At the end of the 19th century and early 20th century families lived in family cooperatives and lived predominantly from agriculture and animal husbandry. Somewhere around this time, Christmas customs are created, which we will mention below. At the beginning of the Advent, 4 weeks before Christmas, the faithful went to church every morning for the early services, thus preparing in prayer and fasting to celebrate Christmas. The morning masses in honor of the Mother of God are still held today in the churches at the time of Advent.
Celebrating Christmas was bringing joy to the whole family because on that day everyone was gathering around a festive holiday table where housewives served food they had previously grown and cultivated in the field. At that time, the people were producing their own food and that is why all the flax production business (from which families in these areas lived) should have been completed by the feast of St. Andrew (30 November).
The St. Andrew’s Day was followed by a time of intense preparation for the celebration of Christmas, which included the preparation of bacon and ingredients for the Christmas roast. Christmas Eve must be fasted, as is the case today.
At that time, women were preparing for breakfast fat dried flatbread with honey and roasted pumpkin, which was specially kept for the day. Men needed to cut enough wood for 2-3 days because it was not allowed to be done during the holidays. They also brought enough hay and straw into the house and barns to feed the animals in the coming days.
On Christmas Eve, by nightfall, all the work had to be done. Then, traditionally in the dark, the oldest man in the family, invoking the blessing of God, brought “Christmas” into the central room of the house – a straw wrapped in a sheet, a pine branch, a bottle of holy water and a bowl of grain prepared by the landlady of the house.
After praying together, the straw was scattered on the floor, and a bowl of cereals and a candle was placed on the table around which the family then gathered and began their supper. Everyone had to eat some garlic and honey to start with, and then came the thick noodles and “gibanjik” of cheese, because they were still fasting. After supper, the light was turned on and the candle went out. After dinner and decorating the pine twigs and pine trees, all the people went to the church for midnight Mass.
After midnight, Christmas dishes such as roast pork, nut roll, gugelhupf and crushed cheese are brought to the family table. The housewives brought the little Christmas bread to the table on Christmas Eve and usually it stayed there until the Epiphany. On Christmas mornings, an aspic and dried flatbread were served with pork fat, and delicious roasts and nut rolls were served at lunch. After returning from mass, people hung out and spent Christmas singing, praying, and gathering.
Christmas time ends with the feast of the Epiphany. At that feast, the priest at the mass was blessing bottles of holy water, which the faithful then carried to their homes to sprinkle their household and all other rooms in the house.