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In the traditional Russian
Christmas, special prayers are said and people
fast, sometimes for 39 days, until January 6th
Christmas Eve, when the first evening star in
appears in the sky. Then begins a twelve course
supper in honor of each of the twelve apostles -
fish, beet soup (Borsch), cabbage stuffed with
millet, cooked dried fruit and much more.
Hay
is spread on the floors and tables to encourage
horse feed to grow in the coming year and people
make clucking noises to encourage their hens to
lay eggs.
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On
Christmas Day, hymns and carols are sung. People
gather in churches which have been decorated with
the usual Christmas trees (Yelka), flowers and
colored lights. Christmas dinner includes a variety of
different meats - goose and suckling pig are favorites.
The
legend of Father Frost, the Russian equivalent of Santa
Claus, arose in the cities. It was said that Father Frost
lived deep in the woods of Russia and came to town in a
sleigh. Unlike his Western counterpart, he did not come
down the chimney (the houses in Russian cities had no
fireplaces). However, he did make house calls-delivering
toys and gifts door-to-door.
Father
Frost had a reputation for bringing gifts to good
children and forgetting those who were naughty. He could
be both jolly and cold hearted. During the Christmas
season, he would roam the streets, handing out toys to
well-behaved children-and overlooking those who behaved
badly.
Traditionally,
Father Frost wore a red coat and hat trimmed in white fur.
Sometimes his outfit made him more like a wizard than the
Santa Claus known in Europe. But like Santa's, his beard
was snow-white, bushy, and long. Some children opened
their gifts on Christmas Eve, but others were told that
Father Frost wouldn't come until they were fast asleep,
and they would find their gifts under the tree on
Christmas morning. Russian children look forward to the
arrival of Father Frost every bit as much as Western
children look forward to a visit from Santa Claus today.
The
Christmas tree (Iolka) is yet another tradition banned
during the Soviet era. To keep the custom alive, people
decorated New Year's trees, instead. Iolka comes
from the word which refers to a fir tree. But in Saratov
people usually bought pine tree as they are more common
here. The custom of decorating Christmas trees was
introduced to Russia by Peter the Great, after he visited
Europe during the 1700's.
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