Christmas in Hungary

TRADITIONS, CUSTOMS

by Class 7.

Santa Claus

In Hungary Santa Claus comes on 6th

of December.

Reindeer pull his sleigh in the sky and

he goes into the houses through the

chimneys . He puts the presents in the

boots which must be very clean.

They are on the windowsill. Santa

gives chocolate and peanuts to good

children who deserve them.

And he brings „virgács”

(„virgács” is a thin stick

painted gold) to bad children.

Jázmin Strenner & Enikő Lengyel

Nagykarácsony

http://www.mikulasfalva.com

The name of the small village

became Nagykarácsony ('Great

Christmas') in 1953. The festive

stamping was introduced by the

Hungarian Post in 1989, the "Post

of Love" is opened on the first

Sunday of Advent each year. The

"House of Santa Claus" was opened

in 1995, address of Santa Claus:

2425 Nagykarácsony.

Luca Day

13th DecemberThere are different opinions about Luca's personality. Some people say that

she was a witch, but maybe she was a Saint.

In old times on Luca Day it was forbidden to light a fire or to sew because

Luca would punish them by sewing up the hens so they couldn’t lay any eggs.

It was forbidden to weave because Luca would mix up all the yarns.

Some masqueraded as Luca by covering with a white sheet.

On Luca Day men started to make the Luca’s stool. The stool was made of

nine different kinds of wood, Men had to do little work ont he stool every day

from December 13 right up to Christmas. This gave birth to a Hungarian

saying when things don't progress very fast: "Készül, mint a Luca széke " (it is

getting done [slowly] like Luca's chair).

On Christmas Eve, standing on the Luca Chair during Midnight Mass you could

see the witches.

Luca day

There are also certain beliefs associated with Luca Day:

The girls make out Luca Slips, little pieces of paper with a boy's

name on each.

These must be worked into the dumpling, and when

cooking the dumplings the first dumpling to come up the surface will

contain the name of the girl's future husband.

Sowing Luca Wheat. You have to plant exactly 100 grains of wheat

in a tile. They will sprout by Christmas and

indicate how next year's crop will do.

Luca Soltész

Words for translation

forbidden – tilos

to sew – varrni

to punish – megbüntetni

hens – tyúkok

to lay eggs – tojást tojni

to weave – szőni

yarn – fonál

to give birth – szül

saying – szólás

Midnight Mass – Éjjeli mise

belief – hiedelem

dumpling - gombóc

to rise -

sowing – vetés

wheat - búza

to sprout – kihajt

to indicate – jelzi

crop - termés

Christmas in Hungary

• The Christmas holiday usually starts on December 21st.

• December 22nd: We go to some shops and buy the missing presents and the ingredients for the Christmas dishes.

• December 23rd: We tidy up and bake cakes. My mother packs presents all night.

• December 24th: We decorate the Christmas tree, prepare Christmas dishes, give presents to each other while we are singing Christmas carols and listening to music.

• December 25th: We visit our relatives and give and get presents there too. We eat delicious meals.

• December 26th: We travel home and spend time together.

Barnabás Gőcze

Christmas in Hungary

Christmas tree My sister

MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY

NEW YEAR!