Serbian New Year, but also Vasiljevdan, or Little Christmas, is celebrated on January 14th. This day is celebrated as a patron saint’s day in Serbia.
Orthodox believers celebrate Little Christmas today.
Among Serbs, a special cake is prepared for St. Basil, a bread roll made of wheat flour – vasilica. A similar cake called “vasilopita” is found among Greeks.
It was said that the new year should be greeted awake, and in this vigil, many girls divined whether they would marry that year and whom. Among these divinations, the divination of girls in Bosnia is particularly interesting: before dawn, they would climb into the attic and throw their shoes out the door, and if the shoe, when it fell, was directed away from the house – it was a sign that they would go in that direction, i.e. get married.
Today, January 14th, a yule log is brought in again, a new year’s guest comes again, and on the table is the head of the Christmas roast that is kept until that day.
The time from Christmas to Epiphany (January 19) is popularly called “unbaptized days” in which, according to belief, demons, karakondžule, and witches lurk at every turn.
On this day, the liturgy of St. Basil the Great is served, whose memory the Church also celebrates on the first day of the New Year.
The Orthodox Church celebrates two more holidays on January 14th: the Circumcision of the Lord Jesus Christ and the New Year. On the eighth day after his birth, Christ was circumcised according to the law of Moses, which applied to all Jewish boys, and on that occasion he received the name Jesus, as recorded by the evangelist Luke, and because of which this date is given exceptional significance, writes nova.rs.
According to the historical record and church tradition, St. Basil passed away in 379, at the age of 50. He lived during the time of Emperor Constantine, who legalized the freedom to profess the Christian faith. Basil’s service, which the saint himself wrote, is served 10 times a year – on January 1st, on the eve of Christmas and Epiphany, on all Sundays of Great Lent (except Palm Sunday), on Great Thursday and Great Saturday.
MORE TOPICS:
HILANDAR TURNED WHITE: Snow delighted Serbian monks after almost a decade! (PHOTO)
Source: N1, Photo: milart/Shutterstock