Christmas in Ukraine: when do we celebrate and what traditions are worth remembering?
фото: Генштаб
Christmas is one of the most important family holidays in Ukraine. In 2025, as in the last few years, it will be celebrated in a new style – December 25. This became possible after the Ukrainian church switched to the modern New Julian calendar.
For over three decades, Ukrainians celebrated Christmas on January 7. Only Catholics celebrated it on December 25. But after the calendar reform, these dates were merged, and now the entire country has a common day of celebration – December 25. Although this date is a public holiday, during martial law, employers are not required to give a day off.
Some continue to celebrate on January 7th as a personal tradition, but this date no longer has official status.
They prepare for Christmas in advance – a 40-day Christmas fast is observed. On the eve of the holiday, Ukrainians celebrate Christmas Eve: they gather with families, put 12 Lenten dishes on the table, among which the main one is kutya. Many believers go to church for worship, set up nativity scenes and recreate the scene of the birth of Christ.
No less important part of the holiday are carols and gifts. Groups of carol singers go from house to house, congratulate the hosts and glorify the Savior. And from Western traditions, decorating the Christmas tree and exchanging gifts have taken root in Ukraine.
On this day, Ukrainians traditionally greet each other with the words: “ Christ is born!” and respond: “ Let us praise him!”
As with other major holidays, there are certain prohibitions on Christmas. You can’t quarrel, work hard, abuse alcohol, use divination, or wish evil on someone. It was believed that on this day a person should be at peace with loved ones and have pure thoughts.
Many folk signs are associated with Christmas. Our ancestors carefully watched nature, because they believed that it could tell what the next year would be like. If there was a lot of frost on the trees and a blizzard was blowing, they expected a good harvest. Snow on this day foreshadowed an early spring. A clear starry sky promised a good harvest of buckwheat and peas. Frost – to a hot summer, and thaw – to a cold spring.
It was also considered important who would enter the house first on Christmas. If it was a man, it would bring good luck, if it was a woman, it would bring trouble. It was not recommended to take out the trash or give anything away, because it was believed that this would “take” prosperity out of the house.
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