| CHRISTMAS IN CROATIA CROATIA WEEKLY, Zagreb, December 24, 1998  Preparations for Christmas in Croatia are marked with
traditional customs which carry numerous symbolic meanings. The celebration of the most
joyful Christian holiday culminates at midnight on Christmas Eve during midnight mass,
when the rapturous singing of Croatian Christmas carols can be heard.
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The public observance of the most joyous
holiday of all Christians in Croatia was only allowed after the establishment of the free
Croatian state. Although it was prohibited for over forty years in atheistic Yugoslavia,
the Croats always celebrated Christmas with dignity in the privacy of their homes,
nurturing many centuries of tradition both during advent and on Christmas Eve in the vigil
for Christ's birth and in the great mass celebrated on Christmas Day. The lighting of
candles on the advent wreath every Sunday for four weeks before Christmas, which
symbolizes the light given to us by the birth of Jesus Christ, is accompanied by other
preparations for Christmas Day, which are colored with local tradition in Croatia. The
beginning of preparations for Christmas is the Feast of St. Barbara, December 4, when the
the first wheat is sown. This wheat, planted on plates or small bowls, has to grow by
Christmas Day in order to decorate the holiday table. The Feast of St. Barbara is the day
when first Christmas processions begin, in which good wishes for a successful year are
conveyed to all. The Feast of St. Nicholas, on December 6, is marked by putting presents
in the boots that children place on the window sill. Here their favorite saint can put
their presents, while the little devil accompanying him puts a golden rod in each boot.
This custom is popular in northwestern Croatia. In Slavonia and Dalmatia, though, the
Feast of St. Lucy on December 13 is much more popular. St. Lucy puts presents for children
in a sock hung by their beds. Planting Christmas wheat on the Feast of St. Lucy is a
widespread custom throughout Croatia. It is believed that the harvest of the next year can
be foreseen judging by the growth of this wheat up to Christmas Day. Since it is St. Lucy
who brings light, the custom is to put a candle in the wheat and to light it on Christmas
Day to confirm the God's command from the book of Genesis: "Let there be light."
St. Thomas is the last saint's day celebrated before Christmas as a part of the
preparations for Christmas Day. On the Feast of St. Thomas, December 21, preparations for
the holiday table commence. This is a time when pigs are slaughtered in villages to
provide tasty roasted meat for the festive Christmas meal, although roast duck, goose or
turkey are also served on this occasion. Women begin to bake pastries, among which the
so-called bozicnjak (Christmas bread) occupies a special place. This is actually round
cake decorated with various figures made of dough. It is put in the center of the
Christmas table. The richness of the Christmas table has always had a kind of magical
meaning, since it was believed that plenty of food in the old year would ensure plenty
during the entire following year. The belief in the magical power of food is concealed in
the foods served on the table during the holidays. Meals abounding in legumes and grains,
such as beans, peas, lentils, soy, garbonzos, corn and wheat, as well as bread, rolls and
sweets. It is believed that eating such meals enhances fertility and secures abundance,
well-being, good health and happiness in and around the home. This is the time when the
Christmas tree is brought to the home, usually a pine or a fir tree but also the branches
of other kinds of evergreen trees. It is decorated on Christmas Eve with apples, dry
plums, walnuts, hazelnuts, paper and straw decorations and often ginger-bread ornaments
and glass balls. The custom of decorating the house with greenery reflects the belief that
it symbolizes vitality and progress. The Christmas tree, though, symbolizes Christ, who
represents the tree of life and the light of the world. This is precisely the reason why
Christmas Eve is traditionally spent in vigil, symbolically accompanied by making light in
various ways, with candles or by maintaining a fire in the fireplace where the Yule-log is
burned. The name for the day before Christmas Day is derived from the archaic Croatian
word bodar or bader which means to be awake; this word clearly indicates that it is a
night when a vigil will be kept in the expectation of the birth of Christ. The joyous
moment of the Nativity is awaited throughout Croatia at midnight masses called polnocka.
The celebration of the most popular mass is marked with numerous Croatian Christmas carols
that echo in homes under the decorated Christmas trees until the Epiphany, January 6. 