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Christmas, Christmas Eve - in the Christian tradition - a feast commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ. It is a permanent liturgical celebration falling on December 25. Christmas is preceded by a three-week wait (exactly four Sundays), called Advent. In the Catholic Church it is a prescribed feast.

In the Churches, which continue to celebrate the liturgy according to the Julian calendar (the so-called Eastern Churches, mainly the Greek Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church), the Christmas calendar is on the 25th of December of the Julian calendar, i.e. at the current January 7, Gregorian calendar.

Table of Contents
1 Genesis and history of the feast
1.1 The period before the holiday is celebrated
1.2 Establishment of the feast
1.3. December 25
1.4. The development of the holiday
2 Christian confessions that do not go through Christmas
3 habits
3.1 Christmas Eve
3.2 Midnight
3.3 Christmas attributes
4 Religious holidays convergent in time with Christmas
5 Christmas in art
6 See also
7 References
8 Bibliography
9 External links
Genesis and history of holidays [edit | edit code]
The period before the holiday was created [edit | edit code]
The exact setting of the time of the liturgical celebration of the birth of Christ, as well as the reason for placing it in the liturgical calendar on December 25, is a matter still discussed by scholars. According to available sources, the feast was first introduced in Rome in the 4th or the end of the 3rd century.

It is known from the accounts of Clement of Alexandria that various dates were given for the day of Christ's birth: April 19, May 20, and Klemens pointed to November 17 [1]. In the second century, e.e. in Egypt, the Christmas Day was celebrated in the First Peretta on January 6, exactly on the eleventh day of Tybi - the day of the birth of the Sun god Ajon - patron of the Mithraic mysteries or Osiris god of death and reborn life [2], a very old cult dating back to the 3rd century BC, later called by the Greeks mysteries [3]. The anniversary of the birth of Christ was moved by the Church in 353 on December 25, the day of the birth of Mithra, the invincible divine Sun [4].

Mithra's cult was very popular in Rome and the Middle East. When Christianity became a state religion, Christians, in order to weaken Mithra's cult, assumed that December 25, so far celebrated as the birthday of Mithras, would be the day of the birth of Jesus [2]. Christmas Day was readily accepted, because it was a variant of the pagan festival of Ajona - the holiday of the Sun's shift. The celebration of the feast took place in the underground adyton on the night of December 24 at 25, and around midnight consecrated ordinances were performed. At dawn, the faithful participated in the procession from the place of worship, bearing the statuette of a child as a symbol of a born God-Sun by a virgin called Dea Caelestis (Tanit), a foreign Roman goddess (peregrina sacra) [5].

The rise of the holiday [edit | edit code]
For the first three hundred years of Christianity, the birth of Christ was significant only because of his genealogy (cf. Luke 3: 23-38, Mt 1: 1-17), confirming that he was the Messiah [6]. According to the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church, the first and main holiday of Christians was Sunday, as a memory of the paschal mystery. From the second century came the annual celebration of the death and resurrection of Christ - Easter. In the Roman Empire, the Sunday celebration of Christ-light gave the Christian meaning of the Latin name of the day: "dies solis" (the day of the sun, compare with Sunday, German Sonntag) [7]. Christmas was not celebrated in this first period, and the date of Jesus' birthday was not particularly interested [8].

The first preserved mention indicating the existence of public celebrations of the liturgical celebration of the birth of Christ is a note in Chronograf's work from 354 (edited already in 336), currently in the collection of the Vatican Library. The note was placed in the part of the work dedicated to the liturgical memories of the so-called martyrs. Depositio Martyrum. Before the list of martyrs worshiped that day (ie, specifically, VIII Calendas lanuarii, or 25 December) an entry about the birth of Christ in Bethlehem in Judea was placed, which suggests that it was information about the liturgical celebration of this event [9] [10].

It is possible that the Christmas holiday was received by the Church after the victory of Emperor Constantine the Great over Maxentius in 312 or over Licinius in 324. Then, the date of the festival would not be earlier than in 313. If the holiday was a Christian reaction to raising the holiday of Natalis Solis Invicti (the birth of the Sun God) by Emperor Aurelian, the Christmas celebrations would have been earlier, reaching 300 or even 275 [9].

Day 25 December [edit | edit code]
In the Gospels, the date of the birth of Jesus Christ is not mentioned. The oldest known author, who wrote about the birth of Jesus Christ in December, is the Roman Hipolit.

