welcome to the ancestral findings podcast
if you have russian heritage you will be interested in learning about russian christmas
traditions these traditions help connect you to your russian ancestors of today and of long ago
you might even adopt some of these traditions into your own christmas celebrations to honor
your heritage here are some of the most important russian christmas traditions
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if you have russian heritage you may be curious about how your russian ancestors
celebrated christmas after all this information is important to understanding
how your ancestors lived what their beliefs were and what kind of people
they were these are all important things for a genealogist to know about their ancestors
as the knowledge helps bring us closer to them even across vast swathes of time even centuries
this is because holiday and religious traditions are some of the very few things that can connect
people who are centuries apart because they rarely change or if they do they only do a very little
these are the most important things you need to know about the russian christmas traditions
of your ancestors the beginnings of christmas in russia christmas first became an official holiday
in russia in 988 a.d by an order from prince vladimir this was the year that prince vladimir
converted to the eastern orthodox christian church after traveling to constantinople and witnessing
many miracles performed there by saint nicholas the inspiration for the santa claus we know today
when he returned home all the residents of kiev were baptized in a mass ceremony
after that orthodox christianity was the law of the land in the region
that would one day become russia christmas was celebrated until the bolshevik revolution in 1917
when the atheist regime banned christmas as a religious tradition
the official ban did not come until 1929 but it was discouraged after the revolution until then
christmas trees were banned in 1935 however people kept buying them and putting them up in their
homes because the new soviet government decreed that new year's day was to replace christmas
as the biggest most important celebration of the russian year so the christmas trees were turned
into new year's trees people still celebrated christmas in russia after the ban they just
had to do it in secret this was true from the official ban until the soviet union fell in 1991.
once the soviet union was no longer a country and russia returned from her long exile
christmas celebrations were made legal once more however after six decades of christmas
being banned and new year's being promoted christmas came back to russia as a quieter
less important holiday than it had been before the bolshevik revolution the new year's celebration is
still the bigger holiday in russia in modern times new year's is a big public holiday with lots of
spending drinking and eating while christmas is quieter and more private and with the religious
practices that are not included in new year's celebrations new russian christmas new year's
traditions the bolsheviks and later soviets even re-appropriated the christmas gift-giving
tradition of christmas to new year's new year's day is now the time when grandfather frost
also called dead moroes in russian brings gifts to children grandfather frost carries a large magical
staff and has a sidekick his granddaughter who is named snega rocha also known as the snow maiden
grandfather frost and snegaroka replaced the visits of saint nicholas who had previously
been venerated on christmas as in other christian nations before the bolshevik revolution in russia
on new year's eve russian children hold hands with each other and
stand around the christmas tree or new year's tree depending on if their family is religious
or secular and call out for grandfather frost and snegaroka to come and bring them presents
the children know grandfather frost and snegaraka have arrived when the lights on the tree and the
star on top of it light up the children then cheer and greet each other with the traditional russian
new year's greeting of s novem godum the focus on new year's eve and day over christmas in russia is
not the only difference in how russia celebrates christmas compared to other western countries
christmas is actually celebrated in russia on january 7th with the exception
of a handful of catholics in the nation who celebrate on the traditional december 25.
