Christmas Traditions in Croatia

THE BIRTH OF GOD-MAN

Written by Tomo Tomljanović

The sacred rite of Christmas has shaped the experience of the holiday of Christmas among Croatian Catholics to such an extent that we may well talk about the Croatian Christmas. Many customs have been preserved until this day and which the Croats mention with pride.

Croatian Christmas

Preparations for Christmas in most parts of Croatia start in Advent, or on the holiday of St. Catherine – on 25 November. These four weeks of preparation for the arrival of Jesus Christ in fact symbolise the passing of four centuries which, according to the Bible, passed from the creation of the world until the coming of Christ.

The Advent wreath made of evergreen trimmings with no beginning or end, because it symbolises eternity, is the most prominent symbol of this period. It is decorated with four candles which symbolise parts of human history: creation, embodiment, redemption and ending, and are burned one by one each week.

St. Barbara (4 December), St. Nicholas (6 December) and St. Lucy (13 December) are the feasts that follow and each has its own customs. On the feast of St. Barbara, wheat is germinated as a symbol of fertility and renewal of life and, although originally a pre-Christian tradition, it has become a Christian celebration whose purpose is to bless the crop. Among European countries, only Portugal, Italy and Croatia have preserved this custom.

The feasts of St. Nicholas and St. Lucy are the days on which children receive gifts. St. Lucy, in the shape of a woman or man covered in a white robe, visits children during the night and brings figs, almonds, nuts and apples to those children who have been good, and fear to those who have been naughty. This tradition is especially celebrated on the island of Zlarin and in Novalja on the island of Pag. In Novalja on Pag, in addition to children, poor old women also visit houses and yell: “Give me something for St. Lucy, and, in return, God and St. Lucy will come to you”. St. Nicholas also brings presents to children who leave out their boots, and his assistant Krampus brings rods to scare those who have been naughty.

The traditional Christmas present was a decorated apple called a Christmas apple, and it was given by young men to young girls. In some places young men would even place a coin inside as a pledge of love, which actually represented a marriage proposal to the girl to whom the apple was offered.

Christmas Eve

The name for Christmas Eve in Croatian is “badnjak”, which originates from the word “bdjeti” meaning “to stay awake”. There are many Christmas and folklore traditions associated with this day. Women and young girls get up very early to decorate the house and prepare the food, and men must clean and feed the cattle, cut enough wood and bring in the “yule log” and straw in the evening.

Dinner on this day is served without meat and people mostly eat cod or some other fish. The meal is followed with toasts and with the family happily together. In some parts of Croatia, two differently decorated loaves of bread are baked on Christmas Eve - one for Christmas Eve and the other for Christmas Day. In other parts of Croatia only one loaf is baked and it must stay on the table from Christmas Eve until Epiphany. This bread has different names in various parts of Croatia: česnica, litanja, božić, križica, krasnica… In the southern, Mediterranean areas of Croatia, doughnuts are fried.

All duties have to be completed by the evening bell – the evening Hail Mary. The host then brings the “yule log” into the house – a thick log which is put in the fireplace and burns that evening and longer. While bringing in the log, the host greets everyone and they wish him well, too. Three logs, according to the Christian tradition, symbolise the Holy Trinity. The burning logs were covered with bread and wine, and the belief was that the burning of the logs would bring prosperity to the people of the house. One or three candles are brought in. These are wax candles that are especially made for this purpose in Croatia. These candles, together with tricoloured ribbon, symbolise life and hope. Straw is brought in next and is spread around the room, placed on the table and covered to serve as a kind of fortune telling device for the female members of the household. The woman who draws the longest straw will have the longest hemp. Some of the straw was also tied into bundles or weaved into wreaths which symbolised fertility. Straw spread around the room, which used to be slept on in some parts of Croatia, was a symbol of the birth of Christ in a stable. After the holidays, the blessed straw was regarded as a guarantee of a good yield in gardens and in the fields.

In coastal areas, it is customary for children to bring in twigs of sage, ivy or pine instead of logs, and these decorations symbolise the strength of life as opposed to the winter passivity of nature.

After dinner, the family continues with the wake and with preparations for Midnight Mass.

Christmas – a holiday of peace

Christmas as a holiday of peace is a family holiday. In addition to going to three masses – Midnight Mass, Early Morning Mass and High Mass or Midday Mass, the family ate a rich meal. Going to mass was very important for girls because, according to tradition, they had to wear a different dress to each mass.

A bottle of brandy and a basket of figs, walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds and some other fruits characteristic of the area – apples, figs, etc. – had to be kept on the table until lunchtime.

In addition to traditional food and different kinds of fruit and vegetables, of particular importance for the table were different kinds of bagels and Christmas breads, the Christmas roast and meat jelly.

Christmas wishes were first exchanged among members of the household and then, after lunch, they would go to visit their family and everyone else. In some areas, the first well-wisher was of particular importance. He was also known as the first visitor and many customs and beliefs are related to him. He had to be in good health and fit since that brought happiness to a house. Therefore, in order for the house not to be hit by misfortune, sometimes it was agreed in advance with a selected person to “accidentally” enter first and bring joy and prosperity to the house.

The exchange of Christmas wishes took the form of singing carols in some parts of Croatia. Wishes were exchanged by singing Christmas carols, and well-wishers, also known as men from Bethlehem, would go from house to house and receive gifts.

Exchanging Christmas wishes not only expresses the belief in the Christian message of Christmas, but also increases the joy of the Christmas celebration.

We are grateful to New Diplomacy for permission to print this extract. New Diplomacy is a bimonthly magazine printed in English and Croatian. Its fourth issue, in which a full version of this text can be found, is due out in mid December.
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