What can and cannot be done at Christmas?

2024 Author: James Gerald | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 14:00

Christmas is one of the most important Orthodox holidays. In terms of importance, it ranks second after Easter. Celebrated annually on the same day - January 7, new style, or December 25, old style. On this day, the Nativity Fast ends and the time from Christmas to the Epiphany of the Lord begins, which is called Christmastide in the church. We will learn what can and cannot be done on Christmas Day and what traditions of celebration exist.

How to celebrate the Nativity of Christ today

Like ancestors, many believers commemorate their forefathers two weeks before Christmas Eve. 5 days before the bright holiday, the time comes for reading special prayers. All this ends with the Cathedral of the Most Holy Theotokos. On the morning of Christmas Eve, it is necessary to carry out a general cleaning of all rooms in the house. You can not miss a single even the most distant corner. In the evening, after taking a bath, you should definitely put on clean, smart and always new clothes.

Christmas is a family holiday. Therefore, visiting is not recommended. An unexpected guest should definitely be fed very satisfyingly. All the remnants of the meal are not left the next day, but taken out into the street and fed to stray animals.

On Christmas Eve, January 6, at least 12 dishes are served. If the family is fasting, they should all be fast. The main dish is kutia. They also serve skits with millet, borscht cooked in mushroom broth. A variety of meat dishes appear on the table on January 7th.

Be sure to start caroling at Christmas. Young people go home, sing songs - carols, in which Jesus Christ is glorified. In a number of countries, for example, Ukraine, nativity scenes are organized.

What can you do for Christmas

Traditions to celebrate church holidays have revived relatively recently. It is not surprising that many do not know what to do at Christmas. The priests recommend on this day to turn with prayer to the Higher powers, asking for favor and mercy.

If possible, attend church and attend the Divine Liturgy. You can also put up a candle and pray at home in front of your own icons.

Bathing is not prohibited on Christmas Day. You can also do your usual daily activities, but provided that they do not carry an element of entertainment. Work is not considered sinful, but on Christmas Eve, all earnings should be directed to the purchase of the most essential foodstuffs. Washing is carried out only as needed.

If you like to knit, embroider, sew, then on Christmas you can not give up these activities. They require meekness, restraint, diligence, which is so appreciated on this holiday. Especially such work will be honored if its result is a gift to a loved one.

Habitual Christmas fortune-telling may be present. It should only be remembered that the church does not welcome occultism in any of its manifestations. Passion for secret knowledge and looking into the future - the rejection of the fact that everything is God's will.

You should not give up the close relationship between spouses during Christmas Eve. The main component is the desire to give birth to a long-awaited child.

A popular sign says that you need to shop on Christmas Day. Shopping on this day can attract financial well-being. You should not refuse alms to the poor, just ask them to pray for your health.

Why abstain for Christmas

At Christmas, there is something that can be done and there is something that cannot. Forbidden things include abuse, conflicts, quarrels. All negative thoughts can form negative attitudes in a person. Accordingly, he programs himself for failure.

It is generally accepted that black clothing should be avoided on the feast of the birth of Christ. In Orthodoxy, this color is often associated with mourning. And that goes against the very spirit of Christmas. For Christmas Eve, smart, light-colored clothes are better suited.

The priests say that on Christmas Day it is forbidden to do what is called an entertainment event. An exception if they are not aimed at achieving not their own, but third-party pleasure. You should give up alcoholic beverages.

If a person is fasting, he should not back down from abstinence. Eating is allowed only after the first star rises in the sky.

As for visiting the cemetery. The Church asks to refrain from this. In all churches on this day they pray for health.

Ancient traditions and customs of Christmas

Christmas Eve was held in strict fasting. They took food according to tradition after the first star rises in the sky. It was imperative to observe the symbolic rituals for which they had prepared in advance. Shortly before sunset, the head of the family and all household members began to read a prayer. Then a wax candle was lit and inserted into one of the loaves on the table.

The front corner and the counter were covered with fresh straw or hay, on top - a towel or tablecloth, and then kutya and an unmilled sheaf of rye. After all the preparations came to an end, the family read the prayer again and proceeded to the meal.

In the Nativity of Christ, straw and an unmilled sheaf should be used, since these are symbols of the awakening and revitalization of nature. Kutya with honey also has its symbolic meaning - it is associated with fertility.

On Christmas Day it was forbidden to talk during the meal. Awe-inspiring silence should have reigned in the room. But it was allowed to guess on the straws pulled out of the sheaf about the future harvest. And the older family members forced the children to chuck under the table like chickens - this was how luck was attracted to chickens.

After the meal was over, the kutya, which had not been eaten, was taken by the children to the homes of the poorer fellow villagers. Then the "carols" began - young people sang different songs under the windows or inside the huts. For this they received a penny, bread.