Christmas traditions and customs!

Christians celebrate Christmas, the feast of the Nativity, every year on December 25. There are many traditions and customs related to this event, and even though some of them have been replaced, many others have been preserved. Here are the most beloved Christmas traditions and customs.

•Christmas traditions and customs

On December 20, with Ignatius, when the pig is slaughtered, we enter the winter holidays. From this day until Christmas, the walk with the goat, turca or brezaia, a mask with an animal head, begins, with the aim of bringing fruitfulness to the crops and well-being to the animals in the yard.

• What to do on Christmas Eve

Before the eve, on the night of December 23 to 24, in some areas of the country, the eve meal is made, for the souls of the dead, with fasting foods to which the priest is also invited to taste and bless them.

It is also during this period that the Christmas carols begin, which announce the Nativity of the Lord. Tradition says that God left the carols on earth specifically to get rid of our sins, and when they are no longer heard, the devils will come out on earth.

The carolers are rewarded with pretzels, apples, nuts and specific cakes, called "Christ's diapers", but more recently the world also offers money. Even at the Christmas table it is good to listen to carols, because they bring harmony in the relationships between people and abundance in the houses and in the fields.

Keeping the light is one of the most beloved and old traditions in Moldova, a tradition that some of the inhabitants of Moldovan villages still keep. The Christmas holiday is closely related to the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year. Thus, on the eve, Moldovans light a pyre made of logs to keep the light as long as possible.

Tradition says that on Christmas Eve the garbage is not taken out of the house and things are not borrowed. Unmarried girls can see their teddy bears in their dreams, if they put small pieces of all the preparations prepared for the Christmas celebration on the window at night.

Christmas traditions and customs 2022 – on Christmas Eve

•Do not drink brandy, considering it the drink of the devil;

•One does not lend and take back what was borrowed;

•Do not throw garbage;

• They say it's not good to fight, even in jest, that you get pimples during the year;

•The children start with the carol: "Good morning Santa, give us or don't give us";

•In some areas, children are given cantaloupes to keep them fat all year round.

•On Christmas night it is said that water turns into wine and animals talk.

• Those who raise bees must not give away anything from the house on the day of Eve, so that the bees do well and do not lose them in the swarm.

• Unmarried girls must keep a black fast in order to dream of their bear. This custom is followed in certain areas of the country. Also, in other regions of the country, the girls, in order to see their teddy bear, leave out overnight a little of all kinds of food, so that the teddy bear will come and taste it, and they will be able to see it.

•In the country, on the day of Eve, the cozonac is baked.

• On this day, two loaves of bread, salt, fish, wheat and a glass of water are put on the table, and it is believed that dead family members come at night and eat from those dishes.

SANTA EVE AND SANTA CHRISTMAS

- Santa Claus is the lord of time who holds the power of the coming year. After the appearance of Santa Claus (in Christianity), the value of Santa Claus decreases. They are old men with snow-white beards. They are kind and giving and bring gifts to all the children.

- Tradition says that the Mother of God, being about to give birth, asks Santa Claus for shelter. He, being poor, directs her to his brother, Santa Claus. This is the owner of the stable where Joseph and Mary stayed, who could not find a place at the inn. Santa's wife helped Maria give birth.