In the Christian Orthodox tradition, Christmas Eve (called "Badnik" (bud-nick)) falls on January 6. This is absolutely my favorite day of the year because it's filled with traditions and family time.
Around 8 am on January 6, little kids start the day off with
"trick or treating". They go from door to door in their neighborhood, singing this one particular
song with the purpose of announcing Jesus' birth on January 7. After the children sing their song, people give them apples, chestnuts, candy and some money (I know, it's a pretty sweet tradition).
I remember going "trick or treating" every year up until I was 12 and it was always so much fun. I would usually go with my friends from the neighborhood and sing for about 3-4 hours before returning home and joyfully (almost frantically, to be honest) looking at all the things I got that day.
In the late morning/early afternoon families usually go to church to light a candle, drink some warm rakija (ra-keeh-ya), a traditional Macedonian alcoholic beverage, hear a short blessing from the priests and chitchat with the hundreds of other people who came to church that day. In Macedonia, we don't have church on Sunday and churches are not designed to host a lot of people at the same time. On January 6, all the people stand in the huge yard in front of the church, entering the church only to say a prayer and light a candle.
In the afternoon, people have their traditional Christmas Eve dinner which sumps up the whole day. This dinner is all vegan, no meat or milk products are allowed on the table. Below are some pictures from our own Christmas Eve dinner.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKbafPrdU6IDdA3ru6GKpPrvh3l44VM9Di_SaNA8lc2wW9x_cI6DMRnCJl0gk5pEG3nvbjXVEtXcMX9_Y7yLUdxV-BBQGPQRAYrS4i9oMFshOwECpSi_Ai6X1Z7yiXTIy92FZgAmnyh_4/s320/IMG_0974.JPG) |
Our Christmas Eve dinner table: fresh fruit, nuts, home-made bread, traditional Macedonian beans, pie, and pumpkin |
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Nuts, dried fruit and olives - yummyyy |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj53VV-v27MipxmopK32wCSCdmqJ3AeGz1Rq9_aPJ8ys0l5C_-vfhJC7Xjm05haijhee0iSX0P70ZcOoLiEJPv4K2sB-_qldNekOaE__E3oygI0DdH8iD6Sakzz-YeOI1epfnnXUWikkiI/s320/IMG_0978.jpg) |
Meet Dad :) |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnLRZEiF0MHC3eM-iVz7HhrTe9GAWHRzKPww4DGaod_a2gTm7p04I-XIe0M-9dVNY3mXawzjO6dy7Z55etPX6kYz_oV2lzkk-1bPfMNLI2Ew2Nitp0164p4fRLEg9Z9bgLlN2XPvGKDFM/s320/IMG_0986.jpg) |
Meet Mom :) |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRlJrMm1E2p139tMkWiE4OIJgyWwKV4yLY6ZjW2HVbAcwcJjWkzYXTH_tsjMKke0xsO9yYgUKIf7OltlVHDpVTTgiS0D5BPexN9wHBF93qdKg1TKqybeHTh9MDTkIGsgaYzvc5rjV8jYg/s320/IMG_0993.jpg) |
Meet Victor, my brother :) He joined us via Skype |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4bVA1_3BeTeleZrX52xkWjm-6eUKEOWnKgZzreIJlU8DZli_dkybkBByTJ6j-_jVqvKYpCebM7vW7SnjkfAd5jfc1cfhX-aFcqa1h5nakT2N1NuFDUerm8MmXb87NSXw0lkYYMsecpoQ/s320/IMG_0980.jpg) |
This is not your usual homemade bread. It has a small coin hidden inside it. The bread is divided among the family members, leaving one piece for the household and one for God. It is said that whoever gets the piece with the coin, gets luck all year round. |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB1iTFpFMXvBvKKdOTtlfZEUrZHc3voImNUjjHyZi6J9cTlTzw-6Lh-3QpgblRFLyyojQe2RLxrjN-w0BxVHLLT6yyNHuWpFVfcXicX5iI4nAZuqwd79UTSJgAVneajeR2JnORTSc0Pj0/s320/IMG_1002.jpg) |
Guess who got the coinnnnn ?? :))) |
Merry Christmas Bojana!! We niss you!
ReplyDeleteIt is so cool to learn about all your traditions and hear the excitement and joy in your voice as I read your posts. Thank you for sharing a piece of your life in your home country. Bring some of that luck back to the States -- Merry Christmas!! <3 Jodi
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