If you do nothing at Christmas, you will have bad luck, and if you comply with this custom, your family will have a material benefit throughout the year.

Photo: Tanjug / Jaroslav Pap

Orthodox Christmas is celebrated every January 7, when the forty-day Christmas fast ends. The day before Christmas is called Christmas Day and the night before, Christmas Eve.

How is Christmas Day celebrated?

Christmas Eve is named after the fact that Christmas Eve is brought home on Christmas Eve. Among the ancient Slavs, Dren meant a plant that brings good health to all members of the household, which is why it is usually added on Christmas Eve. At dawn, the youngest and oldest in the house go into the forest and cut down the Christmas tree, which they bring home at night, and after Christmas Eve they bring straw. Christmas Eve is, in fact, an oak or a wax tree.

Christmas Eve represents the coming of Jesus Christ and that is why the tree is cut with a special rite. That is, the branches of the Christmas tree are cut three times, and if that fails, they twist and break. Wheat or a small piece of bread is usually left where the Christmas tree was taken from. This custom is now dying out due to urban planning, so it is difficult for many in the city to respect it. Today, Christmas Eve is mainly bought in the market, on Christmas day special greetings are applied: “Good evening, Christmas Eve” and: “Good evening and happy Christmas Eve”.

During Christmas Eve, women also have their job, which is to prepare food for the next day and hide gifts for the children in the house. Christmas is considered to be one of the favorite holidays of children because then they receive many gifts. The housewife hides the gifts, and the children look for them around the house at night, drinking, this custom is traditionally called sipping. Mom is a “coke”, and the children follow her drinking and jumping. This custom is a symbol of the love of parents for their children and is quite a fun Christmas custom among Serbs.

Children can eat all the sweets found only the next day, because Christmas Day is a fast day, the last fast day of a four-day fast. In the evening, the whole family gathers at the table where a fasting dinner is prepared. It is usually fish, prebranac or sarma fasting. The desserts that are usually associated with Christmas and Christmas Eve consist mainly of dates, prunes, apricots and various nuts.

Christmas customs among Serbs include going in front of the church on Christmas Eve and lighting on Christmas Eve. There, in front of the church, the celebration begins because a large number of friends gather, the children get together and the parents celebrate Christmas Eve with a few glasses of brandy. When midnight arrives, it is solemnly marked with a midnight liturgy for Christmas and the lighting of a candle.

Celebrating Christmas according to Orthodox customs

On the morning of Christmas Day, a woman in the house makes a Christmas garlic. When it comes to Christmas customs, garlic is kneaded in the morning, not the night before Christmas. Messi is a mother, a housewife or some other woman in the house. It is mandatory to put ducat in the garlic, which is previously boiled in hot water and disinfected so that everything is hygienic. In addition to ducats, some other things that had various symbols were previously inserted into garlic: beans, raisins, wheat grains, Christmas tree twigs, and even chicken bones. These things signify love, health, food, year of birth, and happiness throughout the year.

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The customs of Christmas in Serbia dictate that it is a Christian family holiday, meaning that no guests come. The only guest who comes to the house that day is the layman. The role of the stall is to light the branch of a Christmas tree. Greet the host with: “Christ is born” or “Merry Christmas”, while the host greets with “Truly born.”

It is considered that a layman should come to the house quite spontaneously, but it is also fine if you agree with someone to be a layman for you, and most of the time it is the first neighbor. When lighting the Yule log, the official says the following words: “So many sparks, so many lucky ones. So many sparks, so much health and money.”

Christmas customs among Serbs require children to go door to door and sing Christmas songs, and the host is obliged to give them some sweets. Most of the time it is chocolates or some cake. If the host refuses to give away some sweets, it is considered that the whole year will go wrong. Children even have the right to ask the host for another gift if they did not like the one they received. So prepare yourself with lots of sweets and be sure to give them to the kids if they have cilantro on your doorstep.

Lesser known Christmas customs

Christmas customs among Serbs require young men to give girls red apples. If the girls accept them, it means that they will get engaged or married this year. This beautiful custom is no longer respected today. Another thing that many are not familiar with is that you should not lend money to anyone for Christmas, because that symbolizes that “things will leave the house” throughout the year. It is also unlucky if you don’t pay off all your debts by Christmas or Christmas.

Christmas should be spent as we would like to spend the whole year. That is why it is recommended that you do the tasks that give you the most problems and that you postpone the most first, to be productive during the next year. If you want to provide your family with a large amount of material income for the coming year for Christmas, you will do so by bringing something new into the house during the holidays.