2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21
Today, unfortunately, the great church holiday Christmas Eve has already been forgotten. What it is, now only a few know. And in the time of our great-grandmothers, he was glorified more than Christmas. Let's talk about how we prepared for this day and how our distant ancestors celebrated it.
What is the Christmas Eve before Christmas?
Where did the name of this holiday come from? It turns out that from the word "sochivo" - this is a dish that was prepared specially on this day to treat all households. To do this, the hostess soaked scalded grains of cereals (wheat, barley, lentils, rice) in seed juice (poppy, almond or nut). The dish turned out lean. Oil was not put into it. Only the addition of a spoonful of honey was allowed to make the meal more nutritious. Sometimes it was replaced with kutya. People used Sochivo on this day in imitation of the biblical prophet Daniel. This parable refers to the Old Testament times. The pagan Julian the Apostate, wanting to show off the believing fasting people, ordered all the food in the market to be sprinkled with the blood of animals brought insacrifice to idols. Then the prophet Daniel ordered his youth-novices to eat soaked grains and dried fruits. In this way, believers were able to avoid eating a defiled pagan meal.
When is it celebrated?
Our distant ancestors loved Christmas Eve very much. When it begins, everyone knew, from young to old. The holy tradition of its celebration was honored and passed down from generation to generation. It is noteworthy that many years ago Christmas Eve was celebrated not once a year, but several. So, on December 24 (according to the old style), or on January 6 (according to the new one), people celebrated the eve (eve) of the Nativity of Christ. It is this day that is commonly called Christmas Eve. But they also observed this tradition on the eve of Theophany - January 5 (old style), or January 18 (new), and on the Annunciation, and on Saturday of the first week of Great Lent.
Christmas Eve in different countries
Many states today celebrate this great church holiday. The Russian Orthodox and Greek Catholic churches honor him on January 6 (according to the Julian calendar). From January 7 to January 19 - the time of Christmas time (when Christmas Eve has already ended). What it is, they know now, perhaps, only in the villages. How these two holy weeks are spent will be described below. Countries that follow the Gregorian calendar celebrate Christmas Eve on December 24th. It is noteworthy that the name of this holiday in different states is different. So, in Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, this is Badnyak, or Badnidan, in Slovenia - Sveti večer, in Bulgaria - Weekday evening, in Ukraine - Svyatvechir.
OrthodoxChristmas Eve
It is known that this holiday is preceded by a strict Christmas fast, which lasts from November 28 to January 6. On Christmas Eve, it is customary for the Orthodox not to eat until the first star. Its appearance is associated with the legend of the Star of Bethlehem, which announced the birth of the holy baby. In the evening, people did not gather at the table and did not sit down to have dinner. This could be done with the appearance of the first light in the sky. After that, our ancestors set the table with a snow-white tablecloth, put a bunch of hay on it in memory of the manger where the Savior was born, and put twelve Lenten dishes - according to the number of the disciples of Jesus Christ. They ate sochivo and praised the Lord.
Tradition in Catholicism
Not all countries observe a strict fast, preparing to celebrate Christmas Eve. The traditions of the Catholic Church say that this is considered a good rule, but not mandatory. In European countries, on Christmas Eve they gather, as a rule, with a wide family circle at a festive table laden with Lenten dishes. The main figure here is the father of the family. Before the start of the meal, he reads a passage from the Gospel of the Nativity. Then those present partake of the gifts of the generous home. As a rule, there is always a free place at the table and a device is placed in case someone else joins the celebration.
Catholics also have a tradition of exchanging wafers - rye bread with figurines. The bread is broken, and the one who is treated to a piece must say good wishes to those present.
EpiphanyChristmas Eve. What is it?
Many good, but, unfortunately, today already forgotten rituals were observed by our ancestors. As mentioned above, Orthodox people celebrated Christmas Eve not only before Christmas, but also before the day of the consecration of water - Baptism. It has its own traditions. For example, such as seeing off dead relatives and expelling all evil spirits. To do this, on Epiphany Christmas Eve in some provinces, the guys went around the yards with brooms, hit them on the gate and shouted that there was urine. It was believed that in this way they drove away evil spirits. All relatives gathered for a meal on this holiday. Be sure to cook kutya, dried fruit compote or jelly, bake pancakes, cook pea porridge. A lit candle was placed on the table and some food was placed on a saucer for relatives who had gone to another world. In many ways, Epiphany Christmas Eve resembled Christmas Eve.
