Srecan Bozic! ("Merry Christmas" in Serbian)

Today, January 7th, is Serbian Orthodox Christmas. Although you will sometimes hear Serbs say "Srecan Bozic," or "Merry Christmas," the more traditional greeting used during the days leading up to Orthodox Christmas is "Hristos se rodi" (Christ is born). The reply, much like the western Christian tradition around Easter is "Christ is born, indeed!" So, to all of our Serbian friends celebrating Jesus' birth today, we say "Hristos se rodi!"

The Eastern Orthodox Church celebrates Christmas on this day because this is the day on which Christmas (December 25) falls on the Julian Calendar. Orthodox Christians will celebrate the New Year (or "Little Christmas" as it is called here in Serbia), on January 14th. And so, as you can see, the holiday season is very long here in Eastern Europe!

The Serbian Christmas celebration is steeped in tradition, and includes a 40-day period of fasting leading up to Christmas, as well as many age-old folk customs and traditions. Wikipedia has an entire page devoted to the full panoply of Serbian Christmas traditions, so if anyone is interested in immersing yourself in all things Serbian Christmas, here is the link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serbian_Christmas_traditions

Based on what I can tell, one of the most significant traditions of this important religious holiday revolves around the gathering and burning of a yule log, called the badnjak (bahd-ni-ak). Here is a description of the tradition from the Wikipedia site:

The head of household (typicaly a male) goes into a forest preferably before the sunrise, or at least before noon, to select a young and strait oak tree and fell it. A log cut from this tree will have a central role in the celebration; the log is called badnjak. Generally, one badnjak is prepared for a household, but regionally that number may be greater than one. In the latter case, for each of the logs a separate tree is felled. The head is usually accompanied by several male members of the family. When they set off from home to get the badnjak, they announce it by shooting their guns or small celebratory mortars called prangija.

When the head of household finds a tree that he regards as suitable for the badnjak, he stands in front of it facing east. He throws grain at it, greets it, "Good morning and happy Christmas Eve to you," makes the Sign of the Cross, says a prayer, and kisses the tree. He then cuts it slantwise on its eastern side, using his axe; some men put gloves on before they start to cut the tree. It should fall to the east, without being stopped in its fall by surrounding trees. The first splinter is picked up and kept; it is believed to possess a beneficial power for the material well-being of household. In some regions, if the tree is not cut down after the third blow of the axe, it must not be cut further, but pulled and twisted until it breaks off. The top and the branches of the felled tree are lopped off. A badnjak should be of such a length that allows it to be carried on a shoulder, up to about 2.5 meters (8.2 ft) long. Brought home, each badnjak is leaned vertically against the house beside the entrance door.






Serbian men bringing their badnjaki home.









Here's more from Wikipedia on what happens once the tree arrives at the home:

In the night a man of the family brings their badnjak into the house. If there is more than one badnjak, the thickest of them is regarded as the main, and it is brought in before the others by the head of household. Stepping across the threshold with his right foot first, the man greets the gathered family, "Good evening and happy Christmas Eve to you." The woman of the house greets him back, "May God give you well-being, and may you have good luck." She throws grain from a sieve at both the man and the badnjak he carries. Having entered, he approaches the house's fireplace called ognjište. The hearth of an ognjište is without a vertical surround, so it is similar to a campfire. He lays down the log, putting its thicker side on the fire. He does it in such a way that a short length of the log at its thicker end, which has been nearest to the tree's roots, is left outside the fire. The other logs, if any, are brought in by males and laid on the fire parallel or perpendicular to the first badnjak.

The head of household takes a jug of wine and pours some on the badnjak; in some regions, he may strew wheat grains over the logs. He then proposes a toast, "Grant, O God, that there be health and joy in this home, that our grain and grapevines yield well, that children be born healthy to us, that our property increase in the field, pen, and barn!" or similar. The head drinks a draught of wine from the jug, after which the members of household pass it one to another and drink. At the side of ognjište where the thicker end of badnjak is situated, the family puts a plowshare and a sieve containing grain, honey, cakes, wine, salt, prunes, walnuts, and apples. The badnjak ought not to be jumped over or trodden upon.

As I learned from another blog about Serbia, because so many Serbs now live in cities and not in villages where this tradition can be carried out in its more traditional manner, for city-dwellers, the badnjak is now symbolically represented by a small wreath of several oak twigs tied together. These can be bought at markets and in some stores. I have seen people walking with them in Belgrade, and even saw one tied to the front of a taxi cab yesterday.

It is worth noting that Serbs were not allowed to openly practice these or any other religious traditions during the many years that this country was under communist rule. A Serb told me last night, in fact, that although the observance of religious practices was not permitted during those years, his family (and particularly his grandparents) nevertheless boldly and bravely celebrated religious holidays and engaged in these traditions. For this young man, those courageous grandparents of his gave him -- and now his young family -- the gift of knowing and loving the traditions and customs that accompany their religious beliefs. This conversation reminded me, once again, of how blessed we are to live in a country where we can practice our respective religions, and carry our own beliefs, without fear of persecution or imprisonment.

So, Merry Christmas to all of our Orthodox friends, and for all of our friends in Nashville, we sure hope that you get that snow you've all been waiting for!!

Erin