On Christmas Eve it is customary for the people to fast until after the first service in church. They pray before their respective icons, or sacred pictures, recite psalms, and then all start for the church, where the service is, in most respects, the same as in the Roman Catholic Church. There are many denominations besides the established church of the country that hold services on Christmas Eve; but to whichever one goes, it is wise to hasten home and to get to bed in season to have a pleasant Christmas Eve dream, as such is sure to come true, according to Russian authority.

On _Welikikdenj_--Christmas--the people partake of an early meal. In some parts of the country it is customary to send extremely formal invitations in the name of the host to the guests who are expected to arrive that day. These are delivered by a special messenger and read somewhat as follows:

"My master and mistress beg you to consider, Father Artanon Triphonowitsch, and you, Mother Agaphia Nelidowna, that for thousands of years it has been thus; with us it has not commenced, with us it will not end. Do not, therefore, disturb the festival; do not bring the good people to despair. Without you there will be no pleasure at Philimon Spicidonowitsch's, without you there will be no maiden festival at Anna Karpowna's."

[Ill.u.s.tration: A CHRISTMAS BONFIRE IN RUSSIA.]

Who could absent himself after such an invitation as this? The place of meeting has been decided upon weeks earlier, for it must be with a well-to-do family possessing a large home to accommodate the guests that usually a.s.semble at Christmas. The "fair maidens," each with her mother and retinue, arrive first on the scene, bringing cake and sweetmeats and gifts for the servants. They would sooner freeze in their sledges before the gate than be guilty of alighting without first receiving the greeting of their host and hostess. Having been welcomed, they next pray before the icon, and then are ready for the pleasures arranged for them.

One peculiar phase of these house-parties is the selecting of partners for the maidens, which is done by the hostess, the "elected" sometimes proving satisfactory and sometimes not. They feast, play games, go s...o...b..lling, and guess riddles, always having a jolly good time.

Reciters of _builinas_ (poems) are often present to sing and recite the whole night through, for of song and poetry the Russian never tires.

A pretty custom very generally observed is the blessing of the house and household. The priest visits each home in his district, accompanied by boys bearing a vessel of holy water; the priest sprinkles each room with the water, each person present kissing the cross he carries and receiving his benediction as he proceeds from room to room. Thus each home is sanctified for the ensuing year.

The familiar greeting of "Merry Christmas" is not heard in Russia unless among foreigners, the usual salutation on this day being "Greetings for the Lord's birth," to which the one addressed replies, "G.o.d be with you."

The observance of New Year on January first, according to the Gregorian Calendar, was inst.i.tuted by Peter the Great in 1700. The previous evening is known as St. Sylvester's Eve, and is the time of great fun and enjoyment. According to the poet, Vasili Andreivich Zhukivski:

"St. Sylvester's evening hour, Calls the maidens round; Shoes to throw behind the door, Delve the snowy ground.

Peep behind the window there, Burning wax to pour; And the corn for chanticleer, Reckon three times o'er.

In the water-fountain fling Solemnly the golden ring Earrings, too, of gold; Kerchief white must cover them While we're chanting over them Magic songs of old."

Ovsen, a mythological being peculiar to the season, is supposed to make his entry about this time, riding a boar (another indication of Aryan descent), and no Christmas or New Year's dinner is considered complete without pork served in some form. The name of Ovsen, being so like the French word for oats, suggests the possibility of this ancient G.o.d's supposed influence over the harvests, and the honor paid him at the ingathering feasts in Roman times. He is the G.o.d of fruitfulness, and on New Year's Eve Russian boys go from house to house scattering oats and other grain while they sing:

"In the forest, in the pine forest, There stood a pine tree, Green and s.h.a.ggy.

O Ovsen! Ovsen!

The Boyars came, Cut down the pine, Sawed it into planks, Built a bridge, Covered it with cloth, Fastened it with nails, O Ovsen! O Ovsen!

Who, who will go Along that bridge?

Ovsen will go there, And the New Year, O Ovsen! O Ovsen!"

With this song the young folks endeavor to encourage the people who are about to cross the gulf between the known and the unknown, the Past and the Future Year; at the same time they scatter good seed for them to reap a bountiful harvest. Often the boys sing the following Kolyadki:

"Afield, afield, out in the open field!

There a golden plough goes ploughing, And behind that plough is the Lord Himself.

Holy Peter helps Him to drive, And the Mother of G.o.d carries the seed corn, Carries the seed corn, prays to the Lord G.o.d, Make, O Lord, the strong wheat to grow, The strong wheat and the vigorous corn!

The stalks there shall be like reeds!

The ears shall be (plentiful) as blades of gra.s.s!

The sheaves shall be (in number) like the stars!

The stacks shall be like hills, The loads shall be gathered together like black clouds."

How singularly appropriate it seems that boys, hungry at all times, should be the ones to implore the G.o.d of fruitfulness to bestow upon their people an abundant harvest during the coming year!

