Christmas in Ukraine is now officially celebrated on the 25th of December. This became law in July 2023. Previously, Christmas had traditionally been celebrated on the 7th of January as many of Ukraine's Orthodox churches had historic connections with the Russian Orthodox church, which celebrates Christmas on the 7th January. In February 2023, Ukraine's main Greek Catholic church announced a change to December 25th, from January 7th. Some people will still celebrate Christmas on the 7th January, but most Ukrainians will celebrate Christmas on December 25th.
The change of calendar has also moved St Nicholas's Day from December 19th to December 6th. Many children in Ukraine will get gifts from St Nicholas (known as Svyatyi Mykolai) on St Nicholas's Eve (now the 5th, previously the 18th). Some children also might get presents from Did Moroz / Дід Мороз (Grandfather Frost) on New Year's Eve. Did Moroz often travels with his Granddaughter Snegurochka (which means snow maiden). However, Svyatyi Mykolai is now doing more gift bringing, with Did Moroz doing less!
In Ukrainian Happy/Merry Christmas is 'Веселого Різдва' Veseloho Rizdva (Merry Christmas) or 'Христос Рождається' Khrystos Rozhdayetsia (Christ is Born). Happy/Merry Christmas in lots more languages.
The main Christmas meal, called 'Sviata Vecheria' (or Holy Supper) is eaten on Christmas Eve which is known as Sviatyi Vechir (Святий вечір) or Sviatvechir (Святвечір) "Holy Evening". Traditionally people fast (don't eat certain foods) all day but you might start the day drinking some holy water that has been blessed at church.
You can't start eating the meal until the first star is seen in the sky. So people (especially the hungry ones!) go outside as soon as it start getting dark in the afternoon to try and spot the first star. The star represents the journey of the Wise Men to find Jesus and that Jesus has been born, so Christmas can start!
The meal normally has 12 dishes which represent Jesus's 12 disciples. Traditionally the dishes don't have any meat, eggs or milk in them. The main dish is often 'kutia' a type of a kind of sweet porridge made of wheat. Other dishes can include mushrooms, sauerkraut, red ‘borsch’ (beet soup), dumplings known as 'varenyky' (Pierogi), 'holopchi' (cabbage rolls, make without meat in them at Christmas!), 'pyrizhky' (cabbage buns), whitefish and 'kolach' (special Christmas bread). Another meal of 12 dishes is eaten on Christmas Day (25th December or 7th January). In this meal, some of the dishes will contain meat.
The room where Sviata Vecheria is eaten normally has a Didukh decoration placed in it. The Didukh is a made from a sheaf of wheat and symbolises the large wheat fields in Ukraine. It literally means 'grandfather spirit' and can represent people's ancestors being with them in their memories. Sometimes people use some heads of wheat in a vase rather than a whole sheaf of wheat.
After the meal, people love to sing carols or 'Koliadky'. They can be sung around the table or you might go out caroling in the streets. People sometimes carry brightly colored stars on poles when they go caroling singing.
The Ukrainian carol 'Shchedryk' is where the popular 'Carol of the Bells' came from.
Making paper snowflakes to put on the tree or in windows are a popular decoration. In parts of western Ukraine, Christmas Trees are often decorated with artificial spider's webs because of the story of The Christmas Spider. These are called made of paper and silver wire, called 'pavuchky' (which means 'little spider').
As members of the Orthodox Church, Georgians honor the birth of Jesus according to the Julian calendar, and as such Orthodox Christmas in Georgia falls on January 7th. On Christmas Eve, every church holds a holiday liturgy.
During Christmas preparations, baking ritual breads and cooking porridge were the main ritual activities of the day. This was the moment when family cooking would slowly transform into a Christmas ritual.
Orthodox communities in Europe, Africa and the Middle East - which make up more than 12% of all Christians - celebrate the big day weeks after most of the Western world. It's because they use a different calendar, called the Julian calendar, to work out what day Christmas should be.
Christmas is celebrated to remember the birth of Jesus Christ, who Christians believe is the Son of God. The name 'Christmas' comes from the Mass of Christ (or Jesus). A Mass service (which is sometimes called Communion or Eucharist) is where Christians remember that Jesus died for us and then came back to life.
In general, “Happy Holidays” is accepted as the broadest and most inclusive greeting at this time of year. If you know someone celebrates Christmas you can go with “Merry Christmas,” but 'tis the season for interacting with strangers (selling to them, buying from them, bumping into them on your way out of Target).
This is the greeting to use with anyone when you enter a shop, restaurant, café or meet a local friend. It's customary and polite to say “hello” in Georgia.
The phrase happy holidays has been used in the United States since at least the mid-1800s. Holiday, which dates back before the year 950, stems from the Old English word hāligdæg, meaning “holy day.” Happy holidays is often seen as the more inclusive alternative to saying merry Christmas.
At Christmas time, wealthy Georgians held lavish dinners and parties, eating huge quantities of food. Luxury loving Georgians ate a lot of meat at Christmas, particularly beef, mutton and venison, using it as a way to demonstrate their wealth and status.
Stereotypical Georgian traits include manners known as "Southern hospitality", a strong sense of community and shared culture, and a distinctive Southern dialect. Georgia's Southern heritage makes turkey and dressing a traditional holiday dish during both Thanksgiving and Christmas.
The date of the birth of Jesus is not stated in the gospels or in any historical sources and the evidence is too incomplete to allow for consistent dating. However, most biblical scholars and ancient historians believe that his birth date is around 4 to 6 BC.
The exact date of the birth of Jesus has not been established. Christmas is a day celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ, who many Christians believe is the son of God. While many celebrate Christmas on December 25, some Orthodox Christians mark it on January 7.
Time and Date, holidays • Blue Letter Bible, Matthew 1-2 • Blue Letter Bible, Luke 1-2 Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Protestant Christians all celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ on December 25th, but the Eastern Orthodox use the Julian Calendar and the Western churches use the Gregorian Calendar.
Santa Claus, GA was founded in the 1930's by local pecan farmer Calvin “Farmer” Greene. Greene gave the town its catchy name in the hopes of luring tourist traveling down U.S. Highway 1 to his pecan business.
Iceland has 13 Santa Clauses or Yule Lads. The Christmas season starts when the first Yule Lad comes to town 13 days before Christmas Eve. One by one, each of the 13 Yule Lads comes to town every night before Christmas.
New Year is a special celebration in Georgia. The people celebrate the New Year twice, once on January 1st and the other on January 14th, in correlation with the Julian and Gregorian calendars. New Year's events last from the end of December to January 14th even though it officially begins on January 1.
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