Subtle aroma of pine needles, iridescent shimmerChristmas tree tinsel, a mountain of colorfully wrapped gifts under the tree, fluffy snow outside the windows, decorated with intricate patterns by frost. This is the picture that comes to mind at the mere mention of the name of this holiday. Despite the rapid passage of centuries, the bright holiday of the Nativity of Christ remains the most important. The most magical, truly family holiday of miracles and goodness.

A bit of history

Re-evaluate spiritual and cultural valueIt is quite difficult to describe this holiday. Take, for example, the tradition of celebrating Christmas with family. Did you know that it came to us from the distant past? When our ancestors gathered around the Russian stove to watch the mistress of the house melt it in a special way. 12 Christmas logs were placed in the stove, and the fire was struck with a flint, which lay under the icons for 12 days. Traditional Lenten dishes were cooked on this fire, a loaf of bread was baked, and numerous family members gathered at one table to break bread and spend time with a family holiday treat. Festive festivities and all kinds of costume parties almost exactly repeat Christmas carols and mummers' processions, when young people went from house to house, singing the traditional "kolyada" in exchange for treats and gifts. On holidays in Rus', they did not forget about those who could not sit at the family table. And often a beggar who knocked on the door of the house was invited to the table. It was believed that Christ himself in the form of such a beggar descends to earth on this day and knocks on the doors of houses. This is where the tradition came from - to do selflessly good deeds on this day, to help those who by chance are deprived of a festive treat, the warmth of the family hearth and shelter.

Christmas in our day

It is unlikely that you will find it in a modern high-rise buildinga real Russian stove. Making a fire in your apartment if you don’t have a fireplace, even with 12 Christmas logs, is not the best idea. However, not all of your neighbors will be able to appreciate carols. So how to celebrate this bright holiday? We hope that the following few ideas for celebrating this bright and kind holiday in every sense will help those who want to follow the traditions and spirit of Christmas.

I am writing to you...

How long has it been since you saw your distant ones?relatives living in another city, or maybe even country? Or sent them a letter, a real “live” letter in an envelope, and not a set of letters via e-mail. So why not remember the unfairly forgotten tradition of writing letters to each other? And make a list of those whom you would like to please, congratulate or once again tell how dear they are to you. Buy or make postcards with your own hands. Find warm, sincere words and write to your relatives. The holiday of bright Christmas is a great reason, even at a distance, to “warm” someone with your love, to become a little closer at least for the time of reading the letter, to share your joy.

My family is my treasure

Remember that very thing, unforgettable and with nothingthe incomparable feeling of home that you got as a child when the whole family gathered around the holiday table? The hustle and bustle of modern life rarely gives you the opportunity to stop and think about what is truly valuable. Or rather, priceless. Mom's hands, dad's "funny" jokes, pickles from your favorite aunt, the non-stop playful bickering of nephews and your sister's stories about her newborn's colic. Everything you imagine when you hear the word "family". Gather your family members under one roof. Decorate the Christmas tree, prepare small, but, believe me, very valuable gifts for your loved ones. After all, who, if not you, knows the tastes and preferences of your relatives! Spend this holiday with your family, let them feel how much they all mean to you.

The Forest Raised a Christmas Tree

If it is impossible to breed the real oneChristmas fire in your apartment, then it is best to go to a place where you will have the opportunity to build a fireplace from Christmas logs and watch the flames of a live fire. To the nearest forest, outside the city. Gather your friends, rent a dacha or a house for a few days, find the most beautiful Christmas tree and decorate it with your friends. And then, like in childhood, dance around the forest beauty. Of course, you need to find a few texts of real carols in advance, then you will have the opportunity to feel like a hero of Gogol's "Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka". If you get not just to a suburban village, but to the nearest real village or small hamlet from your city, you will have the opportunity to watch from the outside or even take part in Christmas carols. Unlike the city, in villages and towns the tradition of caroling on this night is still alive.

Christmas in the Temple

Of course, the main tradition of the celebrationis a solemn service in the temple. After all, Christmas is a religious holiday. And if you want to celebrate it in accordance with church canons, your path lies in the nearest temple. The Christmas service looks very beautiful and solemn. The temple is decorated with fir branches these days, the flickering lights of candles and chandeliers illuminate the enlightened, humble faces on the icons. And the very atmosphere of the service is permeated with light and peace that descended on everyone present at this moment under the arches of the temple. Numerous believers in a single impulse rejoice at the Nativity of Christ. And they pray for the well-being of their relatives and friends. From the choirs come pure children's voices singing doxology.

Do good

Probably the most important tradition of lightChristmas – to do good. Without expecting gratitude or recognition, perform a miracle for the one who needs it most. To do this, you don’t need to have angel wings behind your back or have a magic wand. It’s so easy, “to work as a wizard.” Invite your friends and acquaintances to organize a performance for children from the nearest orphanage. Rehearse some fairy tale. Sew costumes, make gifts with your own hands, and best of all – buy sweets or bake cakes and pastries, and go to those who are left without family warmth on this day. Who, perhaps, need this miracle and who truly sincerely believe in it. Not because tradition requires it, but at the behest of your soul, give warmth to those who, since childhood, by chance, do not know what mother’s hands are. The opportunity to see genuine joy, sincere and pure, in the eyes of children will become a priceless gift for you, which is much more valuable than material goods. You can not only organize a holiday for orphans on your own, but also organize a kind of charity event. Involve the organization you work for in this. Or organize a collection of funds and things for the needs of the orphanage by hanging up announcements in your area.

Christmas fortune-telling

Christmas fortune telling is also one of the traditionsChristmas holidays. Get together with your girlfriends and take a short excursion into the supposed future. Especially since there are a great many methods of fortune telling that have come down to us from the past:

• Fortune telling with a mirror. In reflecting the mirror, the girl needs to see the face of her betrothed.
• Guessing on wax. Melt the wax on a candle flame and merge it in a bowl with water. The wax figure will tell you about future events.
• Guessing with a shoe. Throw the slipper by the threshold; where his sock will point, from there an unmarried girl should expect matchmakers.

Of course, you shouldn't attach much importance to itfortune telling. Let them become a way for you to have fun with your girlfriends, talk about your own, about girlish things. After all, your future and the choice of your betrothed are only in your hands. The bright holiday of Christmas gives a feeling of peace and harmony in the soul, instills faith in a better future. Gives us the opportunity to believe in miracles and even create them with our own hands. Smile at the world around you, at loved ones and complete strangers. In return, you will receive the same smile. This is an immutable law of the universe. Sharing your inner light and warmth, you will receive it a hundredfold from your loved ones. Keep the pure light of Christmas in your soul, let it protect you all next year. Merry Christmas! We recommend reading:

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