From Spiridon the Solstice until Christmas Eve (December 24th), not only rural-popular, but also suburban Russia is preparing to welcome the great holiday. The eve should find the Orthodox people already quite ready to receive the good news about the birth of the Savior-Christ, bringing light goodwill to the dark earth. A simple Russian man firmly remembers a parable saying that it is not a trace to come to a feast in sad clothes. That is why he is in a hurry, that is why he is trying with all his might to throw off the black burden of sweating worries from his shoulders and, having stocked up with everything that God will give for the holiday, he waits - with reverent silence in his soul - for the appearance in the sky of the first evening star, believing, that this is the same star that, about two thousand years ago, announced to the magi about the birth of the Son of God in Bethlehem of Judea. They fast all day - they do not take any food on Christmas Eve (“until the star”), pious people who remember the traditions of their fathers and grandfathers, in order, according to the charter-custom bequeathed by those, to meet the coming Savior of the world in the world.

Evening comes; darkness falls to the ground, covers the white-fluffy snows with its heavy shadows. And now, the star of Bethlehem flares up in the east with a bright tremulous light ... The eyes of all Orthodox Russia, all the peoples of the same faith to the Russian plowman, both close to him by blood and distant, are fixed on it. "Christ is born!" - a joyful chant is heard throughout all the temples of God, and floats along with the ringing of bells from crowded cities and villages through valleys and mountains, across fields and roads, throughout the vast expanse of light Russian.

In the evening, on the eve of the Nativity of Christ, Russian people who invariably adhere to the old pious customs do not break the fast: according to the church charter, it is allowed to eat at this time only “sochivo” (rice or barley broth with honey, or berry and fruit) with wheat bread, “pancakes » honey and lenten pies. Breaking the fast - in the morning, after early mass; and until the morning they still stand in Russia Filippovka, going from November 15 until the merry, joyful Christmas time. And they live Christmas time from Christmas to Epiphany (from December 25 to January 6). "Lent - fast, holiday - celebrate!" - they say among the people, just as they say, "business - time, fun - an hour!" From Filippovka - a stone's throw to Svyatki: "Christmas Eve - to Svyatki from Filippovka bridge!", "Kolyada from Novgorod is walking along the Christmas Eve bridge!" - repeats the rural villager, remembering this time, and adds: “Kolyada was born on the eve of Christmas, Kolyada arrived in the afternoon on a chicken foot” ... etc.

“Kolyada” (“koleda”) is a mysterious word that has repeatedly baffled the researchers of our folk life and led them to the most contradictory conclusions. Not only everyday writers, but the people themselves date various concepts to this word. So, in the north they call Christmas Eve carols, caroling - a ritual of going home on Christmas with congratulations and songs, with a star.

In the Novgorod province, gifts received during this walk are reputed to be carols. In the southern and southwestern regions, this name is given to the very feast of Christmas and even all Christmas time. "Caroling" in the Belarusian dialect means "praise Christ." If a Smolensk peasant utters this word, then it has a different meaning in his mouth - to beg, to beg, - thus losing even its real meaning. In the old days they "caroled" on the eve of Christmas throughout Russia. Now this custom has been preserved in its entirety only in Little Russia and among Belarusians. It consists in the fact that the village youth, boys and girls, having stood for the vigil or matins, go in a cheerful crowd along the windowsill, stopping especially long where the fire is burning. Puffy hosts endow carolers with "rings" of sausage, pancakes, nuts or money.

In the provinces of Kiev and Volyn, half of the money raised was recently given to the church; in other places, all the money always went to the feast arranged at Christmas time. Songs-"carols", which are called the newborn Christ in Little Russia, are very diverse and often testify to the deep antiquity of their origin. In one of them, for example, it is sung about how “God's Mata lies in a snake, Sonoyka give birth; She gave birth to a son, bought up in the sea ... ”Another says something completely different:

"On the blue sea
Carabel on the water,
In that ship
Three gates;
In the first gates
Luminous month,
In other gates
The sun is coming down
In the third gate
The Lord Himself walks
accepting keys,
Paradise vomiting "...

In those of the purely Great Russian provinces where the custom of caroling has been preserved, it has become the exclusive property of the village children, who enthusiastically perform it for their elders. And now you can still see crowds of children here and there on the night before Christmas, one of whom carries a lighted lantern in the form of a star on a stick, and all the others run after him to every yard where the owners let them in.

"Carol, carol!
Christmas carol came
Christmas Eve;
We walked, we searched
holy carol
In all yards
Along the lanes.
Found a carol
At Petrov's yard;
Petrov's yard is an iron tyn,
Three towers stand in the middle of the courtyard:
In the first tower - the moon is bright,
In another tower - the sun is red,
And in the third tower - frequent stars ... "

The “carol” continues with the glorification of the host, who is given the nickname “bright moon”, the hostess is the “red sun” in the mouths of the carolers, their children are “frequent stars”, and, finally, the children proclaim at the end of the song:

"Hello, owner and hostess,
For many centuries, for many years!

Sometimes this end is replaced by a more expressive one, like: “The master in the house is like Adam in paradise; the mistress of the house is like pancakes on honey; little kids - that grapes are red-green ... "And then the" star-bearer" bows and no longer with a song, but with an ordinary speech, congratulates the owners on the upcoming holiday.

