Russia (bbabo.net), - Orthodox Christmas celebrations have begun in Russia. It began precisely, because the Church considers the holiday in honor of the born Christ so significant that it gives him not one, but whole seven days - from January 7 to 13. That is, we begin to celebrate the Nativity of Christ on the night of January 6-7 with the All-night Vigil and Divine Liturgy, and we end only on January 13, when the so-called giving of the feast of the Nativity of Christ takes place. Therefore, the question "how to spend Christmas correctly" applies not only to the night from 6 to 7 January and the next weekend, but the entire following week.
Today, many have simplified this celebration: scattered Christmas cards on social networks and that's it, it's done. But our ancestors, understanding the universal originality of the event of the arrival of Christ in our world, realizing the significance of the birth of God among people, prepared in advance for the Christmas week. We were eagerly awaiting the arrival of the holiday and with joy, spiritual uplift, we spent the whole Christmas week. They knew: the festive days of the Nativity of Christ are a special time, it should not be spent senselessly and ineptly. But how do you spend Christmas the right way?
Preparations for Christmas began with the Christmas fast and ... the preparation of.jpgts. Memoirists testify: delicate inquiries about who would like to receive what began almost in November - of course! Money for Christmas bounties was set aside in advance. Moreover, they gave.jpgts not only to those close to them, but also to those far away. And even completely unfamiliar. Christmas united all strata of society, because Christ came to our world for everyone. Christmas week was a time of charity.
In the memoirs of Prince Felix Yusupov, we find: "Even a month before the holiday, Mother asked people who to give what."
The daughter of the tea merchant Vasily Sabashnikov, Margarita, described with nostalgia: “Mom took part in organizing the holidays for the children of our quarter, and my friends and I helped. playing with Petrushka ... lighting candles on a big Christmas tree. In the next room,.jpgts were handed out. Each child received chintz for a dress or shirt, a toy and a large bag of gingerbread. A friend of my brother who gave out.jpgts charmed everyone, allowing the child to choose what he liked ".
Not only the rich were guided by the biblical truth "Let the hand of the giver fail". The artist Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin recalled how a certain shoemaker Ivan Markelych "a month and a half before Christmas began preparations for the Christmas tree party, which was to take place in one of the city's hotels. In addition to penny.jpgts, they prepared a performance for children, assigning roles and rehearsing in advance." And all this with love and joy - it's time to give, share!
As Christmas approached, preparations for the holiday became more intense. “You will see that frozen pigs (to Moscow) are brought up, and soon it’s Christmas,” we read from Ivan Shmelev. “We fasted for six weeks, ate fish. Who is richer - beluga, sturgeon, perch, pork; poorer - herring, catfish, bream. . But at Christmas - pork, everything. In meat houses, it used to be, frozen pigs would be piled up to the ceiling like logs. The hams were chopped off, to pickle. And they lie, in rows, - you can see pink stains, covered with snow. "
Piglets, geese and turkeys, chickens and ducks were transported to Moscow from Tambov, Saratov, Kursk, from the Volga, from near Samara. From Siberia - hazel grouse, grouse, wood grouse ... Trade was widespread, generous: without scales, by sight! “The butcher used to chop pork with an ax, a piece would bounce off, even half a pound — don't give a damn! A beggar would pick it up,” Ivan Shmelev was surprised. Today the word "break the fast", that is, for the first time after fasting, to start eating fast food, needs to be explained. And before they said: "A naked man (that is, a beggar) has the same soul, he also needs joy. And a beggar breaks his fast at Christmas." And they also believed: fasting will lead to the gates of paradise, and alms will open them.
"A week before Christmas, the cheerful hostesses began to clean the apartments, which at that time were transforming, as if there was an invasion of Batu: the furniture was moved from its places, images, mirrors, paintings were removed. The rooms were filled with fussy servants, wiped and swept away the accumulated dust and dirt", - the merchant Nikolai Varentsov told. They made it shine for a reason - all Christmastide, Holy days from Christmas to Epiphany, to visit and receive guests!"Our Christmas is coming from afar, quietly. Deep snows, frosts are stronger," Ivan Shmelev told his seven-year-old French godson. Not like here - stamens. Near our Christmas tree ... as it warms up, spreads its paws, - thicket. On Theater Square, it used to be - a forest ... And the snow fell - I lost my way! The people walk, choose. The dogs in the trees are like wolves, really. Bonfires are burning, warm yourself up. Smoke pillars. Frosty Russia, but ... it's warm! "
The chosen forest beauty was carried home, and then it began! "A large frozen tree was dragged into the living room. The groin knocked for a long time and hewed it with an ax, fixing the cross. The tree was finally lifted, and it turned out to be so high that the soft green tip bent under the ceiling. Cold smelled from the spruce, but its branches gradually thawed and rose , fluffed up, and the whole house smelled of pine needles. The children brought heaps of chains and cardboard boxes with decorations to the living room, substituted chairs for the tree and began to clean it. But soon it turned out that there were not enough things. I had to glue the nuts again, gild the nuts, tie them to gingerbread and silver ropes for the Crimean apples. The children sat at work all evening, until Lilya, with her head bowed on her elbow, fell asleep at the table "(Alexey Tolstoy" Nikita's Childhood ").
But not only the tree, which was fashioned by the Grand Duchess Alexandra Feodorovna, the wife of the future Emperor Nicholas I and the daughter of Kaiser Friedrich Wilhelm III, was an obligatory attribute of the holiday. Everyone knew: for Christmas - a feast in the mountains! They also prepared for him ahead of time.
“Christmas was imperceptibly approaching,” Anastasia Tsvetaeva recalled. “The house was full of rustles, rustling, secrecy behind the closed doors of the hall ... Smells lifted the house like waves of a ship, Chinese dessert plates, crystal shine of vases, heard the clink of glasses. They carried roast beef with a pink center, black pressed caviar on a large platter. Nostrils caught the aroma of "grandfather's" cookies.
Pork was an obligatory dish on the Christmas table - at home, the richer cooked the whole pig. The people believed: pork was ordered to be eaten at Christmas as a punishment! She did not allow Jesus the Infant to sleep in the manger - she grunted. That is why it is called - a pig! In richer houses, they stuffed a bird, baked special gingerbreads in the shape of a goat or a cow - goats - a symbol of animals that in the barn with their breath warmed the Infant Christ. The Christmas meal was shared without fail - sent to low-income homes, prisons, hospitals.
After a festive dinner, Christmas performances and carols are invariable companions of the holiday both in ordinary and in noble houses. And.jpgts,.jpgts,.jpgts.
It is impossible to skipidomnitsya at Christmas, our ancestors believed. Being mean on Christmas is not just a shame, a sin. The people were convinced: "He who gives to the poor lends to the Lord," "Give, and it will be rewarded to you, with what measure you mete, the same will be measured." By the way, these folk sayings come directly from the Gospel. Happy Holidays!
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