a pagan winter holiday, which over the centuries has merged with Orthodox Christmas celebrations in Ukraine and some parts of Belarus.