Christmas Day
January 7 - just after Christmas Eve - people celebrated Christmas. And then the period of Christmas time began, which was called so - “the time from the star to the water”, that is, from the appearance of the first light in the sky on Christmas Eve to the consecration of water on Epiphany. The word "Christmas" itself means "holy, feast days." For a long time in Russia, weddings were not played during this period, but they spent a lot of fun: in songs, dances, festivities, dressing up and satirical performances.
Boys and girls from different villages played games. They dressed up as beasts and mythological animals, went from house to house in the evenings and sang songs, praising their owners, trying toask them for food. This custom is called caroling. Christmas time is the time of rampant evil spirits and the arrival of the souls of dead relatives to earth. In many villages of Russia there were traditions associated with this. So, for example, on the streets of Central and Southern Russia, on Christmas Eve, bonfires made of straw were burned near the huts so that the deceased relatives could come and “warm up”. Often they threw lime brooms at them so that the dead could take a steam bath. And on Christmas Eve, kutya, pancakes and kissel were sometimes put on the table - traditional treats during the commemoration of the dead. This was done so that the deceased relatives could share a meal with the living. During Christmas time, young women arranged fortune-telling, performed magical rites, and uttered conspiracies.
How to make juicy?
Our great-grandmothers knew what to cook for Christmas Eve. These ancient recipes for cooking Christmas dishes are not forgotten. And today, any housewife, if desired, will be able to cook juicy. Here is the recipe for this dish:
• 1 faceted glass of wheat grains;
• 100g poppy seeds;
• 100g walnut kernels;
• 1 or 2 tablespoons runny honey;
• some sugar.
Put the grains of wheat in a wooden mortar and grind with a pestle until the shell of the grains comes off. In this case, you need to add a little warm boiled water to the mass. Then the husk is removed by washing the grains. Wheat is poured with water, put on fire and boiled until tender. It turns out crumbly porridge. In a wooden mortar, poppy is rubbed in the same way until poppy appears.milk. Add it to the porridge, put honey, sugar there and mix thoroughly. At the end, crushed walnut kernels are put into the mass. Sochivo ready.
How did you prepare for the holiday?
As mentioned earlier, strict abstinence from fast food preceded such a holiday as Christmas Eve. When this post begins, we know - November 28th. For five weeks it was forbidden to eat animal products: meat, fish, milk, eggs, ghee, cottage cheese, kefir and sour cream. But everything lean was allowed: boiled potatoes with pickled mushrooms or cucumbers, steamed turnips, cereals on the water, lean bread, kvass.
Before Christmas Eve, they cleaned the house, trying to look into all corners. And then they heated the bath hot, washed and changed clothes. People believed that both the body and thoughts should be kept clean. Therefore, before sitting at the festive table, they lit candles at the icons in the house and made a prayer of thanksgiving to the Lord.
Folk omens for Christmas Eve
• On a holiday, a wax candle was placed on a table with a white tablecloth and lit with the words: “Burn, candle, righteous sun, shine on darlings in paradise and on us, the living, warm the mother earth, our cattle, our fields”. If the light burns merrily, it means that the year will be prosperous and fruitful, if it blinks and trembles, you will have to tighten your belts.
• In the evening they looked out the window: if the night is clear and starry, the summer will be generous for the harvest of berries, and the year will be good for the offspring of livestock.
• If beforea snowstorm broke out on Christmas Eve - the bees will swarm well.
• What date is Christmas Eve? January 6. The height of the Russian winter. It was expected that frosts would rage in the yard at this time. However, this is not always the case. The thaw could suddenly start. And if it suddenly happens on a holiday of drops, then you should not wait for a good harvest from your garden. But buckwheat will certainly be good.
• Frost on the trees for a holiday - to good bread.
Festive service in the church
How does the church celebrate Christmas Eve? Orthodox people to this day have preserved the tradition of visiting the temple after the evening meal in order to perform the all-night Christmas vigil. There, at this time, a service is performed, consisting of the Great Hours with the reading of passages from the Gospel and a brief accomplishment of the Pictorial. It passes as follows: the clergy read prayers on the pulpit and put on. Then comes the time of Great Vespers with the reading of proverbs and the Liturgy of Basil the Great, at the end of which the Great Blessing of Water is performed.
And this is how Catholic Christmas Eve is celebrated in the church. Here, as usual, on December 24, Mass is celebrated according to the order of Advent, and Christmas Eve begins at dusk, at midnight. In some European countries and Poland, this service is called a "shepherd".
We talked about a big church holiday that precedes the Nativity of Christ, which is called Christmas Eve. What is it, how it was noted, what significance it had in the religions of different countries - all the necessary information can befind in this article.
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