Happy Amish Christmas!

You may notice today that many Amish businesses are closed for Christmas. That’s because many of Lawrence County’s Amish people observe the holiday known as ‘Old Christmas.’

Old Christmas is the name given to the date celebrated as Christ’s birthday in the days when all of Europe used the Julian calendar. When the Gregorian calendar was introduced in 1582, it bumped Christmas back 12 days.

Because the Amish and some other religious groups believed that the date of Christ’s birth was a holy day and should not be changed, they continued to observe the holiday 12 days after the new calendar specified.

In Lawrence County, the Old Order Amish continue this 400-year-old tradition each January 6 by fasting and reading Scripture together in the morning, and by visiting family members in the afternoon.