Catholic Christmas

Like other European countries, Christmas is a family holiday.When Avemarius calls, it's holy evening. According to an old tradition, Slovenes walk around houses with lit cadil and holy water. The Cadilo reminds of Christ, the sanctified water is His blessing on people’s lives. Lighted censers begin to wear when it gets dark. All family members participate in the ceremony. The hospitable host will take a vessel of coals and fill them with the cadillo. Then he will take a vessel with holy water and a branch of the Christmas tree (pine, fir, larch), immediately sprinkle all. The procession goes all over the house. While walking with a cadil, rose petals are scattered. Lights are lit everywhere and left to burn until midnight. At the end of wearing Cadilla, the celebration begins. Unfortunately, these customs are rarely remembered these days.

Characteristic attributes of Christmas - Christmas tree and nursery. Nurses are miniatures depicting the plots of the Nativity of Christ, most often the worship of the Magi, made in the form of painted wooden or wax figures of biblical characters, as well as a model of the surrounding environment (barn, sheep, straw). Nursery is also called “frozen theater”. Indeed, the history of their origins originates from medieval stray theaters, which played dramatic episodes from the life of Christ. This custom probably originated in the 11th century. In Slovenia, the first church nurseries were established by the Jesuits in Ljubljana in 1644. However, in rural areas, the custom took root only by the beginning of the 19th century.

The custom of decorating a Christmas tree is widespread throughout Europe and has its roots deep in antiquity, to the cult of plants. At Christmas they also weave wreaths of spruce, pine branches, larch branches and other coniferous plants, decorate them with ribbons, candles, bells.

As in other European countries, Christmas is a very family holiday, all family members strive to meet it with their family. Children are given gifts at Christmas.