Serbian Ortodox Christmas

Tonight is the Christmas eve, but I don’t feel it as I should. Being in India, on 30+ degrees, you just loose the feeling of it. No snow, no strong winter, going for the badnjak, feeling that cold morning breeze and afterwards hearing it pops in the fire.

First Christmas out of home, and out of Serbia. I persume I’ll need to improvise

I’m not such a religious person, but I see these festivities as a strong part of our tradition and culture, essential for our national identity. This is why I wanted to show Serbian Ortodox Christmas through my blog, so my friends outside Serbia can learn more about our religion and customs.

Serbs have their own customs regarding Christmas. The Serbian Orthodox Church uses the Julian calendar, so Christmas currently falls on January 7 of the Gregorian calendar.

Early in the morning of Christmas Eve, the head of the family would go to a forest in order to cut badnjak, a young oak, the oaktree would then be brought into the church to be blessed by the priest. Then the oaktree would be stripped of its branches with combined with wheat and other grain products would be burned in the fireplace.

The burning of the badnjak is a ritual which is most certainly of pagan origin and it is considered a sacrifice to God (or the old pagan gods) so that the coming year may bring plenty of food, happiness, love, luck and riches. Nowadays, with most Serbs living in towns, most simply go to their church service to be given a small parcel of oak, wheat and other branches tied together to be taken home and set afire. The house floor and church is covered with hay, reminding worshippers of the stable in which Jesus was born.

Christmas Day itself is celebrated with a feast, necessarily featuring roasted piglet as the main meal.

Another Christmas meal is a deliciously sweet cake made of wheat, called koljivo whose consumption is more for ritual than nourishment. One crosses oneself first, then takes a spoonful of the cake and savours it.

But the most important Christmas meal is ?esnica, a special kind of bread. The bread contains a coin; during the lunch, the family breaks up the bread and the one who finds the coin is said to be assured of an especially happy year.

Christmas is not associated with presents like in the West, although it is the day of St Nicolas, the protector saint of children, to whom presents are given. However, most Serbian families give presents on New Year’s Day. Santa Claus (Deda Mraz (literally meaning grandpa frost)) and the Christmas tree (but rather associated with New Year’s Day) are also used in Serbia as result of globalisation. Serbs also celebrate the Orthodox New Year (currently on January 14 of the Gregorian Calendar).

One more difference from West is that we usually don’t say “Merry Christmas”, but the expression”Hristos se rodi” (eng. Christ is born). And reply to this greeting will be “Vaistinu se rodi” (eng. Indeed he is born).