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Christmas Eve, Christmas Eve (Christmas Eve supper, Christmas Eve evening, sometimes also an asterisk) (from Latin vigilia - vigil, guard, vigilare - watch) - in the Christian tradition, the day preceding Christmas, ending the Advent period.

The beginnings of this feast probably extend to the celebration of Saturnalia in ancient Rome, where Christianity developed [1].

Table of Contents
1 Christmas Eve in Poland
1.1 Christmas Eve dishes
1.2 Christmas beliefs and superstitions
2 Christmas Eve in the world
2.1 European countries
2.2 Other countries
3 Christmas Eve in art
4 See also
5 References
6 Bibliography
Christmas Eve in Poland [edit | edit code]

Christmas Eve supper begins breaking the wafer
In the Latin Church Christmas Eve is celebrated on December 24, in the Greek Catholic and Orthodox Church - on January 6 (in connection with the use of the Julian calendar), and in the Catholic church of the Armenian rite - on January 5.

Christmas Eve day was also moved. According to folk tradition (still alive eg in the Kielce region), in the years when December 24 falls on Sunday, Christmas Eve could not be celebrated, because "Sunday does not accept fasting". In this case, the Christmas Eve supper was organized on Saturday, and Christmas was celebrated for three days.

According to tradition in Poland, the Christmas Eve supper begins with the "first star in the sky". It is a symbolic reference to the Bethlehem Star announcing the birth of Jesus, which the Bible says on the eastern side of the sky that the Three Kings were seen. The supper, as prescribed by custom, fasting, begins with a prayer and reading of a fragment of the Gospel of Matthew or the Gospel of Luke in the part concerning the birth of Jesus. Then the supper participants break each other's wafer, at the same time making wishes. On the table covered with a white tablecloth with a bundle of hay underneath, one more place is set up than the number of people gathered. An additional place at the Christmas Eve table is intended for an unannounced guest, and this custom has become popular in the 19th century. An important practice accompanying Christmas Eve is singing Christmas carols. Often, Christmas presents are placed under the Christmas tree, which according to tradition is to be brought by a celebrity, Saint. Santa, child, angel or star.

Christmas Eve dishes [edit | edit code]

An example of a Christmas Eve table - today

A traditionally set Christmas table in a Bieszczady hut from Dąbrówka
Depending on the region and family traditions, the set of Christmas Eve dishes is different, but usually on the Christmas Eve table should be all the fruits of the earth, and the dishes should be twelve. Everyone should try to ensure happiness throughout the year. The most typical are: borscht with dumplings (interchangeably in some regions of Poland with white soup, mushroom soup, fruit soup or fish soup), fish, prepared in various ways, with the most traditional fried carp and jelly, cabbage with peas, cabbage with mushrooms , dumplings with sauerkraut, dried mushrooms, dried plums, mushroom patties, rice patties with mushroom sauce, dumplings with poppy seeds, sugar and honey, mousses, challah with compote of dried fruit, almond soup or eastern pie tradition , stuffed cabbage and kutia [2]. In Silesia Christmas dishes are urea and poppy-heads. According to the Polish custom, Christmas Eve dishes should be fast, meaning meatless and without the use of animal fats. Christmas Eve is a fairly commonly observed practice, even though it is not prescribed in many Christian denominations. Latin bishops encourage this custom "due to the unique nature of that day in Poland" [3].

Beliefs and Christmas superstitions [edit | edit code]
Christmas Eve abounds with superstitions allegedly possessing extraordinary power, usually originating in ancient, local pagan beliefs. Even in the nineteenth century, it was believed that during the Christmas Eve supper one can see a deceased person in the current year - if only to go to the hall and look into the room through the keyhole, and see him sitting together with others. Until recently it was believed that the souls of the dead appear on Christmas Eve supper. For such a "newcomer from the beyond" even a free seat at the table was left - this habit supposedly survived to this day as a vacancy left for an unexpected newcomer [4]. It was also superstitiously believed that disrespect for the holy evening could cause various misfortunes. Until today, it is advisable not to argue and show each other kindness during the Christmas Eve. Survived the superstition that if on Christmas Eve morning the first guest at home will be a young boy, it will bring a happy year. There is also the habit of placing a penny in one ear in a borscht - whoever finds it will attribute happiness to the next year.