Celebration

As Canada, Ukraine is a multi-cultural, multi-national and multi-religious country.  Most people are confessing Christians but because among Christians the Orthodox Christians prevail, the Orthodox Church was recognized as “the official national religious institution” in Ukraine.

Christmas is one of the main and important Christian holidays, meaning that Jesus Christ had been born in Bethlehem. Nowadays, it has grown from a strict religious holiday and has transformed into a family one which all people, young and old, are looking forward to, as it fulfills our boring and busy lives with lots of peace, kindness, joy and deliciousness. Ukrainians have a custom where young couples go to visit their parents on Christmas. Reunion and forgiveness of hurts are part of the celebration and are a good tradition.

The Orthodox Christmas celebration begins January 6th from the Christmas Eve when people first go to the church for worship and continues until the next day. According the church charter, within this day we should avoid eating any food, keeping a strict fast till the first star ascends in the sky. This star symbolizes the Christmas star which had announced to the shepherds that God’s Son had been born.

The first meal people begin their Christmas supper with is “Kutiya”, a wheat porridge with honey, poppy seeds, nuts and raisins. This is the main dish on the table which performs the decorative role as well. Generally, there should be twelve meals cooked and placed onto the Christmas table relative to the number of months in a year. In Ukraine you can see on the table different sausages, meat and poultry, jelly meat soup “Holodezc”, raw salty pork fat, vegetables and fruits, fruits boiled a special way, as called “Uzvar”, mushrooms and other kinds of food. An abundance of food is welcoming on this day!

In different regions of Ukraine, “Kutiya” is cooked thicker or thinner. Every woman while cooking ”Kutiya” can fantasize what to add into it but the certain ingredients are unchanged and mandatory: honey, poppy seeds, nuts and raisins. The base of an old-fashion “Kutiya” was wheat grains while modern one can be cooked from rice or other grains. Obviously, any ingredient is a symbol, for instance: grains symbolize fertile land and everlasting life, honey and poppy seeds mean abundance on the Earth and also souls living in Heaven, nuts imply health and raisins represent well-being. The whole meal symbolizes procreation and life on Earth.

Undoubtedly, the houses are getting decorated with a Christmas tree on the top of which we place the Bethlehem star and hang ornaments, balls, angels, garlands, decorations and surely sweets for children on the branches. Christmas gifts can be found underneath the tree. And no mistake, there are many candles lit all around.  The Christmas tree has become a decorative part of Christmas not long ago. Our ancestors, who had been living in Kiev Rus times, decorated their houses’ floors with straw and hay. They also covered the tables with straw and placed table cloths over it. That should remind us where Jesus had been born: neither palace nor royal chambers but in the barn and his Mother laid him into the manger with hay.

On Christmas Eve young people gather into groups and cruise from house to house, from apartment to apartment to bring Christmas congratulations and create an especially unique atmosphere. They are well dressed in national outfits, bringing a bright golden or red Bethlehem star and singing Christmas songs, “kolyadki”. In gratitude masters give them sweets, coins and small ornaments. There is a belief existing from the ancient time that if the first person who visits the house on Christmas morning is a male, that house will have prosperity and well-being all year around.

I believe there is no person who doesn’t like Christmas because of the possibility to create and feel a fairy tale, to get a sensation of the Holy spirit fulfilling the air, our souls and hearts with kindness, forgiveness and hope!