In some areas, the chorus to the carols is the words “My grapes are red and green!”, Or “Tausin, tausin (“Ay, ov-sen!”)!” In the song collection of P.V. Shein there is the following original carol song recorded in the Pskov province:

“Walked, walked carolers,
Sochili-were looking for the boyar court:
Our boyar court is seven miles away,
On seventy pillars.
As the sovereign went to the Judgment Mountain -
The court is judged by a hundred rubles,
Row rows of thousands.
As the sovereign rides with Judged from the mountain,
He carries his wife a marten fur coat,
To his sons for the good of the horse,
To my daughters-in-law for a kokoshnik,
To my daughters on ribbons,
To his servants on boots.
Give, do not chill the carolers:
Our carol is neither small nor great,
Not a ruble, not a half,
Not in four altyns.
Give, do not chill the carolers!
Or from the oven with a pie,
Either from the cage with an octopus,
Or a mug of beer
Or a glass of wine.
The owner is a clear month.
Hostess - the sun is red in the house! ”...

A semblance of the custom of "caroling" survived in Russia everywhere - both in villages and in cities, not excluding the capitals; but there one no longer hears those carols, naive in their unvarnished simplicity. They were replaced by the same "glorification" with which the church clergy go from house to house on the first day of the holiday.

In Little Russia, more than anywhere else, the customs that marked the meeting of the Nativity of Christ in ancient Russia were preserved. There, and at the present time, the "holy evening" (as the eve of the great feast is called) is celebrated in exactly the same way as it was held many years ago.

At the first gleam of the star of Bethlehem, the elder brings a bundle of hay into the house and spreads it in the red - front - corner on the bench: this latter is covered over the hay with a clean tablecloth, and then an unthreshed sheaf of rye or wheat is placed on it under the goddess. Kutya is placed on the sides of the sheaf - porridge made from barley or rice with raisins and a boil of dried pears, plums and other fruits. Both porridge and broth are covered with knysh (wheat bread). Dinner begins - "supper". Near the images, a lampada lit by the owner is glimmering, around the table, strewn with hay and covered with a white countertop, all the household members sit down. Dumplings, dumplings, roast and after all porridge-kutya and boil are served. During the evening, they guess about the harvest. To do this, hay stalks are pulled out from under the countertop, by the length of which they judge the future growth of bread. They also pull out straws from the sheaf standing under the goddess: if it pulls out with a full ear, you have to wait for the harvest, with a skinny one - crop failure. When everyone is in the evening and the hostess begins to clear the table, fortune-telling begins again, this time by crumbling grass seeds: if more black ones crumble, grouse buckwheat will be good, and more yellow and red ones - you can count on oats, millet and wheat . The sheaf remains in the corner until the New Year. From the “holy” evening until January 1, not a single housewife in Little Russia sweeps rubbish from the hut, so that then all of it, gathered in a heap, is burned in the yard. This protects, according to popular belief, the harvest of the garden from caterpillars, worms and other enemies of fruit-bearing vegetation.

According to an old legend, on the eve of Christmas, at midnight, the heavenly gates open and the Son of God descends to earth from the heights beyond the clouds. "Bright Paradise" during this solemn appearance reveals to the eyes of righteous people all its priceless treasures, all its inexplicable secrets. All the waters in the rivers of Paradise come to life and move; springs are turned into wine and endowed on this great night with miraculous healing power; in the gardens of Eden, flowers bloom on the trees and golden apples are poured. And from the heavenly limits, the Sun dwelling in them sends its generous, rich gifts to the earth dressed in a snowy veil. If someone prays for something at midnight, if he asks for something, everything will come true, it will come true, as written, says the people.

Serbs and Lusatians have a custom - to go out at Christmas midnight in the field, to the crossroads and look at the sky. According to the old people, unspeakable heavenly beauties open up before the eyes of people who are pleasing to God. And they see how the dawn-dawn brings the red sun out of the gardens of Eden, how it, clear, strews its path with gold and roses. And they see how the springs of living water beat in the ant-like shores, how perfumed flowers bloom, how juicy fruits turn golden and pour on silver trees with paper leaves ... Many people still see worthy of visions, but there are fewer and fewer of them on earth darkened by unrepentant sins. And no matter how the sinful soul looks at the sky - nothing but the blue of heaven and the stars - and even if they are not covered by a dark canopy of clouds, it will not look out for it even on this night of revelations.

Among the southwestern Slavic peoples, where their life has not yet changed consanguineous antiquity with the Russian people (for example, among the same Serbs, as well as Dalmatians, Croats and some others), the eve of the Nativity of Christ, called in honor of the awakening and leaving for the summer the way of the sun "bad day" (from the word wake, watch, etc.), is carried out by both poor and rich people equally, according to the rite-custom established by the ancestors. In the morning, a thick oak log is cut down in the nearby forest and brought to the yard. As soon as it begins to get dark, the highway householder brings her into the hut and, entering, greets all the household with the wish to have a happy “bad day”. The deck is smeared with honey, sprinkled with grains of bread, then placed in the oven on coals. When the deck (“badnyak”) flares up, the family gathers near the hearth at the laid festive table and begins to break the fast. At this time, tar fires are burning along the streets, young people near the outskirts are firing from guns. Each family expects guests for the supper. The first guest is called a "possessor", and with his appearance in the hut, all the troubles and joys that happen to the family during the year are associated. Being firmly convinced of the immutability of this belief, the hosts try to invite to their Christmas dinner only those people who can, apparently, bring happiness.