In Petrograd the New Year is ushered in with a cannonade of one hundred shots fired at midnight. The Czar formally receives the good wishes of his subjects, and the streets, which are prettily decorated with flags and lanterns, are alive with people.

On New Year's Day the Winter Palace is opened to society, as is nearly every home in the city, for at this season, at least, hospitality and charity are freely dispensed from palace and cottage.

On Sotjelnik, the last of the holidays, the solemn service of Blessing the Water of the Neva is observed. At two o'clock in the afternoon the people who have gathered in crowds at various points along the river witness the ceremony which closes the festivities of Yule-tide. At Petrograd a dome is erected in front of the Winter Palace, where in the presence of a vast concourse of people the Czar and the high church officials in a grand and impressive manner perform the ceremony. In other places it is customary for the district priest to officiate. Clothed in vestments he leads a procession of clergy and villagers, who carry icons and banners and chant as they proceed to the river. They usually leave an open s.p.a.ce in their ranks through which all the bad spirits likely to feel antagonistic to the ruler of Winter--the Frost King--may flee. For water sprites, fairies, gnomes, and other invisibilities, who delight in sunshine and warmth, are forced, through the power of the priest's prayers, and the showering of holy water, to take refuge in a hole that is cut in the ice beside a tall cross, and disappear beneath the cold water of the blessed river.

A PALM BRANCH FROM PALESTINE

Branch of palm from Palestine, Tell me of thy native place: What fair vale, what steep incline, First thy stately growth did grace?

Has the sun at dawn caressed thee, That on Jordan's waters shone, Have the rough night-winds distressed thee As they swept o'er Lebanon?

And while Solym's sons, brought low, Plaited thee for humble wages, Was it prayer they chanted slow, Or some song of ancient ages?

As in childhood's first awaking Does thy parent-tree still stand, With its full-leaved branches making Shadows on the burning sand?

Or when thou from it wert riven, Did it straightway droop and die, Till the desert dust was driven On its yellowing leaves to die?

Say, what pilgrim's pious hand Cherished thee in hours of pain, When he to this northern land Brought thee, fed with tears like rain?

Or perchance on some good knight, Pure in heart and calm of vision, Men bestowed thy garland bright-- Fit as he for realms Elysian!

Now preserved with reverent care, At the _Ikon's_ gilded shrine, Faithful watch thou keepest there, Holy Palm of Palestine.

Where the lamp burns faint and dim, Folded in a mystic calm, Near the Cross--the sign of Him-- Rest in safety, sacred Palm.

--_Michael Yourievich Lermontov._

(_Translated by Mrs. Rosa Newmarch._)

CHAPTER VI.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

YULE-TIDE IN FRANCE

"I hear along our street Pa.s.s the minstrel throngs; Hark! they play so sweet, On their hautboys, Christmas songs!"

--_Carol._

One would naturally imagine that such a pleasure-loving people as the French would make much of Christmas, but instead of this we find that with them, excepting in a few provinces and places remote from cities, it is the least observed of all the holidays.

It was once a very gay season, but now Paris scarcely recognizes the day excepting in churches. The shops, as in most large cities, display elegant goods, pretty toys, a great variety of sweetmeats, and tastefully trimmed Christmas trees, for that wonderful tree is fast spreading over Europe, especially wherever the Anglo-Saxon and Teutonic races have settled.

Confectioners offer a tempting supply of _naulets_--little delicate cakes--with a sugar figure of Christ on top, pretty boxes made of chocolate containing candy in the form of fruits, vegetables, musical instruments, and even boots and shoes, and all manner of quaint, artistic sugared devices, to be used as gifts or table decorations.

Early in December, wooden booths and open-air stands are erected throughout the shopping districts for the sale of Christmas goods. At night they are lighted, and through the day and evening they are gay with shoppers. Many of the booths contain evergreens and fresh green boughs for making the _arbre de Nau._ This is a hoop tied with bunches of green, interspersed with rosy apples, nuts, and highly colored, gaily ornamented eggsh.e.l.ls that have been carefully blown for the purpose. The hoops are hung in sitting-rooms or kitchens, but are used more in the country than in the cities.

Although the cities are filled with Yule-tide shoppers and lovely wares, in order to enjoy a veritable Merry Christmas one must seek some retired town and if possible gain access to a home of ancient date, where the family keep the customs of their ancestors. There he will find the day devoutly and solemnly observed, and legend and superst.i.tions concerning every observance of the day. He will find that great anxiety is evinced regarding the weather during the twelve days preceding Christmas, as that portends the state of the weather for the ensuing twelve months.

He will notice that unlike the Yule-logs of other countries, those of France are _not to be sat on_, for if by any chance a person sits on a Yule-log he will experience such pain as will prevent his partaking of the Christmas dinner. He will also find that the log has benevolent powers, and if his shoe is left beside it during the night it will be filled with peppermints or candy. The ashes of the log are believed to be a protection against lightning and bad luck, so some will be stored away beneath the bed of the master of the house as a means of procuring good-fortune and other blessings during the coming year, and if he chance to fall sick, some of the ashes will probably be infused into his medicine and given to him.