On the eve of the great holiday, the Nativity of Christ, a lot of information appears in the media about how Orthodox Russians spend Holy evening on January 6 and how they prepare for it. One gets the impression that these rules are fixed somewhere, and all believers follow them, or at least strive to follow them.
What is the meaning of Christmas?
The coming into the world of God - the Creator of heaven and earth, the visible and invisible world - is an event of a universal scale. There is a story in the Bible: Elijah, whom we now consider to be a great prophet, was persecuted by the Israelites. In a moment of despair, he turned to God for help. And he was given this answer: “Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord. And behold, the Lord will pass away, and a great and strong wind will tear apart the mountains and crush the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord is not in the wind; after the wind there is an earthquake, but the Lord is not in the earthquake; after the earthquake there is fire, but the Lord is not in the fire; after the fire a breath of still wind, and there is the Lord.”
No one has ever seen what the Creator of all things looks like, for Henever showed himself to people in a material form. One and only time He came into the world as a man - a weak and defenseless baby, who had to be hidden, because he could be killed. On the Holy Evening, the Lord came to people to show that He loves them, that there is not a drop of evil in Him, that He understands their hardships, dangers and temptations. Whatever we are, He will save everyone and help those who need His help and ask for it. All newborns are similar to each other in their helplessness. The Lord, having come into the world as a baby, made it clear to each of us and in the Nativity of Christ confirmed that He does not separate Himself from us, that He created us all in His image and likeness.
Christmas is the most joyful holiday
The humanization of God in Jesus Christ we celebrate on January 6 after the first star rises in the sky. For the Orthodox, this is a joyful and holy evening. Congratulations and gifts for him are prepared in advance. Often these are symbols of Christmas. The story of the birth of the Divine Infant, described in the Gospel, is painted by popular rumor and talented writers with touching details, which are sometimes given a mystical and superstitious meaning.
On the Holy evening, people begin to go outside and look at the sky before dark. It is considered bad luck to look out of the window on this day. Christians are looking for the first star, and having found it, they begin to rejoice, congratulate each other on the holiday, after which they rush to return home to the family table to start the festive meal.
How traditions evolved
What is Holy Evening? Traditions of its holding have changed and are still changing. There are reasons for this. Before the separation of the churches into Catholic and Orthodox, Christmas was celebrated in the spring in May. In the 4th century, Pope Julius I moved the celebration to winter time. Before the translation of the Julian calendar into the Gregorian calendar in Russia, Christmas was celebrated before the New Year. This holiday was more significant, but the Soviet authorities canceled it.
Preparing for the celebration
Orthodox began to prepare for Christmas in advance. Not only did they diligently attend church services, fast and do charity work, they also planned in advance what to cook for the Holy evening. Believers specially fattened livestock - geese, chickens, calves and pigs, churned cow's butter to amuse their family with a generous feast on this family holiday.
Should I fast or not?
Change of the calendar, communist rule, the decline of Orthodox culture - all this destroyed the patriarchal traditions of our ancestors. Churches have changed the order of worship, and in the last year or two they have allowed the strictest period of the Nativity Fast, which lasts only one week, to eat fish, vegetable oil and alcohol. The clergy explain this by the fact that modern people are much weaker than their ancestors, and the New Year's table, like the table for Holy evening, will not do without these products.
It is very difficult to agree with this point of view. After all, our contemporariesrestored the destroyed temples, built new churches and resumed services. And this is despite the most difficult trials that have befallen our people in recent decades. Be that as it may, all Christians love and every year look forward to the Holy Evening. Traditions have undergone and are constantly changing, but if you understand the sacred meaning of Christmas, then no changes can overshadow this holiday. And the history of Christianity knows a lot about the changes associated with Christmas.
Can I eat before the first star?
In the old days, even before the changes that came with the revolution of 1917, services continued in Orthodox churches and monasteries all day with short breaks. Now they have shrunk considerably. There is no tradition for monks and priests to eat food only after the rising of the star. This is understandable. If in central Russia on Holy evening the first star appears in the interval from 17 to 18 hours, then in the polar regions at this time of the year the polar night continues. The clergy on this day, as on others, do not eat food before communion. Well, since a strict fast is prescribed on January 6, after communion they reinforce their strength only with juicy (meager food). A festive feast is arranged the next day - January 7th.
Lay people very rarely spend the entire pre-holiday day in churches for services, as they wait for the first star to appear. Until this moment, Christians do not allow themselves to eat even poppy dew.
Sochivo
Sochivo is a raw grain or bean soaked in water. In pre-Petrine times in Russia, the most common cereal was amaranth. Peter I banned its cultivation, as he introduced new agricultural crops. Today, amaranth can be found in stores. This most useful cereal can again become the basis for juicy. In rich parishes and monasteries, honey and lean milk are added to sochiv - poppy seeds, hemp or nuts are ground in ceramic dishes with a porcelain pestle and a small amount of water is added. This is lean milk. Laymen always have a dish with juicy on their Christmas table. It is eaten first of all festive dishes.