Entering the hut, the plowman takes a handful of grains from a tub standing in the entryway at the door, and, throwing them to the owners, says: “Christ be born!” Bolshak-owner replies: "You give birth to the truth!" and invites the layman to sit on the place of honor, which until then had remained unoccupied. But the guest hesitates to respond to the invitation: he goes to the hearth and begins to beat the poker on the burning oak log so that sparks fly from it in all directions; beats, and he himself sentences the wish that how many sparks fly out, so many piles of zhit would be born, how many sparks - so many offspring in the barnyard, how many sparks - so many measures of vegetables in the garden, etc. Then all those present pick up a lit wax candle, pray to the icons and kiss each other with the words: “Peace of God! Give birth to Christ, give birth to the truth, we bow down to Christ and the Nativity of Christ! After that, the candles are handed over to the owner, who puts them in a cup filled with grains, and a short time later extinguishes them, lowering the lit ends into the grains. Everyone is taken for food.

At the Christmas meal, honey and "chessnitsa" (unleavened wheat bread with a coin baked in it) are the necessary foods here. The large host breaks the garlic and divides it among the diners; whoever gets a piece with a coin, happiness awaits him. Badnyak-deck, according to old knowledgeable people, is endowed with healing power from above. The coals and ashes that remain after it in the hearth are considered a medicine against diseases of cattle and horses; if you fumigate with the smoke of his smoldering brand in the apiary of the beehive, then this helps the friendly swarming of bees, etc. It is good to feed the chickens with grains scattered on the floor during the meeting of the lay guest so that they rush better; the straw with which half the hut is covered on the “bad day” is taken out to the field and scattered over it, thinking that this will give the best harvest in the spring. In many places, the “badnyak” fire is maintained not only on the day of the great holiday, but also on all Christmas time - right up to the New Year.

Ancient antiquity, which has survived to this day from the all-destroying hand of merciless time, never manifests itself in the life of the people as clearly as in the days surrounding the great feast of the Nativity of Christ.

“Like nonce our holy evenings have come,
Holy evenings, Christmas-tide games.
Oh, my Christmas time, holy evenings! Oh, Did!
Oh, my Lada! Oh, Did! Oh, my Lada! ... "

The first Christmas songs are sung, intricate games begin. At Svyatki - space-freedom to the wide scope of tenacious native antiquity. This is the time for which the rich folk imagination seems to have created a variegated tie of beliefs, fortune-telling, games and customs. "Russian Rus", obscured by the harsh everyday life of the working life of a commoner, seems to wake up from its slumber and boldly walks on Christmas days and evenings throughout the Light Russian expanse. She whispers to the plowman people about the forgotten traditions of the past, calls him to consoling fun, awakens in the elemental soul of the million-headed great-grandson of Mikula Selyaninovich the memory of everything that alive the heroic fun of the ancestors of modern tillers, firmly holding on to the land-breadwinner.

The celebration of the Nativity of Christ in the royal chambers of the 16th-17th centuries began the day before, early in the morning. The king made a secret exit. The pious sovereigns of Moscow and "all Russia" loved to commemorate all the great holidays with deeds of charity. So it was in this case. On Christmas Eve, when all of Moscow—both the first rich man and the last poor man—was preparing, each according to his own means, for the holiday, Moscow’s barren poverty overflowed, even before the morning light, all the squares, in the hope that the tsar would not want anyone to some of his people and little people remained hungry in the great days ahead. Everyone who needed to know about the secret exit knew about it. Unexpectedly perfect for the first time turned into a custom; the last - in the rite of royal use consecrated over the years. If not the sovereign himself, then one of his close boyars had to fulfill the prescribed. But only illness could resort to replacing the king with a henchman who was honored to represent the sacred person of the sovereign. Usually this exit was made by the king himself.

In the early morning, accompanied by a small detachment of archers and several clerks of the so-called Secret Order, the crowned pilgrim left the chambers. He was dressed in the “mystery” clothes of a simple boyar and at the same time was “humble in spirit”. The procession was heading towards prisons and almshouses. In the first, the casemates of “prisoners for small faults” and polonyanniks dissolved before the royal visit; secondly, the crippled, relaxed, wretched were waiting for the “bright vision of the sovereign”. Along the streets and squares that lined the path along which the participants in the secret exit were supposed to march, poor people crowded, eager to receive alms from the sovereign's hands. At the same time, in all the Stognas of Belokamennaya Streltsy colonels and trusted tsarist clerks distributed holiday alms "from the generosity of the sovereign" to the poor, crippled and orphans. Zemsky Dvor, Lobnoye Mesto and Red Square gathered around them especially a lot of the poor, who remembered the words of the sovereign's decree that not a single poor person in Moscow should be left without royal alms on that day.

Four hours before dawn, the autocrat went out on a pious feat. The darkness of the winter night lay like a black canopy over snow-clad Moscow. A lantern was carried in front of the sovereign, the servants of the Secret Order followed by the side, at a distance - the archers. Passers-by on the way dressed in money. First of all the "prisons" was visited by the Great Prison Yard. The pious guest of the prisoners went around each hut, listening to the complaints of the convicts: freeing some according to his royal gracious pleasure and speedy judgment, easing the bonds of others, giving out to others a ruble and a half for a holiday. All "prisoners" on the orders of the sovereign were assigned a festive grub on great days. From the Great Prison Yard, the sovereign marched on the "Aglinskaya". In this court, the Tsar's mercy was poured out on the Polonians. Marching from here, in the White and Kitai-gorod, the sovereign dressed from his own hands every poor man he met. Returning from the described exit to the chambers, the king went to his chambers to rest. After resting and changing clothes, he went out to the Dining Hut, or the Golden Chamber, or to one of the palace (“room”) churches. The crowned pilgrim listened to the royal clock, surrounded by a host of boyars, duma clerks and close officials.

