What do you say on Serbian Christmas Eve?
In Serbian Happy/Merry Christmas is Hristos se rodi (Христос се роди) – Christ is born Vaistinu se rodi (Ваистину се роди) – truly born (reply).
What do Serbians do on Christmas?
A Serbian man cuts branches from an oak tree for Orthodox Christmas celebrations. In many parts of the Balkans, the tradition involves the male head of the household chopping branches off an oak tree and bringing them home on the morning of Christmas Eve.
What is Badnjak English?
Badnjak (Croatian pronunciation: [badɲaːk]), refers to a log brought into the house and placed on the fire on the evening of Christmas Eve, a central tradition in Croatian Christmas celebration, much like a yule log in other European traditions. In Croatian the name for Christmas Eve is derived from the term badnjak.
Is Christmas celebrated in Serbia?
Serbian Christmas traditions are customs and practices of the Serbs associated with Christmas and a period encompassing it, between the third Sunday before Christmas Day and Epiphany. Christmas is celebrated for three consecutive days, starting with Christmas Day, which the Serbs call the first day of Christmas.
Which calendar is used in Serbia?
Julian Calendar
The Serbian Orthodox Church uses the traditional Julian Calendar, as per which Christmas Day (December 25) falls currently on January 7 of the Gregorian Calendar.
What can you do with badnjak?
Some people chop the badnjak into shorter logs so that they can be put into the hearth and burnt. The most prevalent custom, however, is to place a cluster of oak twigs, with their brown leaves still attached, in whichever location in the home the family feels is appropriate.
Where does the word badnjak come from in Serbia?
The badnjak ( Serbian Cyrillic: бадњак, Serbian pronunciation: [bǎdɲaːk] ), also called veseljak (весељак, [ʋɛˈsɛ̌ʎaːk], literally “the one who brings joy” in Serbian ), is a tree branch or young tree brought into the house and placed on the fire on the evening of Christmas Eve, a central tradition in Serbian Christmas celebrations.
What does it mean to cut down a badnjak?
A terebinth is cut down for the badnjak associated with the woman of the house, called the badnjačica ( [badˈɲatʃitsa] ), meaning she- badnjak. The same term is also used in other areas where only a pair of oak logs is cut, in which case badnjačica refers to the smaller of the two.
When is the badnjak cut on Christmas Eve?
It is placed on a fire on Christmas Eve and its branches are later brought home by worshipers. The tree from which the badnjak is cut, preferably a young, straight and undamaged Austrian oak, is ceremonially felled early on the morning of Christmas Eve.
Where does the badnjak go in the church?
Parishioners festively cut the sapling to be used as the badnjak and take it to their church, where it is consecrated by a priest before being ceremonially placed on a fire pit in the churchyard.