Christmas, or The Lords Birth, is a Christian commemoration day celebrated on the 25th of December (in the Gregorian calendar) or the 7th of January (in the Julian calendar) every year. It belongs to the twelve Lordly Commemorations (royal church festivals) of the Byzantine Churches, the third big commemoration after Easter and Pentecost.
In certain countries where Christians are a majority, Christmas is also a statutory holiday and it extends on the next day, the 26th of December: the second day of Christmas. For children it is known under the name of "Santas gifts" occasion on which everybody sings Romanian Christmas songs.
Everywhere you can find Romanian people with Christian feeling, as Christmas is one of the most important religious commemorations, and it is the Lords Birth Commemoration, a moment of joy, spiritual peace and silence. It represents a day of giving and receiving a lot of love and spiritual warmth. This is easily noticed in the enthusiasm of Christmas preparation.
For linguists the word "Christmas" is an odd word. Some say that it comes from Latin, "creatio", which means creation, birth. In folklore, they say the Virgin Mary, when she was supposed to have Gods son, she wandered along with the right Josef from home to home asking for shelter. These aspects are mentioned in Romania Christmas songs.
Reaching the house of certain "Christmas", she is taken by his wife into the stable, where she gives birth to Jesus. They also say that in the holy night of Christs birth, the skies opened and the Holy Spirit descended over the Son of God illuminating the gloomy stable. Therefore, Christmas is a holy commemoration that brings light in peoples hearts, fact that is mentioned in carols too.
Christmas holiday is announced through childrens habit of singing Romanian Christmas songs, from door to door, in order to inform the Birth of the Saviour. An old tradition also is "going with the icon", performed by the local community priests with the icon of Lords Birth, blessing the houses and their Christians. Winter carols are sung rite texts dedicated to Christmas and New Year. Their origins are lost somewhere in the ancient times of Romanian history.
When Jesus was born, on the sky appeared the star that lead the three magic kings at the place of birth, the children, three just like the kings, go door to door singing "The star rises up..." carol, carrying a star with them. Christmas Eve starts with the "Good morning, Santa Eve!" carol and the children singing carols are well received in the adorned, beautiful homes. The children are rewarded by the hosts with fruits, cracknels, sweets and even money.
Romanian Christmas songs and carol singing habits are present at other nations too and they might date since the Romanization. For example, the Romanian carol "Scoala, gazda, din patut" is also found at other peoples. Actually, you can remember that peoples and languages were the same in Biblical times, so there could be many common cultural aspects concerning carols lyrics. These songs, sung in general by children bring us hope and joy every year at this time. |
