Until 1917, Russia had a huge number of traditions associated with the celebration of Christmas. However, then they were almost forgotten, because religious holidays were now banned. But in the last decade this holiday is again gaining more and more popularity, so it will be useful to know how to celebrate this bright holiday.
Instruction manual
1
If you want to celebrate Christmas according to all the old rules, then first clean the apartment. By tradition, Christmas was always decorated with a Christmas tree and decorated your home, but now it’s customary to do all this for the New Year, so just leave all these New Year’s attributes until Christmas.
2
There are also special culinary traditions associated with the celebration of Christmas. On Christmas Eve, that is, on the day before Christmas, it is customary to refrain from food until Christmas "until the first star, " as our ancestors said. For dinner, serve meatless vegetables, casseroles. You can eat fish. To set the Christmas table, put a bunch of hay or straw under the tablecloth to remind you of the manger in which Christ lay. Place some iron object under the table - iron was considered a symbol of health. By tradition, on Christmas, you need to put 12 different dishes on the table. Of course, it is unlikely that it will be possible to cook 12 full-fledged dishes, therefore saucers with nuts, sweets, etc. However, this is not a very strict rule. As a main course, serve a goose with apples or baked chicken with vegetables. Serve salads, cakes and other sweets to them. Traditional Russian Christmas dishes include juices made from cereals, honey and almond or poppy seed milk. It is customary to add nuts and raisins to such porridge.
3
Be sure to congratulate each other at the festive table and wish each other all the best. Give gifts to children (and adults if desired). Although, if you celebrated the New Year by all the rules, then everyone has already received their gifts on December 31, but it’s not necessary to give something expensive and large-scale. Do-it-yourself Christmas souvenirs are also suitable.
4
If you have the desire and opportunity, go caroling. Carols are a pagan tradition, but it is still preserved in Orthodox Russia. Learn special carol songs and please yourself and your neighbors (unless, of course, they are calm and tolerant of such entertainments).
5
If you are a deeply religious person, go to the nearest Christmas church service.
note
The celebration of Catholic and Orthodox Christmas is very different. Catholic Christmas is celebrated on December 25, and Orthodox on January 7. Both traditions and holiday design are different. Recently, Russia has been actively borrowing some elements of celebration from Western countries.
