Celebrating Christmas Russian style can't be that difficult, can it? We all know a little about Russia. And for those of us who don't, there're lots of advice on how to celebrate Russian Christmas on English-language Internet sites.
Unfortunately, most Internet sites describe non-existent traditions that either are not Russian to begin with, or had ceased to exist already by the late Middle Ages. No Russian would ever dream of doing some of the things listed by many English-language resources as "authentic Russian Christmas traditions". Here are a few tips to get you out of trouble.
New Year and Christmas Celebrations in Russia: When to Do It and How to Do It Right
The traditional Western Christmas of December 25 is not an official holiday in Russia, although Russians -- who never miss the opportunity to party -- consider it the unofficial opener of the festive season. The Russian TV gives a graceful nod to the foreign tradition by showing a few seasonal flicks, but Christmas trees (or New Year Trees, as that's what they are called in Russia) are usually put up just before the New Year's Eve. Russian kids never receive gifts on December 25, unless they belong to a family of practicing Catholics or Protestants who, naturally, recognize and celebrate the holiday.
Russian Christmas and New Year: When to Give Gifts to Russian Children
The main Russian winter holiday is New Year. This is when the New Year Tree is put up, lavishly decorated and lit up, and Father Frost, the Russian analog of Santa Claus, delivers surprise gifts to Russian kids, arriving invisible in the middle of the night to hide the presents under the tree or children's pillows.
Please keep in mind that the supposedly "Russian" legend of the so-called Babushka has never existed in Russia. She never brings gifts to Russian kids: the "Russian Babushka" story is a literary invention by American author Edith M Thomas and has absolutely nothing to do with Russian folklore. Father Frost is the only character who brings gifts to Russian kids. If you ever speak to a native Russian person -- whether a child or an adult -- about Babushka, they won't know what you're talking about.
Why does he bring gifts on New Year, and not on Christmas? The reason for this holiday mix-up is in the country's history. In the first Soviet years, there was no winter holiday in Russia at all, as Christmas had been banned and New Year's Day wasn't a public holiday yet. In 1935, Joseph Stalin announced the New Year's Day a new holiday for children and simply moved the Chistmas traditions (mainly the tree and the gift-bringing Father Frost) to New Year's Day. More than a decade later, in 1949, New Year's Day finally became a public holiday for everyone.
This is how it happened that New Year, and not Christmas, became the most popular winter holiday in Russia. It is celebrated by everyone in Russia just like Christmas is celebrated in the West, with tons of shopping, cooking, and armfuls of greeting cards, and naturally all the family and numerous guests (the more the merrier) gather at the groaning table by the New Year tree and happily overeat to the sounds of TV variety shows as they wait for the clock to strike midnight.
So, How to Celebrate a Traditional Russian Christmas?
Once all the partying is over and done with, the Russian Orthodox Christmas of January 7 is a very intimate and pious experience. The Russian Orthodox church still sticks to the ancient and inaccurate Julian calendar which by now is 13 days behind our "normal" Gregorian one. That's why Russian Christmas is celebrated on January 7, which is December 25 according to the Julian calendar.
By Christmas Eve of January 6, all practicing Russian Orthodox Christians have been fasting for 40 days (yes, even on the New Year's Eve), eating nothing but vegan food like plain bread, porridge and vegetable stews. Vegetable oil and fish can only be used on certain very rare occasions, and all alcohol, dairy and meat are banned outright. Christmas Eve should be spent on an empty stomach, in prayer and meditation, until the last vegan meal before going to the midnight church service.
These days, of course, no one throws porridge (kutia) to the ceiling to see if it sticks, and no one eats "cabbage stuffed with millet" (millet? Today's Russians wouldn't know where to shop for it). Many Western sites quote a mysterious word "pagach" that they claim to stand for some equally mysterious "Russian Christmas Eve bread", but both are non-existent in the Russian language or tradition.
And trust me: no Russian can be heard making clucking noises "so that their hens lay more eggs". The tree is usually still up (many Russians won't take it down at least until the end of winter school vacations on January 11), but Father Frost doesn't visit Russian kids again for Christmas because he's already given them their gifts on New Year's Day.
How to do it right: even if you're not a practicing Orthodox Christian, it never hurts to say a few prayers, although it takes a non-Orthodox Christian some fervor to stand through at least some part of the hours-long Christmas service (there are no pews in Russian churches and no one, apart from the pregnant and elderly, is allowed to sit down).
In days of old, Russian Christmas Eve could be great fun for guisers, young and old, who dressed up as various animals, devils and picturesque ethnic characters (Gypsies, Hindus, Turks, Africans, etc.) and went door to door singing Russian carols in return for treats. Again, this tradition is not common these days, but today's Russian revelers enjoy some quality street fun with groups of guisers, amateur singers and dancers and the inevitable bayan – the Russian button accordion.
Additional Reading:
- Merry Russian Christmas, Dec 17, 2007 (last assessed Nov 25, 2010)
- Babushka and the Three Kings – a Christmas Tale, but not Russian
Irene Woodhead - Irene Woodhead is a bilingual English/Russian freelance writer and translator. After years of working as a professional opera/jazz singer, ...
Join the Conversation