this difference in celebration dates is because the russian orthodox church uses a different
calendar for religious celebrations than for the other times of the year it uses the old-fashioned
julian calendar for these holidays and the more modern gregorian calendar for everything else
advent is celebrated in the russian orthodox church but it has fixed dates unlike many
other areas of the world it is celebrated from november 28th to january 6. in russia
as a whole the official national celebration dates for the christmas and new year's holidays
are december 31st to january 10th people who celebrate christmas in russia do say merry
christmas to others to commemorate the holiday in russian this is pronounced as s rasadisovom
traditional russian christmas traditions when it comes to actually celebrating christmas
in russia those who do it today tend to do it the way it was done in the past before it was banned
this is where russian christmas traditions can tie you into your russian ancestors and the way they
lived their lives and celebrated the religious holidays you might even consider adopting some of
these traditions into your own family celebrations to honor your russian ancestors and heritage
fasting on christmas eve it has been traditional for a long time for those who can to fast on
christmas eve they don't eat anything all day until the first star of the evening appears in the
sky the star symbolizes the star that led the magi to jesus in the manger at his birth granted with
the shorter days in russia this time of year they don't actually go all that long without eating
just enough to get hungry for christmas eve dinner when they break their fast in the evening they eat
porridge made from wheat or rice and served with honey and fruit poppy seeds and chopped walnuts
the porridge is called salkivo it is standard practice with the russian orthodox church to avoid
eating meat or fish on christmas eve this is why sukhivo has neither of these things in it kutia
kutya is another name for sulkivo it is made the same way and eaten on christmas eve after
the fast however there are a couple of important differences that distinguish sokkivo from kutia
first kutia is usually eaten out of a common family bowl to symbolize unity among the family
also a spoonful of it is typically thrown on the ceiling the legend has it that if the spoonful
of kutia sticks to the ceiling the family will have good luck and a good harvest in the new year
other christmas eve traditions in russia sokkivo and kutia aren't the only foods traditionally
eaten on christmas eve in russia after the end of the fast other traditional christmas eve foods
include beet soup also known as borsch vegetable pies potato salads sauerkraut fried onions fried
mushrooms and root vegetables a full christmas eve meal may consist of 12 individual dishes each
representing the 12 apostles of jesus at the end of the meal a drink called visvar meaning boil up
is served it is a sweet beverage made from dried fruit and honey boiled together in water it is
also served at the birth of a child and is served on christmas eve to commemorate jesus's birth
after the meal and drink prayers are said and then everyone goes to church for midnight services
these services are so long in russia that people often don't get home
until four or five in the morning at which time they wash the dishes from the christmas eve meal
the christmas day feast just like christmas eve has a traditional meal associated with
it in russia so does christmas day it is a larger more rich and plentiful feast than the
one the night before and includes such dishes as roast goose or roast pork perogies and pelmenas
potato dumplings and meat dumplings fruit pies honey bread cookies gingerbread fresh fruit
dried fruit and nuts a type of cookie particular to russia called kozulia is also sometimes served
these are sugar cookies made in the shapes of sheeps goats and deer table decorations
those who celebrate christmas in russia often decorate their tables with white tablecloths
which are meant to symbolize the swaddling clothing that the baby jesus was dressed in hay
is displayed on or near the table to remind those dining that jesus was born in humble circumstances
the center of the table is grace with a tall white candle which symbolizes jesus himself as he is the
light of the world around or beside the candle will be a loaf of pagash bread which is a
special bread served at this time of year to also symbolize jesus as the bread of life to the world
christmas day feast traditions it is not just the food that is traditional with the russian
christmas day feast there are rituals around the meal that are just as important as the food itself
the meal begins with the male head of household or female one if there is no male one
leading the family in the lord's prayer as well as a prayer of thanksgiving for the blessings the
family has received in the past year and a prayer for good things to come to them in the new year
once the prayers are done the head of household greets everyone at the table with christ is born
to which they respond glorify him afterward the mother or female head of the household
will come around the table and draw a cross on the forehead of each person
in honey while saying each time in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit
may you have sweetness and many good things in life and in the new year after this
the pagash bread is broken and served when eaten it is dipped into honey to symbolize
the sweet side of life and then dipped in garlic to symbolize the bitter side of life
the full christmas day feast is then eaten and no dishes are washed as it is traditional to not
wash dishes on christmas instead everyone leaves the table and goes to open presents
afterward the family goes back to church for a christmas day liturgy service and sermon
caroling after the christmas day feast in russia
children often go caroling from house to house usually to the homes of people they know
like family and friends they also wish the people in those homes a happy new year the residents of
the homes they visit reward them for their singing and holiday wishes with cookies candy and or money
the story of babushka it is unclear if this story actually originated in russia or with a poem
written in america in the early 20th century but it is certainly told to russian children at
christmas today the story is well known in russia and a beloved tale of a russian woman whose life
brushed the birth of jesus in a meaningful way even if she didn't see him personally
according to the story babushka also known simply as grandmother
was at home tending her fire to keep warm when the three magi arrived at her door on the way to
greet the christ child after his birth there was a blizzard and the magi asked babushka for shelter
she let them in her house and they told her the star that was guiding them to the prince they
were going to meet was hidden by the blizzard they also told her this star was bright and new and was
a sign of the birth of a holy child and that they were going to give this child wonderful gifts and
to bow down before him the magi invited babushka to join them on their trip but she told them she
was too old to travel that far and that she had no gifts appropriate to give a newborn prince
the blizzard soon cleared revealing the star and the magi set out on their journey once more
babushka regretted not going with them she set out to try to find them and the prince
but was not able to find either however she still wanders the earth to this day
giving what meager gifts she is able to children she encounters along her way
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