It is difficult to imagine Ukrainian culture without such a paramount celebration as Christmas. For my research, I have interviewed Nadia, native-born Ukrainian, who told me the significance of this celebration in her family, their traditions and her own childhood memories and nostalgia. In Ukraine, Christmas is celebrated in a very special way, preparing to it carefully and keeping old traditions. Ukrainians have developed different rites and ceremonies, fasts and diets, Carrols and divinations to celebrate Christmas. To assist my investigation I have found the history and the ways Ukrainians celebrated Christmas, foods and entertainments they had, cultural features and traditions, showing the unique identity of the nation.
Orthodox Christians celebrate Christmas on the seventh of January according to Julian calendar, the day when Jesus Christ was born and in the sky began to shine Bethlehem star, as written in the Bible. Christmas – is the greatest and most essential event in the peasant household calendar of Ukrainians in XIX-XX century. Christian traditions and celebrations are closely related to old customs of pagan origin. Aforetime our ancestors on the day of winter solstice celebrated the birth of the new summer sun, change from the winter to summer (Sapiga 1993).
Christmas, by the church constitution, antecede four-week lent (Pylypivka), from November 27 to January 6. At this time, all the household work has been performed: whitewashed the chamber, decorated it
Hanukkah or” Chanukah” is an eight day and eight nights Jewish holiday established on the 25 of Kislev (Macaulay).Hanukkah dates are different every year. For 2015 Hanukkah is celebrated on the 6th of December thru December 14th (Chabad). Hanukkah is a celebration of the Jews victory against the Greek and the oil that lasted eight days and eight nights in the Holy Temple (ifcg). The origin of Hanukkah comes from the heroic victory from the Greeks.
Christmas is a Christian occasion that is commended on December 25 to pay tribute to the introduction of Jesus Christ or the timeframe that precedes and after this occasion. Christmas developed more than two centuries into an overall religious and mainstream festivity, fusing numerous pre-Christian, agnostic conventions into the celebrations along the way. Today, Christmas is a period for family and companions to get together and trade presents. Christmas is celebrated within the church of the Lord.
The dictionary defines Christmas as “the annual commemoration of the birth of Jesus Christ on December 25 and further explains it as a day of civil celebrations where presents and greetings are exchanged. The origin of the word comes from a phrase in Old English, ‘Cistes maesse,’ which translates as mass of Christ” (Collins English Dictionary). Christians better know the mass of Christ as the Body of Christ. This is a well-known biblical quote because these are the words given by Jesus to the Apostles during the Last Supper. This saying is similar to the interpretation and worshiping during the Passover.
Christians commonly celebrate the New Year January 1st, according to the Julian calendar; For orthodox Christians whom follow the Gregorian calendar New Year is marked on January 14th or sometime around that date. (Christian Observances and Rituals) Orthodox or not the New Year is a day celebrated most Christians, many attending mass. Another commonly celebrated day is, “Epiphany Sunday, commonly known as Three Kings’ Day in the United States, is on January 6. It celebrates the three wise men’s visit to baby Jesus and also remembers his baptism, according to the Christian Bible’s events. The United States (US) Virgin Islands observe the day as a public holiday.” (Epiphany in the United States) On this day children, bake cookies and cakes in honor of the Three Wise Men. This day is exactly twelve days after Christmas, another Christian
There is no doubt that Christmas is a religious event but nowadays Christmas becomes more commercialized, as it has been defined as a high consumption season because the gifts giving culture becomes the most important part of Christmas and the consumers want to please their children
Hanukkah and Christmas are two very important celebrations to many cultures. Hanukkah is mostly celebrated by the Jewish, whereas Christmas is celebrated by Christians and other members of society that don't have a specific religion. Throughout, this will look at the differences between the two. These being; the religious aspects of them both, the date differences of the celebrations, the cultural background behind them and symbols that represent these celebrations.
Coptic Orthodox Christians follow a different calendar than those of the Catholic faith and other religions. Our calendar is called the Gregorian calendar, and this means that some holidays fall on different days. For example, we always celebrate Christmas on January 7th while Catholics celebrate it on December 25th. It is still the same holiday being celebrated which is the birth of Jesus Christ, but it just comes during a different
To begin, the history of Christmas is peculiar and filled with factors that make it well-known all throughout the world. It’s history goes all the way back to 336, during the time of the Roman Emperor Constantine. Jesus was born in Bethlehem from a virgin whose name was Mary. In a stable, where shepherds visited, along with everyone who heard, a miracle happened and the holiday came to be. As time continued, Christians have been swept away from the celebration’s natural meaning, background, and origins.
The Christmas season was full of general joy and greatness, seeing that it consisted of festivals which contained overall buoyancy. Starting Christmas Eve and ending on Epiphany, this season consisted of celebrations, feasts, music, morris dancing, plays and general merriment. Christmas used to commonly be celebrated with religious connotation, but the Reformation introduced the secular way of celebrating Christmas, which most families adapted into their personal celebrations. Overall, this season was a practical way for families to spend time with each
Christmas was to be a festival to reflect on society in a way to show that it was better than the past. The medieval time periods has perfect models that seemed to bring sheer celebration to christmas. “Merrie England” and the “Olde Christmas” provided the foundation to help build a new Christmas, one that fit the time period, and
Abigail Elie Professor Carter English 100 A 21 November 2014 The difference between Christmas and Hanukkah Every year people are jolly to celebrate their own traditions. Whether it is Christmas or Hanukkah, people find joys with giving and receiving gifts. Both holidays differ in many ways. There are many differences in the holidays Christmas and Hanukkah.
Their second tradition is what they call a Nascimento. The Nascimento is the birth of jesus.The Nascimento is a little Christmas decoration that they put under the Christmas tree and it is also
According to Kevin Hendricks 91% of American’s celebrate Christmas but only 47% of American’s attend Christmas Eve mass. This statistic shows that even during special holidays people don’t choice to practice their religion. Some families’ most important tradition is religion but as years pass there is less and less people practicing their religion. Despite that the Morocho family from generation to generation has always kept their faith in religion especially on Christmas Eve. Every generation of the Morocho family grows up catholic and with that in mind they go to Christmas Eve mass to practice their religion. The most essential tradition in the Morocho family is celebrating Christmas Eve by gathering with the family to practice their
That is not to say there is no religious motivation behind Christmas food, or that there are no parallels to traditional Hanukkah foods, but these parallels and motivations are superficial at best. Instead, one must look at the overarching themes behind Christmas and Hanukkah food traditions in order to find a connection. While there are few similarities between the Christian and Jewish traditions, they both mark a significant event in their religion, and they both commemorate it with food. Food as a tool of reverence, then, is a common thread between
From the time period 1558-1829 Roman Catholics were prohibited from practicing their faith in public. “The Twelve Days of Christmas” is important to the Roman Catholics because it has a hidden religious meaning behind it. Saying this, it does not only have a hidden meaning but it also portrays a surface meaning as well. The surface meaning goes along with what the actual words in the song say. On the other hand, the religious meaning hides a code word for a religious reality.