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Home , Badnjak (Croatian), Badnjak (Serbian), Christmas gift, Christmas in Romania

Southeastern Europe (Balkans)

Albania

Christmas (Krishtlindjet) on 25 December is a public holiday in Albania, a nation with significant Muslim and Christian populations, and is celebrated by both Orthodox and CatholicAlbanians. However, even some non-Christian Albanians celebrate them. The Albanian wish is "Gëzuar Krishtlindjet!".

People go to church at midnight on 24 December, or during 25 December. The atmosphere is felt not only in the capital city, Tirana, but also in many other cities, for example in: Korça, Shkodra, Lezha, Durrës, Berat etc. The rituals and traditions are very similar to those practiced by the other European Christian nations.

Romania and

Main article: Christmas in

Christmas (Romanian: Crăciun) in Romania falls on and is generally considered the second most important religious Romanian holiday after . In Moldova, although Christmas is celebrated on 25 December like in Romania, 7 January is also recognized as an official holiday in Moldova. Celebrations begin with the decoration of the during daytime on 24 December, and in the evening (, in Romanian: Ajunul Crăciunului) Moş Crăciun () delivers the presents.

The singing of carols is a very important part of Romanian Christmas festivities. On the first day of Christmas, many carolers walk through the streets of the towns and villages, holding a star made of cardboard and paper on which are depicted various scenes from the Bible. Romanian tradition has the smallest children going from house to house, singing carols and reciting poems and legends during the whole Christmas season. The leader of the group carries with him a star made of wood, covered with metal foil and decorated with bells and coloured ribbons. An image of the Nativity is painted on the star's centre, and this piece of handiwork is attached to the end of a broom or other long stick.

Romanian food served during the holidays is a hearty multi-coursed meal, most of which consists of (organs, muscle, and fat). This is mainly a symbolic gesture for St. .

Serbia and Serb areas

Main articles: Serbian and (Serbian)

The celebrate Christmas for three consecutive days, beginning with Christmas Day. The uses the traditional , per which Christmas Day (25 December) falls on 7 January. This day is called the first day of Christmas, and the following two are accordingly called the second, and the third day of Christmas. During this festive time, one is to greet another person with “Christ is Born,” which should be responded to with “Truly He is Born.” The Serbian name for Christmas is Božić (Cyrillic: Божић, pronounced [boʒitɕ]), which means the young or little God.

This holiday surpasses all the others celebrated by Serbs, with respect to the diversity of applied folk customs and rituals. These may vary from region to region, some of them having modern versions adapted to the contemporary way of living. The ideal environment to carry them out fully is the traditional multi- generation country household.

In the morning of Christmas Eve a young, straight tree is selected and felled by the head of the household. A log is cut from it and is referred to as the badnjak. In the evening, the badnjak is ceremoniously put on the domestic fire that burns on the house’s fireplace called ognjište, whose hearth is without a vertical surround. The burning of the badnjak is accompanied by prayers to God so that the coming year may bring much happiness, love, luck, riches, and food. Since most houses today have no ognjište on which to burn abadnjak, it is symbolically represented by several leaved oak twigs. For the convenience of people who live in towns and cities, they can be bought at marketplaces or received in churches.

The dinner on this day is festive, copious and diverse in foods, although it is prepared in accordance with the rules of fasting. Groups of young people go from house to house of their village or neighbourhood, congratulating each other, singing, and making performances; this continues through the next three days. The Serbs also take a bundle of straw into the house and spread it over the floor, and then put walnuts on it. Before the table is served for the Christmas Eve dinner, it is strewn with a thin layer of straw and covered with a white cloth. The head of household makes the , lights a candle, and censes the whole house. The family members sit down at the table, but before tucking in they all rise and a man or boy among them says a prayer, or they together sing the of the Nativity. After the dinner young people visit their friends, a group of whom may gather at the house of one of them. Christmas and other songs are sung, while the elderly narrate stories from the olden times.

On Christmas Day, the celebration is announced at dawn by church bells and by shooting. A big importance is given to the first visit a family receives that day. People expect that it will summon prosperity and well-being for their household in the ensuing year; this visit is often pre-arranged. is the most celebratory meal a family has during a year. A special, festive loaf of bread is baked for this occasion. The main course is roast pork of a pig which they cook whole by rotating it impaled on a wooden spit close to an open fire. It is not a part of Serbian traditions to exchange during Christmas. - giving is, nevertheless, connected with the celebrations, being traditionally done on the three consecutive Sundays that immediately precede it. Children, women, and men, respectively, are the set gift-givers on these three days. Since the early 1990s, the Serbian Orthodox Church has, together with local communities, organized public celebrations on Christmas Eve. The course of these celebrations can be typically divided into three parts: the preparation, the ritual, and the festivity. The preparation consists of going and cutting down the tree to be used as the badnjak, taking it to the church yard, and preparing drink and food for the assembled parishioners. The ritual includes , placing the badnjak on the open fire built in the church yard, blessing or consecrating the badnjak, and an appropriate program with songs and recitals. In some parishes they build the fire on which to burn the badnjak not in the church yard but at some other suitable location in their town or village. The festivity consists of getting together around the fire and socializing. Each particular celebration, however, has its own specificities which reflect traditions of the local community, and other local factors.

