Serbian Christmas Traditions - Christmas

Christmas

On Christmas Day, the celebration is announced at dawn by church bells, and by shooting from guns and prangijas. The head of household and some of the family go to church to attend the Morning Liturgy. No one is to eat anything before tasting the prosphora, which the head of household brings from church for those who stay at home to do domestic tasks for this morning.

The Serbs native to the Slovenian region of White Carniola try to see only healthy and prosperous people on this day. The Serbs of Timiş County in Romania have since the interwar period adopted the custom of erecting in their homes a Christmas tree, which they call krisindla, after the German Christkindl. On Christmas Day children sing little songs, at the beginning of which Christmas is said to knock or tread loudly. This may be understood as a theophany: by the sound, Young God makes his arrival known to people. The following are the lyrics of two of such songs:

Божић штапом бата,
носи сува злата
од врата до врата.
На чија ће врата
дат' благослов, злата?
На наша ће врата
просут' шаку злата.
Christmas knocks with a stick,
he carries solid gold
from a door to a door.
Upon whose door will he
give his blessing and gold?
Upon our door he will
spill a handful of gold.
Божић, Божић бата,
носи киту злата
да позлати врата,
и од боја до боја,
и сву кућу до крова!
Christmas, Christmas treads loud,
carries a clump of gold
to make golden the door,
and also, from floor to floor,
all the house to the rooftop!

Read more about this topic:  Serbian Christmas Traditions

Famous quotes containing the word christmas:

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