On the eve of the great feast, the tsar, in a white, silk-covered fur coat, trimmed with forged gilded lace and a gold stripe, went to the Assumption Cathedral, where he stood at the vespers and listened to the action of many years, “clicked” by the archdeacon. After that, the patriarch, according to Zabelin's description, "healthy with the authorities and with the whole cathedral" ... It was pronounced "titlo". The sovereign exchanged congratulations with the patriarch and all those present; then, having accepted the patriarchal blessing, he marched to the chambers.

At dusk, with the tremulous twinkling of the first evening star, the cathedral clergy with the choirs of the sovereign's choristers came to the palace "to glorify Christ"; the latter were sometimes joined by "villages" of patriarchal, metropolitan and other singing choirs. The glorifiers entered the Dining Hut or the Front Chamber. The sovereign received guests according to the charter, according to custom, favoring them with white and red honey, which was carried around by special trays in gold and silver ladles. In addition to the royal treats, Christoslavs also received “glorified” (from 8 altyns with 3 money to 12 rubles, depending on the position of the one from whom the choir was). The Russian tsars were very fond of church singing, and therefore favored the “singers” who had outstanding art in it, and in particular.

It was the very feast of the Nativity of Christ. The king went to matins in the Golden Chamber. At 10 o'clock in the morning, the first resounding blow of the red bell for mass was spread over Moscow, picked up by the bell towers of forty-forty Moscow. At this time, the sovereign was already in the Dining Room, cleaned with a "large outfit." He sat in his royal place, next to which stood the patriarchal chair. Boyars and duma clerks sat on benches covered with "velvet"; other nearby people, of lower ranks, stood at a distance. After some time, the patriarch entered the chamber, preceded by the cathedral keys with a cross and holy water. The saint was accompanied by a host of metropolitans, archbishops, bishops, archimandrites and abbots. The emperor stood up to meet the archpastor, who was going to glorify Christ. After singing the prayers laid down according to the charter, the "sticher" and many years, the patriarch congratulated the royal owner of the Russian Land and, at his invitation, sat down next to him. Then, a little later, having blessed the sovereign, the hierarch of the Orthodox Church, with all the spiritual authorities, went to the queen's chambers, to the sovereign's Golden Chamber. After the queen, the patriarch visited all members of the royal family.

Meanwhile, the emperor was going to mass in the Assumption Cathedral. The exit to the cathedral was made along the Red Porch, preceded and accompanied by the boyars. The sovereign was dressed in the royal robe (purple), a camp caftan and a crown; royal bars were placed on his chest; in his hand he held the king's staff. The royal pilgrim was held under the arms by two stewards in golden festive feryazs. People of a lower rank began the procession, nobles of a higher rank followed the king.

After listening to the liturgy, the sovereign in one of the aisles of the cathedral changed the royal fee to the "marching" one and returned to the palace. There, at that time, a festive table was already being prepared - for the patriarch, authorities and boyars. But, true to his pious custom, the Moscow autocrat did not sit down at the table without knowing that everything was done according to his will.

And the sovereign “deigned” to order in the morning: “to build tables” for the poor and orphans. By this time there were already other guests in the Front Chamber or in one of the sovereign's warm vestibules: up to a hundred or more beggars and wretched people gathered and called around Moscow. Tables were lined with pies and baked goods, jars of kvass and sychyonny honey were placed. According to the sign given by the near boyar, the priests let in the royal guests who took their places at the tables. Travers came in and gave all those who dined on behalf of the tsar with rolls and money (half a piece). Behind them, a neighbor boyar passed through the ward, pretending to be the sovereign's deputy, and "questioned everyone about contentment." And only after this boyar brought the news to the tsar that his wretched guests were full, granted a "salary" and released with a gracious word, the sovereign sat down in the Dining Chamber at the tables, "taken by the patriarch and the authorities." Sometimes at the same time, tables for the poor and orphans were “built” in the queen’s chambers, in her Golden Chamber, where the royal salary was also distributed to the poor with a generous hand. In the morning, before mass, the elder boyars came to the queen, with whom she listened to the glorification of the patriarch.

Having met the holiday with deeds of charity for the unfortunate bypassed by fate and having accepted the “health” of the spiritual and secular authorities of his neighbors, the sovereign gave himself to the family. The next day, he listened to Matins and Mass in one of his indoor churches, after which he received visitors from other cities of Christoslavs of the "spiritual and secular rank." At the same time, visiting boyars were going to the queen at the same time, at the “deliberate call”. The relatives of the sovereign and the empress remained in the tsarina's chambers - to the "table"; all the same, other guests left, since, according to the charter, they were not given the right to dine at the royal tables.

On the third day of the great feast, the sovereign "went sanmi" on pilgrimage to one of the most revered Moscow monasteries glorified by its shrines. On a gilded sleigh, speckled with cunning patterns, on the sides of the royal place, covered with Persian carpets, stood two nearby boyars and two stewards. Behind the sovereign's sleigh rode the royal retinue: boyars, roundabouts, boyar children. The train was protected from all danger by a detachment of archers of a hundred people. Countless crowds of people surrounded the royal path, ran and rode on horseback after the trainees, greeting the “father-king” with joyful cries. Having visited the Moscow shrines, on the way back from the pilgrimage, the sovereign stopped by to bow to the ashes of his parents and returned to his chambers.

