Christmas customs
Christmas is a word that has filled out childhoods; snowy days, full of mystery that brought gifts, songs, joy and hope. It’s the day of Christ was born.
The word differs in different languages: Noel, Noue, Noie, in the north of France, Nau or No in the Charentes, Chalenos near Nisa provinces. These all remind the the Calendes of Januar., when Christmas was celebrated on the 6th of January. English call it Christmas, meaning the mass of Christ. Indeed, when Saint Augustus settled in the Kent province, to Christianize the Saxons, he insisted on celebrating Christmas especially through masses (services). In Germany it’s called Weihnacht or Weihnachten. The meaning of this word is “holy nights”. In regions of Germany it’s called Mutternacht, meaning “mothers’ nights”.
In Romania, Christmas is the name of the shepherd in whose barn Jesus was born. Many different legends regarding Christ’s mother are told in all regions of Romania.
Everywhere on Christmas the birth of Christ is celebrated, even though in some countries the ceremonies differ. But everywhere this magical word has an amazing power to give hope to those who have none, to bring joy and light into people’s houses, to make us relive those wonderful childhood moments which we keep all our lives in our heart.
How is Christmas celebrated in Romania? Christmas was celebrated about 200 years ago with joy by everybody. During the Christmas fast there are no weddings or round dances and the only time people come together only at feasts and special gatherings where people talk, dance and even play. This is why the young have every reason to look forward to this holiday; the kids long for the Christmas carols and other Romanian traditional songs.
The Christmas holiday lasts 3 days. After a lot of beautiful holidays follow. All these holidays make everyone feel the joy in their hearts. It’s not good that these holidays find homes which have not been cleaned. This is why, despite the cold, women take everything out of the house in order to lime wash and make any needed repairs to the house.
30th of November, Saint Andrew’s day, marks the beginning of the winter holidays. According to popular tradition this is the night when evil spirits – especially wraiths, phantoms and werewolves – receive increased powers and come to harm people. It’s the exact opposite of the Christian holiday of Rusalii when the Holy Spirits comes down from the heavens and all nature is blessed.
On this special day girls look for the signs of their own destiny: the face of their future husband which can be found in the melted then solidified copper; spend all night in front of the mirror with 2 candles until they see the face of their future husband; put basil under their pillows hoping to dream of their husband. Also on this special day in Moldova the choirs are formed. The choir members had to perform first different tasks: carry water, cut wood, and clean the house and barns. On 30th of November, every Romanian puts some corn to grow in small pots, a grain for each member of the family. And on New Year’s Eve they predict the luck each will have depending on the height of the corn.
Then on the next day, kids end the Christmas fast. It’s the time for promises, for presents. Even during the Christmas Fast carols are sung not only indoors but also on the streets.
For hundred of years kids have waited on the night of 5th December for Saint Niculae who fills their boots with presents. This saint travels through the sky with a donkey with 2 baskets: one filled with candy and other sweets and in the other twigs. He leaves his donkey next to the chimney and he goes down it. Every child must put next to the door or chimney a shoe and weather they had been good or bad would receive candy or twigs.
On the night of 23rd of December, after midnight, in some parts of the Ardeal and Tara Romaneasca there is a custom that groups of kids go from house to house and sing carols and wish the people well. In Banat and some parts of Ardeal the kids doing this are called “pitarai or pizerei”. They are divided into gangs and under the leadership of another child go from house to house and sing carols. They can also enter the houses because according to tradition they bring good fortune and happiness. As soon as they enter a house they must the chimney if the house has one.
In Muntenia, Christmas Eve kids at a house, play with musicians and then go on from house to house and give Christmas cheers. The hosts give them knot-shaped bread and sometimes even a glass of wine. In the morning and the afternoon younger children go out to sing carols. In Oltenia the kids make themselves a flag with a kerchief with a silver coin, some basil and a little incense symbolizing the gifts brought by the mages to Christ. In other regions it’s a custom for choir boys to go from house to house with an icon on which the birth of Christ is represented. This is done when the village is very big and priest can’t go from house to house and instead sends these boys.
Before Christmas morning, when the roster announces midnight, the housewives go and soak the flat cakes. They are put in a safe place either to dry or to keep safe from children. 2, 3 or 4 flat cakes are taken broken up in 2 or 4 pieces, soaked in warm water with sugar, crushed nuts and set on plate. The process is repeated until the plate gets filled with flat cakes. Then the cakes are covered with crushed nuts or honey. Then the housewife goes and places under the house’s most beautiful icon a white cloth and puts a bottle of red wine in front of the icon. On the right of the bottle she puts the plate with the cakes and on the other side a plate with crushed beans, fried onions on top and the plate is filled with boiled plums. On the 4 corners of the plate knot-shaped bread is put. Between the breads on the right a hemp tow is put signifying Santa’s beard.
In Moldavia the best dried foods are put. Nobody can touch the food until the priest walks through the door. The priest sings and then sits on a bench after blessing the whole meal. He also tastes each type of food. The man of the house opens the bottle of wine offers the priest a drink. The priest accepts and after the feast what is left is given to the neighbors. The girls put a needle under the carpet so the priest may pass over it. Then the girl takes the needle, puts it in her hair so at night she may dream of her future husband. Other girls put corn on the priest’s bed so they will get married.
Towards Christmas Eve if the workers of the fields dream of their corn, the corn is said to turn out the way they dream of it.
Peasants wake up before sun rise and touch the items from their yard: wagon, plow, scythe and so on in order for these items to give extra productiveness. The women do the same thing: thread the needle, tie a few strings and some more things. The places from where the people use water to wash up nuts are put in so that the people will be healthy all year round. If a stranger walks through the gate, the host must be the one who closes the gate so that the stranger won’t lose his luck or the host’s girls won’t get married.
The horns are cleaned and the soot is sprinkled over the vineyard so that the vine will give a lot of grapes.
The housewife cooks almost all types of foods for the Christmas meal. Plums are good because they man sweet and help him manage his anger. The house is cleaned in the evening but the garbage isn’t taken out so that the luck won’t leave the house and the cattle won’t get ill. Other housewives clean the house towards the eastern wall and the icons to bring match makers to the house.
At night no one is allowed to stay in the barn, because it’s said that during that night the cattle speak among themselves about Christ who was born amongst them and was kept warm by their breath. Cattle are said to discuss other things that like the location of buried treasure, but man isn’t supposed to listen because bad things can happen to him.