Christmas is a special holiday for Ukrainian women

Christmas is a time of being merry and a time of happiness for all members of the family. This wonderful holiday is associated with a jolly atmosphere and a warm aura. Christmas is a special holiday for Ukrainian women especially when miracles happen to them, and they deeply believe in them. It is an important time when a Ukrainian woman wants to have a lovely man by her side. Someone who she can say how much she loves, cares, and appreciates. All her dreams may come true on this wonderful and magic day.

While Western countries celebrate Christmas on the 25th of December, this magic holiday mainly takes place on the 7th of January in Ukraine. Ukrainian people call Santa Claus, Ded Moroz (Father Frost). Christmas is a family holiday when all members of the family spend time together and have fun. The Ukrainian people do not exchange presents on this day, as they do in some Western countries.

Ukrainian Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve is a religious holiday when you feast on a wide selection of tasty dishes. Ukrainian people refer to Christmas Eve as “Holy Evening” or “Sviaty Vechir,” a time when all of the family enjoys a holy supper together. According to Ukrainian culture, it is necessary for 12 diverse traditional dishes to be on the table on Christmas Eve.

With the appearance of the first star, that is considered the Star of Bethlehem, Ukrainian families gather together to begin to enjoy the holy supper. After a prayer, the first dish that must be eaten is “kutia.” Kutia is the main traditional dish that consists of cooked wheat, honey, nuts, or grated poppy seeds. The table is full of dishes including: varenyky, pickles, vegetables, borsch, sauerkraut, fried herring and much more.

On the evening of Christmas people go to church; some of them even spend the whole night there. They pray and listen to Christmas religious songs. They greet each other with ‘Christ is born’ and respond with ‘Glorify Him’.

Ukrainian people sing Christmas carols on Christmas. They wish lots of love and joy and all the best to the people who live in the houses they sing to. In their eyes you can see happiness because they celebrate the Birth of Christ.

For those who are curious how Ukrainian women celebrate Christmas, we strongly recommend that you visit Ukraine and feel the spirit of Christmas and discover Ukrainian customs and traditions.