The evening of this day, the king, in the circle of his family, spent in a special Amusement Chamber. In it, guselniki, domrachi, violinists, organists and cymbal players delighted the ear of the sovereign. Buffoons with dwarfs and dwarfs amused the royal family with songs, dances and all sorts of other "actions". Presented here sometimes in front of the royal eyes and "overseas masters of comedy". From that evening in the tsarina's chambers and in the tsar's chambers, the time for Christmas fun began.

“I’m burying gold, I’m burying,
Pure silver I bury, I bury,
I'm in the father's tower, in the tower,
I’m at my mother’s in a high, in a high ... "

"Fallen, fallen ring
In viburnum, in raspberries,
In black currant...
Guess, guess girl
Guess the red one
Walking through the field
Weave a scythe of Rus,
silk first,
Sprinkling with gold "...

And in Belokamennaya Moscow and throughout the Russian Land, the merry Christmas time was already in full swing.

——————

According to the book "People's Russia. All year round legends, beliefs, customs and proverbs of the Russian people” A.A. Corinthian.

Unlike most Christian countries, in Russia Christmas is not celebrated on December 25, but on January 7. This is due to the fact that, unlike the state, which switched to the Gregorian calendar back in 1918, the church continues to adhere to the Julian, which is 13 days behind the generally accepted Gregorian. According to the church calendar, December 25 falls on January 7.

Together with Russia, on January 7, Christmas is also celebrated in countries that are part of the zone of canonical influence of the Russian Orthodox Church - Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, as well as the Russian population of countries near and far abroad. In addition, two other Orthodox churches celebrate Christmas at the same time - Georgian and Serbian, as well as some groups of believers in other Orthodox countries - Greece, Bulgaria and Romania. And the Armenian Apostolic Church, according to tradition, will celebrate Christmas at the same time as the baptism - on January 19th.

In turn, the official church organizations of Greece, Bulgaria and Romania, like the majority of Orthodox believers in these countries, celebrate Christmas together with Western Christians - Catholics and Protestants - on December 25th.

Note that Christmas has practically merged with the pagan holiday of Christmas time, celebrated back in the days when our distant ancestors were pagans. Many Christmas rituals have become an integral part of the celebration of Christmas in Russia. Under Soviet rule, during the reign of official atheism, almost all the traditions associated with the celebration of the Nativity of Christ were lost. Thank God, it is irrevocable, and below we will try to restore the picture of how the Russian people celebrated the coming of the Savior into our world.

They waited a long time for Christmas, preparations for it were
very meticulous and thorough. In the old days, they prepared ahead of time for the holiday: they carried out general cleaning in the house, set up and decorated the Christmas tree, and made preparations for the festive table.

Christmas was preceded by a four-week strict fast, ending on the eve of the holiday - Christmas Eve, on which people usually abstained from food until late in the evening, "until the first star." Dinner on Christmas Eve was Lenten, Lenten if possible. They ate only fish and vegetables. Fortunately, there were a lot of fish in Russia - beluga, sturgeon, pike perch, navaga, herring, catfish, bream ...

A real feast with meat dishes began on Christmas - after attending a nightly festive service in the church.

The Christmas table was decorated in a special way: they usually put a little hay or straw under the tablecloth (a memory of the manger of little Jesus), and under the table - some kind of iron object, on which everyone sitting at the table should put their feet in turn in order to maintain health during the coming years (iron symbolizes health and strength).

After the appearance of the first star in the sky, the whole family gathered at the table. On the holiday, family and guests were regaled with all kinds of snacks, meat and fish, aspic and jelly. And, of course, it was hard to imagine a Christmas meal without a baked goose with apples. Fried bird - decoration of the Christmas table. Chicken is served cold, goose or duck - hot. Chicken was eaten with pickles, tomatoes and herbs, hot poultry with fried potatoes. Salads of cucumbers, tomatoes, cabbage, fresh and pickled cucumbers, pickled apples and lingonberries are served separately. At Christmas, pies and pies were baked in every house, which were also treated to those who came to “carol”. Carols are cheerful songs that glorified the birth of Christ, but after the glorification of the Savior, their content became quite ordinary, festive in a secular way.

At the table they ate, drank, wished each other happiness, congratulated each other on Christmas, and then distributed gifts, bringing great joy to children. The next day, everyone received guests and went to visit themselves.

Christmas in Russia

The feast of the Nativity of Christ entered Russia along with Christianity in the 10th century. and merged here with the winter ancient Slavic holiday Christmas time.

Slavic Christmas time was a multi-day holiday. They began at the end of December and continued throughout the first week of January. Only with the penetration of Christianity into the life of the Slavs, firm dates were fixed for Christmas time - from December 25, the day of the mythical birth of Christ, and until baptism, that is, until January 6.

In the life of the ancient Slavs, the time of this holiday was of great economic importance. Winter work was coming to an end, a period of active preparation for spring was beginning. Economic life left a noticeable imprint on the Christmas time and to a large extent determined the festive Christmas rituals and customs. Many of them, having undergone significant changes, passed into the Christmas rites.

