Christmas Eve

…rural Romania, for instance, on Christmas Eve groups of young carolers would (colindatori) proceed from house to house in the village, singing and collecting gifts of food. Often these carolers impersonated the saints, especially Saints John, Peter, George, and Nicholas. The words of their songs (colinde) described legendary heroes who…

…late on the evening of December 24. A special service of “lessons and carols” intertwines Christmas carols with Scripture readings narrating salvation history from the Fall in the Garden of Eden to the coming of Christ. The service, inaugurated by E.W. Benson and adopted at the University of Cambridge, has…

, Christmas Eve (December 24)—was a period of fasting during which Catholics also were required to abstain from meat. However, in southern Italy, where seafood was abundant and relatively cheap, it became customary for families to break the fast with a large meal of fish. In…