Orthodox believers celebrate Christmas Eve today, preparing for the most joyful Christian holiday, the Birth of Jesus Christ – Christmas.
Vigil services and the lighting of the Christmas tree in Orthodox churches announce the Birth of the Savior, whose arrival into the world is celebrated as the beginning of a new era and as the most joyful event for Christianity.
On this day, a Christmas tree is brought into Orthodox homes, to which the Church has given a special meaning. In the morning, the oldest male member of the household cuts down an oak or cera tree – the Christmas tree, which should be cut down with three blows so that it falls to the east.
The Christmas tree is a symbol of the wood that, according to tradition, shepherds brought to Joseph and Mary to light a fire and warm the cave in which Jesus was born.
The Christmas tree is lit on the eve of the holiday and burns until Christmas, when the joy of Christ’s Birth is announced. The burning of the Christmas tree is a symbol of parting with old beliefs and accepting the new light that comes with faith in the New Born Christ.
All customs have the meaning of Christian community, so it is believed that people gathered around the Christmas tree are warmed by love and harmony, and bring its light into the darkness of ignorance and superstition. Most folk customs among Serbs are related to Christmas Day and Christmas, which evoke the event of the Nativity in Bethlehem.
On the eve of Christmas, straw is sprinkled on the floor and homes are transformed into the Bethlehem cave where the baby Jesus was born, who was wrapped in straw and was first worshiped by the shepherds. In country houses, the straw lies for three days, while in cities, a bundle of straw is brought into homes and placed next to the Christmas tree.
There is a custom of sprinkling grain on houses and a number of other rituals that are given a Christian meaning because Christ came to bring people together and feed and water him with his knowledge and love.
“Whoever is hungry, let him come to me, and I will feed him; and whoever is thirsty, let him come to me, and drink living water,” it is written in the Gospel of Christ.
On Christmas Eve, a Christmas roast is baked, prepared the day before, on Tucindan.
In Orthodox homes, Christmas Eve is a family holiday when the household gathers around a mandatory fasting table – fasting dishes, fish, prunes, nuts…
Christmas is always the first day of Lent, no matter what day it falls on, and the day when those who have observed the rules of the Christmas fast receive communion in churches.
Christmas Day and Christmas Eve are celebrated on January 6 by all Orthodox churches and believers who observe the Julian calendar – the Russian Orthodox Church, the Patriarchate of Jerusalem, the Holy Mountain, the old calendarists in Greece and the Egyptian Copts.