A strict fast on the eve of Christmas
In general, any strict fast involves dry eating, and no more than once a day. And the Holy evening on the eve of Christmas is the time of the strictest fast. According to the modified Orthodox canons, the strict Advent fast begins on the last week and covers the New Year. Neither fish nor oil (oil) can be eaten during this period.
Should I cook 12 meatless meals for the Christmas feast?
It's amazing to read recipes for 12 dishes for Holy evening, which are designed in accordance with lean norms, that is, without oil and heat treatment. If you participate on this day in the prescribed services, then when do you prepare two feasts - fasting and modest? By the way, food without oil and heat treatment, which believers ate during a long fast, cannot evoke a joyful feeling on a holiday. Those whoobserves posts, they will not be able to disagree with this. But why waste time and energy on a big Lenten feast, if cattle were specially fattened and slaughtered for Christmas? Also of interest is the question of when and who should prepare festive quick meals? If you contrive and arrange two large tables, will there be time left for spiritual preparation for the holiday?
How Christmas was celebrated during Soviet persecution
People who worshiped Christ in those days when Christmas was banned did the following. After visiting the temple, if there was one in the area, people prepared modest but hearty 12 dishes. On Holy evening, all family members gathered at the table. And after the rising of the star, congratulating each other on the holiday and bestowing gifts, they proceeded to the feast. Sochivo was always present on the table, as a tribute to the ritual, and in addition, pork or beef jelly, meat salad, mushrooms in sour cream, fried poultry, boiled potatoes with butter, cold cuts, cheese, cake, sweets, bread and wine - that there are 12 dishes.
What to cook for the Holy evening in each family decided in its own way. The main thing is that it was tasty and long-awaited. The next day, January 7, was a working day, and asking for a day off or a day off meant bringing big trouble on yourself and your family. A close circle of close relatives who gathered together on the Holy evening, congratulations and gifts made the family more united and friendly. After all, it was impossible to congratulate on this holiday by phone and send mail.
What saysHoly Scripture about joy and abstinence on a holiday
Is it necessary to prepare Lenten dishes for Holy evening on January 6? Those who conscientiously abstained for all 40 days will not be happy to be at a table on which lies ritual hay and plates with twelve Lenten dishes. It is very possible that the Lord Himself would have taken this for senseless hypocrisy. Why fast after the fast is over?
If we recall the Gospel parable about the miracle in Cana of Galilee, it becomes clear that Jesus Christ was no stranger to worldly joys and loved it when big holidays were celebrated cheerfully and widely. Maybe Lenten dishes for Holy evening are prepared by those who could not resist the worldly temptations of the previous forty days? It is no secret that many church-going people explain their refusal to observe fasting by poor he alth. There is an answer to this in the Old Testament book of the prophet Daniel about four youths who, eating only raw vegetables and water, became stronger in he alth and sharper in mind than those who ate fast food.
Why did Christ fast for 40 days?
Is there any point in posts? Let's turn to history. After Jesus Christ was baptized, He withdrew into the wilderness, where in solitude he prepared for the mission for which he came into this world. For 40 days He was tempted by the devil, but did not succumb to his provocations and promises. All this time the Lord prayed and ate only wild honey and locusts. We are also pursued by various kinds of temptations, but by God's providence we have been given great strength to resist them. A lonely person is nothing. In union with God through baptism and communion, fasting and prayer, he becomes like the Creator Himself. This must be understood.
If you understand the meaning of the humanization of God, if you comprehend his earthly life described in the Gospel, then baptism, communion, fasting and prayer acquire a simple and understandable meaning. We accept baptism in order to tell the Creator that consciously, by our will, we choose Him as our guide. We commune with the goal of uniting with God in flesh and blood. We rejoice at Christmas, because we got the opportunity to join the Creator and escape from the darkness of worldly troubles and suffering.
Rewarding God for His help
Fasting before Christmas is our feat, gratitude to God. If He sacrificed His Only Begotten Son, Himself, to save us, are we not able to sacrifice our worldly passions to Him? Yes, it is difficult, much more difficult than giving some of the money to charity. People around you will praise you for your generosity, and if you fast, no one will notice. Pride will not be entertained by this. This is the meaning of abstinence. Fasting is personal contact with God. He alone can appreciate your efforts. He alone understands how difficult it is for you, eating little and meagerly, limiting yourself in all pleasures, not walking with a dull look, but working hard and having a good mood.
Everything changes. It becomes sad if we imagine that in Orthodox Russia, as in Catholic countries, the Nativity Fast will be abolished, and in the Holyin the evening, a gala dinner will not be complemented by one more joy - tasting beef jelly, roasted pig with horseradish, goose baked with apples and lingonberries and biscuit cake with chocolate cream and whipped cream. Who keeps and maintains the patriarchal institutions knows that after a long abstinence and pacification of the flesh, a merry Christmas commotion gives incomparable pleasure.
