Badnjak (Serbian) - Public Celebration

Public Celebration

The badnjak ceremony, originally performed only within the family, became a more public celebration. A custom developed before World War I in the Kingdom of Serbia to lay the badnjak on a fire built in military barracks, so that the soldiers stationed there over Christmas could share in the holiday atmosphere. In the succeeding Kingdom of Yugoslavia, the military badnjak ceremony was standardized in army service regulations. On Christmas Eve, under the command of a specially appointed officer, the representatives of military units of a garrison formed a festive procession on horses, accompanied with music. Members of citizens' associations and other civilians of the garrison town usually joined the procession as it proceeded to the nearest wood to collect the badnjak. They felled a set number of trees, dedicated respectively to the Royal Palace, the military command of the town, the respective commands of units of the garrison, its oldest officer, and its officers' assembly house. The procession brought the trees to the barracks, in whose yard an open fire was built. The garrison commander then placed the trees ceremonially on the fire, and gave an appropriate address.

More and more state institutions, private firms, organizations, and clubs joined the procession each year, and the event began to take on the character of a public holiday. During the 1930s, the laying of badnjak on the fire became a court ritual. It was performed, in the presence of the royal family, by representatives of the army in the Royal Palace's room with a fireplace. At the end of the 1930s in some parts of Yugoslavia, especially Vojvodina and Montenegro, the military badnjak ceremony was performed not in the barracks yard but in a square in the garrison town. An open fire was built, on which the badnjak was placed by an Orthodox priest in the presence of soldiers and citizens. This tradition, symbolizing the unity of state, church, and people, was ended by the outbreak of World War II.

Yugoslavia's socialist government suppressed or discouraged public religious celebrations, until the early 1990s. Since then the Serbian Orthodox Church has, together with local communities, organized public celebrations on Christmas Eve. There are typically three elements to such celebrations: the preparation, the ritual, and the festivity. The preparation consists of cutting down the oak sapling to be used as the badnjak, taking it to the church yard, and preparing drink and food for the assembled parishioners. The ritual includes Vespers, placing the badnjak on the open fire built in the church yard, blessing or consecrating the badnjak, and an appropriate program with songs and recitals. In some parishes they build the fire on which to burn the badnjak not in the church yard but at some other suitable location in their town or village. The festivity consists of gathering around the fire and socializing. Each particular celebration has its own specific traits however, reflecting the traditions of the local community.

The expedition to cut down the badnjak is the basic activity in the preparation part of the celebration. It can be performed by an individual, but it is usually a collective act accompanied by a festive procession that may include carriages and horsemen. After the tree to be used as the badnjak is cut down, it is adorned with straw, ribbons, oranges, apples, and sometimes with the Serbian flag. In some parishes more than one badnjak is used in the celebration, and a different tree is felled for each. Often bunches of leaved oak twigs are prepared to be distributed to the congregation gathered at the church. Each badnjak is festively taken to the church gate, often transported on carriages. The badnjak may be taken into the churchyard without any ceremony, or it may be followed by a procession, as is the case in parts of Republika Srpska and the Bay of Kotor.

The ritual is the central part of the celebration. Vespers vary from place to place with respect to the time of the beginning of the service, its length and structure. The laying of badnjak on the fire usually comes after the service, and is done by a priest or by a respected parishioner. Before the burning, the tree may be processionally carried around the church. In the case of more than one badnjak, the trees are placed in the shape of a cross. The assembled devotees throw then into the fire their twig bunches, each representing a small badnjak. The consecration or blessing is performed by a priest: he strews wheat grains over the badnjak, censes it while singing the Troparion of the Nativity, and as he intones prayers, he pours wine and spreads honey on it. Instead of applying wine and honey, holy water may be sprinkled on the tree by dipping a bunch of basil into a bowl with the water. This rite is generally performed after the placing on the fire, although it may happen before, in which case the consecration may be performed in the church itself or in its yard.

After the ritual the priest delivers a short sermon, followed by the church choir singing Christmas songs; poems that praise the Nativity of Jesus Christ may be recited. In Montenegro, decasyllable Serbian epics are sung to an accompaniment played on the gusle, a traditional Serbian bowed string instrument. The celebration ends with parishioners gathered around the fire, served with cooked rakia, wine, or tea, and the food allowed during the Nativity Fast. Parishioners may pick a twig from the badnjak and take it home to place in front of their icon, or at another appropriate location.

Although Serbian public religious celebrations, as those of other peoples, were discouraged in Socialist Yugoslavia until the early 1990s, they continued among Serbian Americans. The public badnjak ceremony was held in Serbian Orthodox parishes in the United States during that period, as it is today.