Let’s face the reality: summer has definitely faded away, even if it seems like it was only yesterday. Well, it is that time of year, when colorful lights twinkle on the houses (since Halloween ended), stores and shops are getting crowded and Salvation Army’s Santa Claus-clad donation collectors are to be seen on streets…
Yes, season of joy is just around the corner!
Christmas is celebrated in both ways – religious and secular. Christians celebrate it as the anniversary of the birth of Jesus. The customs and traditions around the world vary.
For many Roman Catholics, the preparations for Christmas begin with Advent which starts on the fourth Sunday before December 25 (usually Sunday between November 27 and December 3). Keeping an advent wreath decorated with four candles is very common practice. People light one candle each Sunday prior to Christmas Eve. Popular Christmas preparations involve cleaning and decorating homes with a Christmas tree, baking cookies or attending church. In most European countries there is Saint Nicholas who brings some candies and little gifts to all good kids on December 6th. Every kid polishes their boots on the evening of December 5th, leaves them on a window ledge or by the door and waits until the morning to find some goodies in them.
Christmas Eve is celebrated in many different ways around the world. Some common elements include waiting for Santa Claus to arrive, attending church for midnight mass,exchanging gifts and having Christmas dinner. Although, there are different Christmas gift bringers around the world. In some countries there is a little child Jesus who brings the presents, in others it is Grandpa Christmas, Father of Christmas or The Old Man Christmas. The meals also differ depending on the country and region. In most European countries carp is the base of Christmas dinner. Baked goods cannot miss on a Christmas table either.
Celebrating holiday at Greystone College, Vancouver.
In Canada, Christmas dinner may consist of stuffed turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce and vegetable. A traditional dish in the French speaking part of Canada may be turkey with chestnuts and meat pie.
Europe gets a lot of visitors during the Christmas season. Most of them are excited to visit traditional Christmas markets, get some mulled wine, chestnuts or some little gifts from local artists.
Not everyone celebrates Christmas at the same time though. The Orthodox Christians have to wait until January 7th for their Christmas day, as they follow the Julian calendar. Some Orthodox Christian Russians do not eat any meat or even fish during Christmas dinner. Beet root soup (so called “borsch”) is a very popular Christmas meal in Russia.
Nowadays, Christmas, especially in the Western world is becoming a more and more commercial phenomenon. Businesses want to get as much money as possible from these holidays. Most of the time, the result of it is just stressful people chasing material, transient things. Then, in all that “Christmas craziness”, we somehow forget about real Christmas spirit, real values that we celebrate during this time of year.
Instead of getting more and more Christmas lights to decorate our houses, maybe we should try to bring more light into our own relationships – with ourselves and with our loved ones. Instead of rushing to buy more, we should try to slow down and think of how much we already have without even paying for it. Family, friends, sharing, loving, caring, being together and cherishing that moment … these are the merits we should build and work on. We should keep these in mind all year round and not only when we light up Christmas tree in our living rooms.
Celebrating holiday at Greystone College, Vancouver.