The Slavs attached great importance to the magical cleansing of all evil spirits, filth, evil spirits, with which, in fact, Christmas time began. To do this, the dwelling was carefully cleaned and washed, people washed themselves, cattle were sprinkled with water. Fire and smoke drove away evil spirits.

A large place in the celebration of Christmas time was occupied by community meetings - gatherings. At these meetings, the most important economic issues were discussed, and the schedule for further work was outlined. Community meetings ended with general festive feasts, which often lasted several days. At the same time, part of the food was “given away” to the gods, spirits to the souls of dead ancestors, in order to attract them to their side in this way. At the same time, various amusements, games, fortune-telling, walking of mummers, Christmas markets (trades, bazaars) were arranged. The cult of plant spirits and industrial agricultural magic also occupied a large place in the Christmas rites of the Slavs. The performance of various rituals, according to believers, was supposed to ensure a good harvest, a large offspring of livestock.

The remnants of all these rituals, customs and beliefs, although in a significantly changed form, have been preserved in many places until recently.

Until recently, in some areas of our country, the Christmas holiday began like this: on Christmas Eve, the dwelling was cleaned with ears of corn, the table and floor were covered with fresh hay, and an unthreshed sheaf was placed in the front corner, under the icons. With the appearance of the first star in the sky, the family sat down at the festive table. One of the main ceremonial dishes at the feast was kutya, or sochivo, i.e. liquid porridge made from boiled bread grains, sweetened with honey. Before the festive meal itself, the owner took a pot of kutya and walked around the hut three times with it, then threw a few spoons of kutya through a window or door into the street, symbolically treating the spirits. Frost was invited to the hut to eat kutya, and he was asked not to attack in the spring “on zhito, wheat and all pashits”, that is, not to destroy crops in spring.

Specially prepared sausages and pork also occupied a large place in the Christmas festive treat. They tried to clutter up the festive table with decorations and all sorts of dishes, figurines of domestic animals baked from dough, ornaments from ears of corn, so that, sitting at this table, householders could not see each other. It was believed that the abundance of the festive table can magically contribute to abundance, prosperity of the family throughout the year. At the end of the festive meal, the spoons were left in the kutia so that the spirits could feast.

Caroling was also a common Christmas ritual. When caroling, special songs were sung - carols. Initially, these were magical, witchcraft spells, supposedly ensuring the economic well-being of the community, family. Later, special songs appeared, glorifying the owners of the house and wishing them all the best. In some areas, carolers, coming to the hut, poured grain on the floor of the hut, pursuing the goal of magically calling for a high harvest.

After the introduction of Christianity, the church linked caroling with the gospel myth of the appearance of the star of Bethlehem, announcing the birth of Christ. So the pagan caroling turned into the walking of Christs with a star from house to house. The worshipers sang special Christmas church songs. Children were widely involved in the glorification of Christ. Believers rewarded them with gifts and sweets.

The clergy showed great activity in "Christ-worship". It became a major source of income for him. As a result of going around the houses with short prayers, the clergy collected whole carts of food and large sums of money on the Christmas holidays.

In the celebration of the Orthodox Nativity of Christ, remnants of Christmastime entertainments have also been preserved. The following document testifies to the nature of Christmas, Christmas festivities. In the letter of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich to the Shuya governor in 1649, it was written: “Yes, on Christmas and until the Epiphany Day (that is, during all Christmas time, before baptism. - Ed.) they gather for demonic games, but drunken priests and monks and all kinds of Orthodox Christians walk around Moscow, and scold, and fight, and fight, scream and yell, and revel in memory without memory.

Exorbitant saturation with food and wine was a relic of the belief that in this way one could magically ensure a well-fed and cheerful life throughout the year.

It was widely spread at Christmas time (and then passed into the Christmas ceremony) walking mummers. The ancient Slavs, dressed in the skins of various animals, believed that in this way they could magically influence the increase in the number of these animals. On the other hand, it was believed that the rampant evil spirits were especially great on the holiday. Christians also believed in this, believing that God, rejoicing at the birth of his son, opened the doors of heaven and hell and released angels and all evil spirits to "walk the earth." In order to avoid the harmful influence of evil spirits, believers, following the example of distant ancestors, dressed up, put on terrible animal masks in order to scare away evil spirits with this outfit or at least become unrecognizable and thus avoid the machinations of evil spirits.

Fortune-telling was an integral part of the Christmas entertainment. It arose as a result of the desire of people to somehow foresee the future and even magically influence it. People wanted to know in advance what the harvest would be, the offspring of livestock, etc. This, for example, is evidenced by such divination techniques as pulling straws from a sheaf or a blade of hay brought to the hut at Christmas time with their teeth. An elongated full ear with grain foreshadowed a good harvest, a long blade of grass - a good hay.

At a later time, the custom of fortune-telling was preserved mainly among young people, especially among girls, and was reduced to the desire to know one's fate, to know or see the betrothed.

And finally, let's dwell on one more Christmas, Christmas custom - decorating the Christmas tree. This custom is not Slavic, but transferred to Russia from the West. Among the ancient Germanic tribes, the cult of the spirits of vegetation was widespread. These spirits allegedly could exert a powerful influence on the harvest of bread, fruits, fruits, and on the offspring of livestock. According to the beliefs of the Germans, these spirits lived in trees, and above all in evergreen firs. In order to appease the spirits, they made sacrifices - they hung all their offerings on fir trees. Later, the spruce was no longer decorated in the forest or in the clearing, but was cut down and brought to the village. Here, around the decorated spruce, a holiday was held. The Christian church included this ancient custom in the Christmas rites. With the development of economic ties, the custom of decorating a Christmas tree for Christmas was brought to Russia (XVIII century). In our country, decorating the Christmas tree is timed to celebrate the New Year. The Christmas tree is arranged as fun for children.

