Resurrection of Christmas in Romania

In earlier times Christmas was celebrated all across Romania but during the Second World War the country surrender to USSR and since then people of the country were forced to abandon their Christmas traditions. But the country regained independence in the year 1989 and since then people have once again started celebrating Christmas the way it once used to be. In the last few years it has been seen that people from all over the country celebrate Christmas without any fear and young adults have started following the Christmas traditions that they only grew up listening about by their grandparents.

The following points will help you to have a better understanding of Christmas in Romania:

• Like most other countries Christmas in Romania is celebrated on the 25th of December. The day is also considered amongst the most important religious holidays.
• A very common custom in Romanian villages is to sacrifice a pig in each and every house in order to honor Saint Ignatius. The pig chosen for this purpose is fed properly so that it weighs up to 300 pounds. For cutting the throat of the pig a very sharp knife is used. This ceremony generally takes place in the backyard of the house.
• After cutting the throat of the pig a small portion of the pig’s meat is fried on that very moment and feast is held.
• The meat of the pig is shared with family and friends as all them are invited to the feast. This custom is looked down as barbaric in some countries but Romanians believe that the soul of the pig will receive ample gratitude. The entire process of cutting the pig and then feasting on its meat is known as Ignatius.
• People living in American open gifts on the Christmas morning whereas the Romanians take exchange gifts on the Christmas Eve. This is the reason why children in Romania do not leave cookies and milk for Santa Claus.

The urban population of the country celebrates Christmas in totally different way if compared to the people living in the rural areas. One of the most common Christmas gifts is the knot shaped bread which symbolizes abundant harvest. Before independence there was hardly any Christmas celebration in Romania but Christmas celebrations are on a continuous increase from the time of independence. The young adults are the one who are most happy with Christmas being celebrated like it used to be when their grandparents were young.