What you need and cannot do on Christmas Eve: signs, traditions, treats

January 6 Orthodox believers celebrate Christmas Eve, also known as the Holy Evening, recalls Obozrevatel.

It is believed that by Christmas it is necessary to clean the house and prepare 12 lean dishes - dinner on Christmas Eve should be non-alcoholic and lean. We will tell you about the traditions, prohibitions and signs associated with this day.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve, also known as the Holy Evening, is Christmas Eve, which is celebrated in the Orthodox Church on January 6. By tradition, Christmas Eve refuse food until the first star appears, and the prayers of the Great Hours are served in the church.

Traditions on Christmas Eve

The main thing to do on Holy January 6th is to go to church service. After the service, with the advent of the first star, the family begins an evening meal. Start with kutya, then go another 11 fasting dishes.

During dinner on Christmas Eve, you are allowed to drink some wine, in addition, you should dress beautifully and elegantly on the holiday.

It is also important on this day to forgive your enemies and ask for forgiveness from everyone whom you once could offend with something. It is believed that it is on this holiday that it is easier to apologize and forget the offense.

It is also customary to commemorate the departed on Holy Evening; for the souls of the ancestors, kutia and other dishes are specially left on the laid table.

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After the Holy Supper decided to go caroling. They say that the more carols that come to your home, the better and more fruitful the year will be. Note that in some regions caroling is not done on Christmas Eve, but on the morning of the next day.

It is believed that the desire made in the Holy Evening should be fulfilled. Especially if you will make up your mind, going out into the street and seeing a shooting star.

There is also a tradition according to which not a single dish on Christmas Eve should remain untouched.

12 dishes to put on a Christmas table

On the Holy Evening of January 6, when the Christmas Lent ends, the housewives serve 12 lean dishes to the table.

According to church canons, their number corresponds to the number of the apostles who took part in the Last Supper. Thus, the table is traditionally covered with a beautiful tablecloth, and a sheaf of straw - didukh - is placed under it or in the corner of the room in the Ukrainian tradition. A kutya is placed in the center of the table and a lighted candle next to it. With the appearance of the first star, the owner of the house must say: “God grant a good evening!”, And they answer him: “God grant!”. Then the family proceeds to the meal: first they try kutya, leaving a part for the souls of their ancestors.

1. Kutia - the main dish and the sacred part of the Holy Evening, without kutya, the Christmas table will not be complete. Kutia symbolizes a sacrifice to God, it is usually made from wheat, barley or rice with the addition of honey, poppy seeds, nuts, raisins and other dried fruits. Poppy is considered a symbol of innocently shed blood, honey - a symbol of purity, God's word.

2. Bread. Bread must be present among 12 dishes on Holy Evening. It is good if the bread is round and baked at home. A store one is also suitable, but in this case, make sure that its ingredients comply with the canons of the Christmas post.

3. Dried fruit compote, or uzvar - symbolizes the life that is given to every person. The uzvar and holy water are symbols of the purification of the soul and body. This drink can be made from dried apples, plums, pears, apricots, rose hips, hawthorn, as well as from frozen fruits and berries.

4. Vegetable salad. It can be vinaigrette, sauerkraut with peas or just fresh vegetables with lettuce. At the same time, one should not get carried away with exotic ingredients: the church does not approve of excessive diversity.

5. The first dish. As the first dish on Christmas Day, they serve Christmas borscht, which is cooked on beet kvass with the addition of beets, water or mushroom broth. You can also cook fragrant mushroom soup from dried porcini mushrooms without frying.

6. The fish. On Holy Evening, fish is stewed, fried, boiled and baked. Steamed low-fat fish, herring, pickled mackerel with onions, marinated fish with tomato sauce and fried, aspic are also perfect. Note that three intertwined fish or three fish with one head symbolize the Trinity.

7. Salted cabbage, cucumbers, tomatoes, vegetables in Korean - these appetizers will decorate and diversify the table on Christmas Eve.

8. Lean stuffed cabbage. On Holy Evening they are cooked with a filling of buckwheat, mushrooms, millet with mushrooms and onions, mashed potatoes with mushrooms, Korean carrots, rice.

9. Kapustnyak - A traditional Ukrainian dish, which is a thick soup of cabbage and millet. As an alternative, just stewed cabbage is also suitable. As you know, cabbage is a symbol of a strong family and unity.

10. Dumplings with lean filling. Dumplings for Holy Evening can be cooked with cabbage, potatoes, mushrooms or porridge seasoned with fried onions. Dumplings are best steamed, this dish symbolizes wealth in the family and the solemnity of the moment.

11. Baked apples. The aroma of baked apples will fill the house with a special Christmas atmosphere, and the taste will not leave anyone indifferent.

12. Cakes. Pies for the Holy Evening can be prepared with any meatless filling, both from yeast dough and puff pastry. They can be baked in the oven or fried in a pan. Cakes are considered a symbol of happiness and health that a person can receive from communion with God.

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Signs January 6

• It is snowing - harvest for apples.
• If the Milky Way is visible in the sky on January 6, then summer will be warm.
• To the starry sky rich in kutya - the chickens will rush well and give birth to peas.
• Thaw on Christmas Eve promises a bad harvest.
• A clear sky means a good sign for mushroom pickers. A blizzard is for beekeepers.
• If you take a steam bath on Christmas Eve, it will give a person protection from illnesses for the whole next year.
• Before you start your meal on Holy Evening, you should read a prayer and thank God.
• There is also a sign according to which, if an unpaired number of guests is sitting at the table, they put another extra device.

What not to do

• You can’t sit down at the table until the first Christmas star rises.
• Do not sit down to the Holy Supper in black clothes.
• Do not take out the trash from the house that day.
• On Christmas Eve you can’t do sewing and needlework.
• Meat dishes, alcohol and fun are not allowed on Holy Evening. Allowed only to drink some wine.
• Dishes should not be washed down with water - only with a squash.
• You must not be late for dinner - otherwise you will spend the whole year away from home.
• During the Holy Supper, you cannot talk a lot and loudly, as well as leave the table - this can let in evil spirits. Also, you can not leave the house until dinner is over.
• Do not forbid caroling in your house. If you don’t let them in, success will leave you; if you let them in, wait for prosperity and prosperity.
• Young boys and girls are better off not sitting in the corner of the table, otherwise they will not be able to meet their love.
• Having picked up a spoon, you are not supposed to put it on the table again.
• The Holy Evening should be held in the circle of only the closest and dearest people.
• Dishes on Holy Evening do not need to eat up completely so that the refrigerator does not remain empty. But at the same time, every member of the family should at least taste each of the twelve dishes.
• January 6th is strictly forbidden to swear and quarrel.

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