Russian Christmas Traditions

Even though it wasn’t allowed to celebrate Russian Christmas for almost a century, Russian people still managed to preserve most of the Russian Christmas traditions. Truth be told, many people try to bring lots of superstitions into the church and make them look as Russian Christmas traditions, like different ways to foretell your fortune on the night of Christmas day and the like. It will take a while to separate the real Russian Christmas traditions from made-up tales.

There are three most known Russian Christmas traditions: the forty day fast, which ends on the day of Christmas, the late night church service and the procession of the Cross at the end of the service. For those, who can’t be in a church for some reason, the service from Christ the Saviour Cathedral, the main church of Russia, is broadcast live on the main federal TV channels.

Russian Christmas traditions are not commercial and are more about the spiritual content of the holiday. It is probably also because such Russian Christmas traditions as the Christmas tree and presents, for example, were moved to the New Year’s day during the Soviet times. The majority of Russians still consider the New Year’s to be the main family holiday. But as time goes, people are beginning to see more and more what Russian Christmas and  Russian Christmas traditions are about. And may be one day, celebrating Russian Christmas will be a big deal again.