Such was the everyday content of the Slavic Christmas time and the Christian holiday of the Nativity of Christ that merged with them. The Orthodox Church attached exceptional importance to this holiday. Christmas, according to the teachings of the church, is the second Easter.

The church assigned the central place in the ideological content of the holiday to the teaching of the birth of Jesus Christ in the form of a man to atone for the sins of people, to show mankind the ways of salvation. Defining the content of the Christmas feast, one of the church leaders wrote: “Glorifying the true union of God with man in the born God-man, the feast of the Nativity of Christ morally teaches us a holy life worthy of the born Lord” ( Debolsky. Days of worship ... of the Orthodox Church, vol. I, 1901, p. 38).

In its divine services, the church dedicates the whole 12 days to the Christmas holiday. Starting from December 20, 5 days are considered the pre-feast of Christmas. The most solemn service is performed on the day of the holiday itself. This is a real performance, which is designed to influence the religious feelings of believers, raise their religious mood and make them more receptive to the teachings of their spiritual fathers.

All the ideological content of the holiday, all its liturgical side pursue one main goal: to prove that all earthly troubles, all social injustice is the result of the sinfulness of the human race. And the way out of a difficult earthly life is to achieve heavenly bliss in the other world, the afterlife, which can be achieved only by fulfilling the teachings of Christ.

Calling on people to come to terms with cruel reality, distracting them from the struggle for better living conditions, for true human happiness on earth, the Church faithfully served the feudal lords, feudal lords, landowners and capitalists. And it is no coincidence that the tsarist government of Russia considered Christmas a public holiday and the entire church and police apparatus zealously monitored that the Christmas ritual was strictly observed by everyone. This was done in order to give the working people a deceptive consolation in "their newly born savior and the redeemer of their sins" on Christmas days.

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Lasting forty days, thus the Christians prepared for the great event.

In everyday life, the peasants prepared for Christmas and on the eve of the holiday itself. The hostesses always cleaned the huts by Christmas Eve, washed and bleached everything, and finished preparing herbal and intoxicated beer for Christmas celebrations. Also at this time, all the women finished baking, which everyone would have to eat after the liturgy of the Nativity and when treating guests at the feast. On Christmas Eve, the old people rested, and everyone else tried to finish all the work before dinner, in order to have time to go to the bathhouse to wash themselves while it was light. In Siberia, this bath was called a princess, it was usually prepared by women. The holiday was usually celebrated in new clothes.

On Christmas Eve, until the first star appears in the sky, everything fasted especially old people. Before the sun went down, all family members had to gather at the table and pray. Sometimes the owner of the house put a candle in the bread, after which he went for straw, with which he covered the front corner of the house and the shop in it. The straw was covered with a clean tablecloth or towel, on which they put kutya and put rye next to it. After that, the whole family prayed again, and the candles were extinguished, after which everyone silently began to eat. In the provinces in western Russia, which were located closer to Belarus, straw was laid under the tablecloth on the table.

The main dish, as now, was kutya. There was no fast food on the table on Christmas Eve. Basically, they put bread, grated peas, cabbage with kvass, wort on the table. Since only fasting dishes were consumed, they called the Christmas Eve meal “hungry kutya”. And in the Kaluga province, it was impossible to drink water while eating. It was believed that those who drink water will get sick.

In some places in Russia, frost was called before a gala dinner. After everyone had eaten, the food was not cleared from the table. It was believed that dead relatives come at night and eat up everything. Spoons that family members ate on Christmas Eve were used in divination. On this day, it was customary to go to bed early. In the early morning, on January 7, bonfires were lit in the provinces in southern Russia, they called it "heating the dead." In the morning, children, and in some provinces, girls and young boys praised Christ: they went home and carried kutya, sang songs, for which they received various goodies and money.

On the eve of Christmas, the peasants drank enough to have fun from the heart. So it was established, therefore, any dark, sad clothes could not be worn on this day.

Any passer-by was allowed to enter the hut and eat, and none of the owners could refuse to eat y. As a result, at the end of the evening, all the men of the villages were already barely getting home, dragging their feet. Among these fun, the exception was, of course, only the praisers - children and youth, who simply sang songs. The youngest of the slavers, as a rule, was put on a fur coat, which was laid in the very front corner with the fur up. Thus, according to legend, they helped the hens to incubate eggs well in the future. Everyone else was given money and sweets. With the proceeds, a hut was rented, in which all non-drinkers went for conversations.

The most important thing at Christmas was participation in the liturgy. Upon returning home from the church, a festive dinner was arranged, during which everyone broke their fast.

Church ministers also went home in the morning to praise Christ. Throughout the day, children and young people caroled, and crib performances were organized in the south of Russia and Siberia, they were also called cribs. In the evening, everyone went to visit guests: relatives, godfathers and neighbors.

How was Christmas celebrated in Russia?

Our ancestors received the Christmas service in the 10th century almost ready-made from Constantinople. Around the end of the 12th century, the holiday began to be preceded by a forty-day fast, which is sometimes also called "Philip's Fast", because it begins on November 28 - immediately after the celebration of the memory of the Apostle Philip.

