Thanks...what do you do Jean Serge?
In Christ,
Tessa
Slavic/Orthodox Christmas Traditions
Ruthenian Christmas Carols Under Tree At Rockefeller
http://www.brama.com/news/press/slidesh ... ockcenter/
Nice pics...Take a look.
R
A True Russian Christmas
http://www.christmas.com/pe/1075
A True Russian Christmas
misha
A "true" Russian Christmas like over the world is the celebration of the Birth of the baby Jesus. For Russian Orthodox Christians, this day is extremely Holy.
The Christmas celebrations begin in November, when Lent (Fasting) before Christmas begins. Russian people stop eating any product that comes from an animal with the exception of seafood. Dairy products, CHOCOLATES! and all!
As with other Eastern traditions, Russian Christmas is on the Old Calendar: falling on 7th January- to the Church, this is the 25 December.
On the night of Christmas eve, Russian people go to Church for the Christmas Mass, and then go home. Not much celebrating takes place, rather off to bed, and then up in the morning and straight to church for the Christmas day Liturgy.
After church people will go to the home of one relative so that the family can all be together. Here, the family gives gifts, and have Christmas lunch - the main meal of Christmas. All day the children will go from door to door caroling the song "THY NATIVITY" or "Your Birth";as will the church choir.
Russians decorate their homes with the Christmas tree as does the west, and often put pine leaves on their front doors, and in the house.
The greeting c Rodzhestvom Kristovom is said - meaning "The Birth of Christ!" - it is a time for families and friends.
Christmas is celebrated for 6 days, and the Chritsmas tree is usually taken down at the end on January after the feast day of the Baptism of Christ.
Towering Trees, Grandfather Frost & 4 Parties
http://www.moscowtimes.ru/stories/2005/12/30/011.html
Towering Trees, Grandfather Frost and 4 Parties
By Anatoly Medetsky
Staff Writer
Misha Japaridze / AP
Grandfather Frost speaking to visitors Tuesday at his Kuzminki Forest residence, where he is holding an open house.
The Kremlin is showing off a towering fir tree from Grandfather Frost's home village, and Grandfather Frost himself is having an open house at his official Moscow residence as part of this season's extended holiday celebrations.
The highlight of the holiday, however, will be the New Year's Eve festivities on Red Square and three other downtown squares, followed by President Vladimir Putin's annual New Year's address and fireworks.
The Kremlin fir -- the country's main New Year's tree -- stands on Cathedral Square and is 32 meters tall, the same height as City Hall's tallest tree, on Poklonnaya Gora.
The Kremlin, which had erected plastic trees the past four years, picked a natural one this year from a forest near Veliky Ustyug, the village about 1,000 kilometers northeast of Moscow that is considered the home of Grandfather Frost, said Viktor Khrekov, a spokesman for the Kremlin property department.
The tree also is a centerpiece for three daily performances for children.
Visitors will be able to admire the tree while visiting the Kremlin's museums through Jan. 14, the day holiday celebrations end, on the Old New Year, Khrekov said.
The Kremlin is open to the public from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Jan. 9, but will close at 4 p.m. on New Year's Eve and reopen at noon the next day. Admission is 300 rubles (about $11).
Next to the Kremlin, revelers on Red Square will be able to listen to classical and folk music while watching videos about Russian cities and Putin's New Year's address on giant screens Saturday evening. Special cannons will fire confetti and colored streamers into the air, and a fireworks show will start at 12:30 a.m.
Police will restrict the number of people on the square to avoid stampedes during the 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. event. People will be barred from carrying alcohol and fireworks onto the square, said Nikolai Kulikov, a City Hall liaison to law enforcement agencies.
Access to all festivities will be through metal detectors, he said.
The other three squares -- Teatralnaya, Tverskaya and Lubyanskaya -- will offer slightly extended celebrations, from 10:30 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. Programs will include pop and folk music, contests and fireworks.
Traffic will be closed from 10 p.m. until the end of festivities on Tverskaya, Mokhovaya, Ilinka and Okhotny Ryad ulitsas; Teatralny and Lubyansky proyezds; and Vasilyevsky Spusk.
For those keen on staying outdoors even later, a concert will take place from 1 to 3 a.m. near 50 Arbat.
Moscow's metro will be open until 2 a.m. on New Year's night, an hour longer than usual, but many downtown stations will be exit-only after 10 p.m. that night, the metro said on its web site.
The stations that will be exit-only on Saturday include: Lubyanskaya, Kitai-Gorod, Kuznetsky Most, Ploshchad Revolyutsii, Okhotny Ryad, Teatralnaya, Chekhovskaya, Borovitskaya, Pushkinskaya, Tverskaya, Mayakovskaya and Biblioteka Imeni Lenina.
Commuter trains will also run until 2 a.m., an hour longer than usual, said the announcement on www.metro.ru.
Grandfather Frost's official Moscow residence, which opened on Tuesday in the Kuzminki Forest, is having an open house through Jan. 9. Visitors are invited to make a wish on a magic well, feed birds and squirrels, or meet the master of the house between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Admission is free. The residence can be reached by taking a free bus from metro stations Kuzminki or Ryazansky Prospekt, or by bus 29 from Ryazansky Prospekt, or trolleybuses 27 and 33 from metro Tekstilshchiky.
The Moscow Zoo is also getting in to the holiday spirit. It will waive all admission fees on Friday and Saturday. It is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.