Epiphany and Christmas Eve celebrated on Monday

The Christian festival of Epiphany, colloquially called 'Three Kings' ('Traja krali' or 'Tri krale' in archaic Slovak), was celebrated in Slovakia and many other countries on Monday, January 6. The Roman Catholic Church regards this holiday as representing one of the most significant events in human history. In Slovakia, the festival is marked by Holy Masses celebrated throughout the country. Orthodox Christians (predominantly in eastern Slovakia) and also Greek Catholics observing the Julian calendar celebrated Christmas Eve on Monday. Orthodox believers (and currently under less strict rules also Greek Catholics) observe a period of 40 days of fasting (Nativity Fast/Philip's Fast) ahead of Christmas that includes abstaining from all animal products, including eggs, and all dairy products. The fasting ends on the evening of January 6, which is Christmas Eve, but the supper can be prepared only from ingredients that may be consumed during periods of fasting. Most Greek Catholics in Slovakia observed the Julian calendar before 1950, when the Greek Catholic Church in Slovakia was banned by the Communists with the aim of merging it with the Orthodox Church. After the ban was lifted during the Prague Spring in 1968, most Greek Catholics adopted the Gregorian calendar. Nowadays, the Gregorian calendar is observed by the Archbishopric of Presov and both Greek Catholic eparchies in Kosice and Bratislava. Only a few villages in eastern Slovakia still stick to the Julian calendar.