Russian Christmas Traditions

Christmas in Russia has had a long and turbulent history. For centuries, Russians observed Christmas in the traditions of the Eastern Orthodox Church, celebrating the holiday on January 7th instead of December 25th in accordance with the traditional Julian calendar. In the 11th century, the Prince Vladimir traveled to Constantinople and returned to Russia to tell stories of the miracles he saw performed by Saint Nicholas of Myra (the inspiration for the figure of St. Nicholas and later Santa Claus in many European traditions), after which St. Nicholas became a widely popular figure in Russian Christmas traditions.

After the Communist Revolution in 1917, however, religious celebrations were discouraged and sometimes banned by the officially atheist state, and Christmas traditions were either practiced in secret, or found new life in secular celebrations. St. Nicholas became Dyed Moroz, or “Grandfather Frost,” who traveled across Russia on New Year’s Eve with Snegurochka, “The Snow Maiden,” a character from Russian Fairy tales visiting children and placing presents under their newly renamed “New Year’s Trees.”

Since the fall of communism, Christmas has been revived in Russia, with many people returning to the Eastern Orthodox Churchto celebrate it as a religious holiday and with many traditional Christmas characters returning to popularity.

One of those figures is Baboushka, or “Grandmother,” whose story goes like this: Many years ago on a stormy winter’s night, old Babouska was tending the fire in her hearth when three traveling men arrived at her door and asked for refuge from the blizzard.

Baboushka invited them in, made them warm and comfortable, and fed them what

food she had. She asked the men why they were traveling in such a cold and stormy night. They replied that they were searching for a baby prince, but that the star that was guiding them was hidden by the snowstorm. They told her that the bright and radiant new star was the sign of a holy child’s birth, and they were going to bring him great gifts and bow down before him; they invited her to join them in their search.

Baboushka replied that she would much like to see the child, but she was too old to travel far and besides, she had no gifts to give a newborn prince.The three men soon after set out once again, for the storm had cleared and they could see the star once more.

All at once, Baboushka was filled with a terrible sense of loneliness, and knew that she must go after the men and travel with them to find the babe. She hurried to gather what she needed into a sack and started off into the hills. She asked after the travelers, and the holy babe, and tried to recognize the special star in the night sky, but to no avail. She never caught the wise men, nor did she find the holy child, but to this day she wanders the Earth giving what little gifts she can to the children she meets along the way.