Today, December 25, we celebrate the Nativity of Christ – Christmas, also known as Bozhik or Bozhich. This is one of the greatest church holidays in the Christian world.
The holiday begins in the early hours of December 25. It is a kind of continuation of Christmas Eve. On it, Christians celebrate the birth of the Son of God, Jesus Christ. According to the Gospel, Christ was born in a cave in the city of Bethlehem, in the province of Judea. At the moment of Christmas, an extraordinary light flares up in the sky and an angel announces that the Savior has come into the world. The Bethlehem shepherds are the first people to worship God the Son. Three eastern kings, led to the place by a star that rose above the sky, also honor him. Following the customs of the time, the kings gave gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
Orthodox Christians celebrate Christmas as solemnly as Easter. Among Catholics and Protestants, Christmas is the most revered holiday.
Christmas is one of the 20 church holidays in Bulgaria. It is celebrated on December 25 (according to the Gregorian and New Julian calendars), on January 6 by the Armenian Church, and on January 7 (according to the Julian calendar). In Bulgaria, it is an official holiday by decision of the 9th National Assembly of March 28, 1990. In predominantly Christian countries, Christmas is the most economically significant holiday of the year, and it is also celebrated as a secular holiday in many countries with a small Christian population. It is associated with the exchange of gifts within the family, as well as with gifts from Santa Claus and other mythical characters. According to most historians, the first celebration of Christmas took place in Rome in 336 AD.
The name Christmas comes from the Roman holidays Kalends, dedicated to the winter solstice (from the word "kalende"). Until the 4th century, there was no holiday in the Orthodox Church Calendar dedicated to the birth of Christ. His resurrection and return to heaven and his baptism were celebrated. The separation of the two holidays occurred only in the 4th-5th centuries under the influence of ancient pagan beliefs. It was in the days between December 17 and 23 that the representatives of the old faith in Rome celebrated the god Saturn, and on December 25 the Romans celebrated the sun and its victory over darkness. The calendar rites of the Slavs are associated with the beginning of the year, with the solar cycle in December. With the ever-widening spread of the Christian religion, the birth of the solar God was associated with the symbolic name-definition given to Christ as "the sun of righteousness".
In the 20th century, Bulgarians added another element to the Christmas ritual, brought from Western Europe - the shining Christmas tree. Christ comes to earth to illuminate people and their kingdom. With his arrival, he brings a particle of the holiness of the heavenly world - the beautiful, fruit-laden Tree of Paradise. Therefore, the Christmas tree is laden with figurines of angels, Santa Claus, garlands, balls, candles, symbolizing the essence of Christ (light, knowledge, purity, truth). The folk tradition is associated with the custom of caroling.
The main participants are young men of premarital age. Their preparation begins on Ignazhden. Then they learn Christmas songs, caroling groups are created, and the leader of the group is determined, who is older and married. The festively dressed carolers wear hats decorated with garlands, and carry "colorful sticks" in their hands. The time for caroling is strictly defined by tradition - from midnight to sunrise on Christmas. In folk beliefs, then appear karakonjoli, vampires, goblins and other supernatural beings. The carolers have the power to drive them away with their songs. Usually, the caroling groups consist of an old man, a grandmother, a trochober, a bagpiper and chetniki singers. The old man and the grandmother make people laugh, the trochober collects the gifts, the bagpiper plays, the bagpipers sing.
In some regions, the carolers pretend to be cats, meow and announce their arrival. The boys carolers are dressed festively, as if for the cold weather, as it usually is, with hats decorated with a string of popcorn and a bunch of boxwood, with sleighs in their hands. They are joyfully awaited in every house, unless some sorrow, death or illness has befallen the house. From midnight until morning, the carolers go around the houses, singing Christmas songs with wishes for health, happiness in the family and a rich harvest, and the hosts present them with a Christmas loaf.
First, they leave from the house of the most important person in the village - the mayor, the priest, and also the teacher. The host welcomes the carolers with a loaf and a coin stuck in it. The hostess gives a sieve of wheat, which the carolers sprinkle around the house so that there will be children in the coming year. In some places, if there is a girl in the house to be married, she prepares a special written loaf for her beloved. Then all the written loaves are displayed in a public place, so that everyone can estimate how much each one is worth and buy them back by bidding. Each young man buys his girl's cow. Songs are sung for everyone in the family - from the oldest (both in seniority and respect) to the youngest.
On Christmas, everyone goes to church. The traditional village-wide dance is performed. Traditionally, Christmas is celebrated in our country for 3 days. According to popular belief, if you borrow salt on Christmas and don't return it, your eyes will hurt. If your ear gets itchy on Christmas, it means that an angel from heaven has passed by you. Therefore, you must cross yourself three times and whatever you decide will come true.
On Christmas Day, fasting ends and lunch is blissful and very rich. It is obligatory to serve banitsa with a variety of fillings - meat, cabbage, mushrooms, leeks, pumpkin, etc. The main dishes during this and the following ones are made from pork. Table: pita, banitsa, pacha, roasted liver, pastrami with cabbage, pork with leeks, roasted chicken. On Christmas Day, a pig is slaughtered. The table is not raised all day. The ashes are kept all day from Ignazhden to Jordan's Day, and then they are collected and used as a cure for various diseases throughout the year. When the host gets up from the table, he walks bent over so that the branches of the trees are bent to the ground and laden with fruit. Straw is tied to the fruit trees so that they bear fruit.
On the Christmas table, one can see breads and cakes with different shapes and patterns, which are also associated with the great holiday, and are also sung in the songs of the carolers. Many of them, according to old traditions, are in the shape of various agricultural tools with which the land is cultivated in order to produce wheat, or they are painted and marked with rural tools, crafts, household items, and domestic animals, without which life in the village is unthinkable. Some of these important figures for the family are outlined with walnuts, with apple slices, others are colored, according to the taste and imagination of the hostess. In addition, they knead and bake breads or small cakes with crosses, which are given to the carolers when they sing at the door.
Some of them are also placed on top of a coin - a symbol of prosperity and wealth. According to the oldest traditions, the flour for these religious breads or cakes is sifted three times to become "silky", as it is sung about, and the water with which it is mixed must be brought in a white bowl by a maiden or young bride to the house who has not yet given birth, writes actualno.com.
On this bright holiday, FAKTI wishes all readers much health, love, peace and luck!