It was the custom of ancient Christians to strictly fast on the eve of great holidays in order to feel the greatness of the holiday, before which even the most natural human needs for food must recede. Such a strict one-day fast is preserved to this day on the eve of the holidays of Christmas and Epiphany and is called the Eve or Christmas Eve from the custom of eating juicy boiled wheat with honey in the evening of that day (after the first star).

Why exactly after the first star? There is no mystical meaning to be found here. It’s just that the first star appears in the sky with the onset of darkness, that is, Christians spend the whole day in strict fasting, and you can only taste juicy in the evening. But of course, on the eve of Christmas, I want even the smallest church establishments to remind us of the upcoming celebration. That's why they talk about the star.

From Christmas to Epiphany, special days of spiritual celebration follow, which in Russia are called Christmastide. The pagan Slavs also had a sunny holiday at this time. It began at the end of December and lasted until the first days of January. These were the days of the “salt turn”, when “the sun turns to summer, and winter to frost. The sun dresses up in a sunny sundress, a kokoshnik, gets into a cart and goes to warm countries, ”our distant ancestors said so. Winter is becoming fierce, but its end is already visible, so you need to have fun. Winter came "karachun" - this is the day of the solstice, that is, the shortest day. On the other hand, "Karachun" among the Slavs is an evil spirit that kills life.

Apparently, the ancient pagan Slavs reasoned like this: the sun had just been born, which means it is weak and winter can “set him a karachun”. Therefore, the sun appears to people not in its usual form, but in a mask, dressed up. This is where masquerades begin. You can have fun with all your heart, but put on a mask so that the evil spirit does not recognize you and harm you. In addition, these days among the pagans were associated with many rituals, games, signs, fortune-telling, basically having one desire - to start a new life with the blessing of the gods, full of joy, happiness and contentment. Of course, young people had an advantage here - they have a future ahead of them. Therefore, young people were given the first place at Christmas time. The older generation could only be a "moral support group".

The common name for this fun is caroling. Nikolai Karamzin believed that Kolyada among the Slavs was the god of feasts and peace. Dahl's dictionary says that this word comes from the Latin calendae (January 1 - 6). Some researchers believe that the carol comes from the Sanskrit "Kala" - to convene.

In the tenth century Russia was baptized.

How to deal with pagan holidays? In Western Europe, in this sense, it was simpler: the Church turned to state power, and that force suppressed the remnants of paganism. In Russia it was different. The church itself fought against paganism and by no means by force. In what way? She tried to fill the old form with new content.

Speaking about the difference between the worldview of the East and the West, Vasily Rozanov very accurately noted that in the West the means of salvation used by the Church in relation to people who, in her opinion, are mistaken, are causal in nature, driving away from error. In the East, however, it is an expedient character, attracting to the truth. That is why the Church has never put pressure on the consciousness of people with external force and has not canceled Christmas time. But on the basis of the old, new traditions appeared. For example, carols have become a rite of passage from house to house on holy days of the so-called “glorifiers or “christoslavs” with a nativity scene and a star. They sang songs dedicated to the Nativity of Christ.

Kolyada came
On the eve of Christmas.
We walked
we searched
Holy carol…
Found Kolyada
At Petrov's yard...


This was followed by the glorification of "Peter's Dvor", to which the glorifiers came. For this they received a generous treat from Peter. Of course, on the one hand, there is a very thin line between Christian and pagan carols, which you can imperceptibly cross and begin to glorify not Christ at all, but a different spiritual reality ... And the Russian Church paid attention to this. For example, there are corresponding warnings in the decisions of the Stoglavy Cathedral of 1551 and in a special letter of tsar Alexei Mikhailovich of 1649: “it was known to have committed”, as throughout Moscow “at Compline of the Nativity of Christ, many people call Kolyada and Usen, and the demonic players are buffoons with domras and with duds, with bears go; the women bake every kind of animal, animal and bird ... Then they make dancing and singing. The king forbids all this, as "very sinful." Stoglav reproaches Christians that “in cities and villages they create Hellenic (that is, pagan. - R.M.) demons, games, dancing against the feast of the Nativity of Christ and in the night, glorifying Kolyada ... ".

But on the other hand, if people do not cross this line, if they rejoice at the birth of Christ and glorify Him, how can the Church forbid this? On the contrary, following the words of the Apostle Paul, “always rejoice,” she will rejoice on holy days with those who have found Christ. Another thing is that there are different levels of joy and its expression. And the deeper the joy, the quieter it is, the more a person cares about not losing it.

As for divination, the Church has repeatedly spoken out against this pagan tradition, although there is a strong opinion that the Church blesses divination at Christmas time. Of course, on New Year's days, a person wants to look into his future, I want to know "what the coming day has in store for us." But it is no coincidence that Christians express their religious worldview not with the word "knowledge", but with the word "faith". It assumes that a person is always free in his spiritual life. And fortune-telling violates freedom, because people try to take the spiritual world by the collar and shake out the necessary information from it, to make it a subject of knowledge, not faith. A person becomes addicted to what he sees in the starry sky or in the coffee grounds. And there is no longer room for a free decision. But God is only where there is freedom. This was expressed in the fact that He was not born in the Roman imperial palace, not in the chambers of King Herod, and not even in the house of the Jewish High Priest. He was born in a cave where animals are hidden in bad weather. His Christmas was not accompanied by thunder and lightning. God has given the human heart freedom to believe.