Christmas Begins With First Star on Christmas Eve

Bratislava, December 24 (TASR) - Christmas - regarded as the most beautiful of the annual Christian holidays - begins with the appearance of the first star in the sky, which is announced by the ringing of church bells for the Angelus prayer. Candles are lit, and following the prayer, a special festive meal is eaten. In the past, various traditions were observed that were supposed to bring health and prosperity, and people told fortunes relating to health and life in the year ahead. Pulses, honey and garlic were eaten to symbolise wealth or to protect people's health. Many superstitions were linked to the midnight Mass, which for Christians marked the end of the pre-Christmas fast. According to traditional beliefs, water in streams turned into wine, cattle began to speak, and heavens opened up, allowing holy souls and angels to come down to earth for the breadcrumbs left for them on the table. During the Christmas holidays, all farm animals were treated with Christmas meals. Christmas gifts, brought by the Child Jesus after the Christmas Eve dinner, were an unknown concept in traditional Slovak culture, until the phenomenon, albeit in a very modest form, appeared in the 17th century. The Christmas tree came even later, in the 19th century from Germany. ko