Although the feast of the Resurrection is the greatest feast in the Christian calendar, the Serbs celebrate the feast of the Nativity and the feasts connected with it through rich and beautiful customs. The few weeks leading up to the Nativity of our Lord make it the most beautiful and most festive period in the entire year.

The Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ is celebrated in commemoration of the Nativity of the Son of God, the Saviour of the world. The fact that this is a feast of birth, a feast of childhood and parenthood, of fatherhood and motherhood. The Serbs have adorned the feast with the most beautiful religious customs and rites.

The Nativity brings joy to the young and old. A few weeks before the feast and

after a festive mood is evident. There is a feeling of happiness and joy. There is a spiritual atmosphere where there is a sense of blessedness. In these circumstances people reconcile and forgive their differences which have been brought on during the past year.

In this period the most important feasts are: Children’s Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Tucindan, Nativity Eve, the Nativity, the Assembly of the Most Holy Mother of God, the feast of Saint archdeacon Stephen, New Year Day, Epiphany, the Assembly of Saint John the Baptist and the feast of Saint Sava. Each of these feasts are enriched with there own beautiful religious customs and rites.

The Symbolism of the Christmas Tree

The Christmas Tree symbolically represents the wood which the shepherds brought to the manger, and which was put to burn in the cold manger by the Righteous Joseph. The straw which is put at the foot of the Christmas Tree and under the dining table symbolises the straw in the manger itself.