The following lines are coming to You from our Serbian friends:
“We wish all our EUROPEA friends a happy and prosperous New Year!
We in Serbia are a bit late because our Orthodox tradition celebrates Christmas on January 7th. Today the Serbs and the Serbian Orthodox church celebrate Badnji dan (Christmas Eve)! The name “Badnji dan” comes after “badnjak“, a log that is brought into the house and placed on the fire on the evening of Christmas Eve. The feeling, preparation, bringing in, and laying on the fire, are surrounded by elaborate rituals with many regional variations.
The tree from which the log is cut is preferably a young and straight oak. Oak has always been sacred to the Slavs. The burning of the log is accompanied by prayers for the upcoming year to bring food, happiness, love and fortune. The Serbs have inherited those customs from their ancestors and we keep them to the present day.
For dinner we traditionally eat fish, mushrooms, vegetables, pumpkin, nuts and dry fruit. Meat and dairy are not eaten on Christmas Eve. That was a little part of our tradition. ”
Acknowledgements: many thanks to Valentina (SR) and EUROPEA-Serbia 🙂
Photos: from Valentina (SR) 🙂