Southern Europe

Bulgaria

In Bulgaria, Christmas (Bulgarian: Коледа, Koleda or more formally Рождество Христово, Rozhdestvo Hristovo, "Nativity of ") is celebrated on 25 December and is preceded by Christmas Eve (Бъдни вечер, Badni vecher). Traditionally, Christmas Eve would be the climax of the , and thus only an odd number of lenten dishes are presented on that evening. On that day, a Bulgarian budnikis set alight. On Christmas, however, meat dishes are already allowed and are typically served.

Among the Bulgarian Christmas traditions is koleduvane, which involves boy carolers (коледари, koledari) visiting the neighbouring houses starting at midnight on Christmas Eve, wishing health, wealth and happiness a. Another custom is the baking of a traditional round loaf (пита, ). The pita is broken into pieces by the head of the family and a piece is given to each family member, a valuable possession, and a piece for God. A coin is hidden inside the pita and whoever gets the coin, he or she will have the luck, health and prosperity in the coming year.

As in other countries, a Christmas tree is typically set up and the entire house is decorated. The local name of is Dyado Koleda (Дядо Коледа, "Grandfather Christmas"), with Dyado Mraz (Дядо Мраз, "Grandfather Frost") being a similar Russian-imported character lacking the Christian connotations and thus popular during the Communist rule. However, it has been largely forgotten after 1989, when Dyado Koleda again returned as the more popular figure.

Bosnia and , Croatia and Slovenia

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Slovenia, Christmas (Croatian: Božić, Slovene: Božič) is celebrated mainly as a religious holiday. The festivities begin on 's Day on December 6 (in Slovenia) or St. Lucy's on December 13 depending on what region (in Croatia). St. Lucy or St. Nicholas brings children presents, and St. Nicholas is said to be accompanied by who steals away the presents of bad children. In Croatia on St. Lucy's, families will plant wheat seeds in a bowl of shallow water, which will grow several inches by Christmas and are then tied together with a red, blue and white ribbon called trobojnica'.

On Christmas Eve (Croatian: Badnjak, Slovene: Sveti večer (holy eve)), three candles representing the Trinity are lit and placed in the middle of the wheat, the glow symbolizes the soul of each person. On this day, the tree is decorated, the home is decked with greenery and the women already beginning to prepare the Christmas meal. They also bake special types of bread: one is round inscribed with a cross on top known as the cesnica, another is made with honey, nuts and dried fruit called the Christmas Eve Bread (Croatian: Badnji Kruh, Slovene: Božični kruh). In many villages, straw (which symbolizes Christ's birth in the ) is spread around the floors of the home for the Christmas Eve dinner. As is customary with Catholic people, meat is not consumed in Croatia, while in Slovenia is. Instead of meat in Croatia and with other food in Slovenia, salad and fish is served, many choosing to eat the Dalmatian specialtybakalar, dried cod fish. The family then sprinkle holy water on their log (badnjak) which they light and watch. In villages, the badnjak is freshly cut that very morning by the father of the household while reciting traditional prayers. At the end of the meal, a piece of the cesnica is cut and dipped in and used to sprinkle on the candles to estinguish them, while reciting the Trinitarian formula ("In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen").

Many families will go to a on Christmas Eve and often another on Christmas Day. It is common for Christmas presents to be placed under the tree, to suggest that the Angel or the Baby Jesus (Mali Isus) leaves them there while others are attending midnight mass. Presents are opened after the mass. Christmas is a day of celebrating with family; a large feast is prepared and traditional foods such as stuffed cabbage, turkey, pot roast, pita and smoked meat are served, along with various desserts such as fritule,potica (especially in Slovenia), strudel, and cookies.

Slovenes are also visited by another one of their trije dobri možje (three good guys), who bring presents in December: Saint Nicholas, Santa Claus and Dedek Mraz ("Grandfather Frost"). Families mostly celebrate 's Eve at home with extended family members, friends, and sometimes neighbours. Women prepare cabbage , which they will eat on January 1 to symbolize good fortune, and steak tartare, which they eat on New Year's Eve on toast with butter. At midnight, people go outdoors to watch , while Dedek Mraz leaves presents under the tree. on January 6 marks the end of the Christmas season.

Macedonia In the Macedonian calendar, as in many other Orthodox countries, the Macedonian Orthodox Church marks Christmas Day on January 7. On Christmas Eve (January 6), a coin is concealed in a bread loaf and the host breaks a piece of the loaf at the dinner table for each member of the household: it is believed that the one who gets the piece of bread with the coin will be fortunate in the forthcoming year. The dinner is according to the rules of fasting: fish, baked beans, sauerkraut, walnuts and red wine are common. The dessert may consist of apples and dried fruits: , dates, figs. The table is usually not cleared after the dinner and until the next morning, to leave some food for the holly spirits – a custom which probably comes from pagan pre-Christian times