Christmas Eve and Christmas are holidays that bring families together, bringing warmth and joy to every Christian home. Christmas Eve is the day before Christmas, when Christians watch and expect Christ's birth, the next day, on Christmas.
Christmas Eve always begins with Christmas carols, "kalandas", which have been sung by the people since ancient times on the days of the celebration of the Nativity of Christ. This is where the word Christmas comes from. Singing Christmas carols, the faithful, especially the youngest, proclaim the Nativity of Christ everywhere with a joyful heart, celebrating the Mother of God and her holy Birth. Not so long ago, the heavenly joy of Christmas was expressed in various ways: somewhere with a decorated brotche, which represented the Church of Christ, which was carried from house to house, and the hosts offered various gifts; in other places with a star, which signified the star of Bethlehem which led the three wise men to the Nativity; or with a cave with a scene of the divine birth. Today, in honor of true Christian living, these traditions are being renewed more and more.
Christmas Eve means vigilance. After all, the very word "Badnik" originates from the old Macedonian verb "бъдѣти", which translated into modern Macedonian means "I am awake, I stand awake, I do not sleep, I am awake, I stand with intense attention". Consequently, Christmas Eve literally means "night of vigil." That's why our Christ-loving people welcomed the birth of the Infant Christ gathered in the churches and monasteries for an all-night vigil, followed by prayers and heartfelt thanksgiving.
According to the custom, there is no visiting on Christmas Eve. On this day, the family is a church, every house is a church. One of the most joyous days in Orthodoxy, the birth of Christ, is announced with a family Lenten lunch or dinner. A candle, incense and lamp are lit in every home. The whole family is gathered at the Christmas fasting table, in sermons about the birth of Christ. Before dinner, the bread is broken. The belief says that the one to whom the coin falls will have luck, success and grace throughout the year.
Christmas celebrates the birth of Christ, and with it the salvation of the human race. Christmas, one of the three greatest holidays, when the Son of God, Jesus Christ, was born. People greet each other with "Christ is born - He is truly born." The Nativity of Christ is the most joyous holiday, and at the same time, it is the holiday from which all other Lord's holidays follow, such as Epiphany, Transfiguration, Passion, Crucifixion, Resurrection and Ascension.
At Christmas we celebrate the Lord Jesus Christ, his birthday, when God became a man and came to earth. Christ is the son of God, who was born as a man of the Virgin Mary. He is equal in all things to us men, except in sin. He has no sin, he is sinless. He was born one night in the city of Bethlehem, in a cave. He is a savior, he came to save us. Let us be good, as God is good. We should be always good with everyone and everywhere.
Jesus was born! He was born indeed!