The St. James Calendar of the Christian Year (2008) provides the following informative note to the month of December, 2007:

Advent, a season of preparation for Christmas, always begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas (December 2 this year). In the Eastern churches, fasting is observed from November 15 until Christmas. There are traditionally three "advents" or "comings": the first coming of Christ by the Virgin; His present coming to men by the Spirit; and His future Second Coming in glroy at the end of the age. The Gospel on the first Sunday is about the Second Coming, whle the following Sundays emphasize events leading up to the Birth of Christ. In the Eastern churches the ancestors of Jesus are commemorated on the Sunday before Christmas.

While the date of Christmas in both Eastern and Western churches is December 25, the majority of Eastern churches still follow the Julian Calendar and thus celebrate Christmas on January 7 according the Gregorian (modern) Calendar. There is sometimes confusion between the Orthodox observance on January 7 (Gregorian) and what some call "Old Christmas," by which is meant the older feast of Epiphany, January 6. Epiphany in the Western churches celebrates the worship of the Magi, and was called "little Christmas" in the ancient Irish church. It marks the end of the Christmas season, the twelve days of Christmas.