“Hungry Kutya” or the second Christmas Eve. When is it celebrated and what are the traditions
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Previously, Ukrainians celebrated the second Holy Vespers, which preceded the Epiphany or Epiphany, on January 18 – according to the Julian calendar.
According to the New Julian style, Epiphany falls on January 6, and the second Christmas Eve will be celebrated this year on January 5.
Why is another New Year’s Eve celebrated, what does it symbolize and how to prepare for it?
“UP.Zhyttia” spoke with Yaroslava Muzychenko, an ethnologist, research associate of the National Center of Folk Culture “Ivan Honchar Museum”, priest of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church Ihor Yatsiv and archimandrite of the Mykhailivskyi Zolotoverho Monastery Lavrentiy.
Why celebrate the second Holy evening
Christmas Eve outlines a special time of preparation for major holidays and means the eve of a church holiday.
In Ukraine, two Christmas Eves are celebrated: before Christmas and before Epiphany.
In the early days of Christianity, until the second half of the 4th century, Christmas and Epiphany were one holiday that symbolized the coming of God to people.
“These are completely mirror holidays in their manner and order, and the reason is simple: in the first centuries of Christianity, the period from the Birth to the Annunciation was one holiday.
As a nation, we greet Strytenia with Christmas greetings.
Due to the fact that later these holidays were divided, today we have two Christmas Eves“, says Ihor Yatsiv, a priest of the UGCC.
According to the statute of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, all services related to the holidays of Christmas and Epiphany are also absolutely identical, only they differ in meaning. But the order of service is the same, emphasizes Archimandrite Lavrentiy.
Accordingly, Christmas Eve before these holidays are also similar to each other.
“Symbolism that is laid on the second Christmas Eve – similar. Like the first holiday, the second is a glorification of the fact that God comes into the world in human form.
These two holidays show how close God is to man and glorify the dogmatic aspect of church teaching that God became a perfect man without ceasing to be God“, Father Lavrentiy adds.
So Christmas and Epiphany are two holidays that are almost the same in significance. That is why Christmas Eve is celebrated on the eve of these two holidays.
However, according to ethnologist Yaroslava Muzychenko, in some regions Ukrainians celebrated not two holy evenings, but three. When the holiday of God’s coming to earth was divided into the Nativity of Christ, the Naming of Christ and the Epiphany (Baptism). And before every holiday, Christmas Eve was celebrated.
Subsequently, Catholic Christians began to celebrate January 6 Epiphany as the day of “Three Kings”. After all, the three kings who came to the cave where Christ was born, by the Bethlehem star, saw the appearance of God. In many European countries, the caroling of the “three kings” with a star is common.
| Three kings came to Christ. illustrator_hft/Depositphotos |
“Somewhere, three Christmas Eves are still celebrated: Bagata kutya – the first (before Christmas), Shchedra kutya – the second (before St. Basil’s Day), Hungry Kutya – the third (before Epiphany). This is celebrated in particular in the central regions of Ukraine, in the Dnieper region.
In the west of Ukraine, two holy evenings are mainly celebrated: before Christmas and Epiphany. Second Christmas Eve is called differently: in the central regions of Ukraine – “Hungry Kutya”, in the western regions – “Generous evening“, says Yaroslava Muzychenko.
According to Father Lavrentiy, probably the second Christmas Eve was called “Hungry Kutya” due to the fact that before dinner people mostly observed a strict fast, and only songs were prepared for the meals.
What is being prepared for the second Holy evening
Dishes for the second Christmas Eve are prepared with songs. This is connected with church prescriptions, which indicate that on the eve of the Epiphany (the eve) people fast and go to the service.
These traditions overlap both in the Orthodox Church of Ukraine and in the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.
Read also: 12 dishes for Christmas Eve: what they symbolize and how to prepare them
“The Orthodox Church of Ukraine does not set conditions, because most of the traditions associated with holding the Holy Supper – it is more about folk traditions. From the point of view of the church charter, the condition for Holy Vespers is a fast day before Epiphany – In the evening
With this in mind, the holiday dinner should consist of fasting dishes. But what dishes to serve – people decide. The church rules are reflected in the fact that kutyu is always prepared.
In church prayers, the kutyu is called “kolyvo”, which is brought to the church to be consecrated in honor of saints or in memory of deceased loved ones. This is the only canonical dish determined by church rules“, Father Lavrentiy says.
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| The main dish on the second Christmas Eve is kutya/Depositphotos |
Read also: What does the main dish of Christmas symbolize and how to cook kutyu on Christmas Eve
According to the UGCC priest, the celebration of the second Christmas Eve often also depends on regional traditions.
“I’m from Lviv region, we will actually have two identical dinners. But people prepare fewer dishes. And it is no longer about church regulations, but about practicality, because 14 days ago there was already a holy dinner, which was waited for a whole year and for which preparations were made to the maximum“, adds Ihor Yatsiv.
Kutyu, uzvar, fish are mainly prepared (in particular, because the Greek word Ikhtos (fish) forms the first letters of the phrase Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Savior ), and two or three more dishes, emphasizes Yaroslava Muzychenko.
Traditions for the second Christmas Eve
On the second Christmas Eve, the tradition of giving was preserved.
For Epiphany, which is celebrated on January 6, there are thematic songs – Jordanian. However, they do not sing about the baptism of Christ, but about how the Mother of God swaddled him, bathed him in the river, and also named him.
This is an echo of the fact that once three holidays were celebrated together and carols were connected, the ethnologist shares.
“People also make crosses out of wax and hang them above the door to protect the house from evil. This custom has been preserved, in particular, in the Hutsul region.
Hay and kalachi are no longer part of the second Holy Supper. On the second Christmas Eve, they “drive away the kutyu” and see off the ancestors, whose souls supposedly rested in the fragrant soft hay and straw. Therefore, straw and hay are taken out of the house. They are either burned, or tied in bundles and tied around fruit trees for better birth“, the ethnologist adds.
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