On Christmas, groups of carol singers go from house to house and announce the Birth of Lord Jesus Christs. Carol singing is one of the oldest traditions still followed today. The saying goes that each household should receive the carolers with a lit candle and an open door. If a household isn't visited by any carol singers, it's a bad omen.
Maria Ciocanu, ethnographer at the National Museum of Ethnography and Natural History, told IPN that in the eve and morning of Christmas, carolers go from door to door to sing about the Birth of Jesus and are rewarded with money, apples, nuts, sweets and colaci (braided ring bread).
She said that although there are many Christmas traditions, only some of them are still kept. In some regions, people make round bonfires outside the village and have candles lit inside the houses. The housewives prepare colaci for the holiday table and for the carolers. Beside traditional colaci, they also prepare craciunei, literally “little Christmases”, which are shaped liked an incomplete number 8 and kept under icons until the feast of Saint George, when the craciunei are given to domestic animals for good health.
For the Christmas table, the housewives prepare 12 dishes to honor the 12 apostles, mostly dishes from beans, fruits and vegetables. A traditional dish is koliva – boiled wheat. People also usually serve pork steak, pork meat wrapped in grape or cabbage leaves, pies and aspic.
Orthodox Christian churches in Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Poland and others from the Mediterranean region follow the Revised Julian Calendar and celebrate Christmas on December 25. Orthodox Christian churches in Russia, Serbia, Jerusalem and others haven't accepted the new calendar and celebrate Christmas on January 7, according to the Julian Calendar.
