Before the widespread spread of Christianity, the New Year was celebrated on the 6th and Kolyada was revered. Since pagan times, on the night of January 6-7, children and youth went home in small groups and sang special ritual songs, congratulating their owners on the holiday.
With the advent of Christianity, carols began to be sung on Christmas night, but the star, a symbol of a new beginning and light, is still an invariable attribute of carolers. Theatrical performances are performed right on the streets and near houses.
What does caroling mean: Christmas traditions
It is still not entirely clear where the name of the holiday came from. Some researchers attribute the word “Calenda” to Latin roots and translate it as “new year holiday . However, Kolyada was also called a pagan deity - the personification of the birth of the sun, the embodiment of the beginning of a new cycle, the patron saint of fun and feasts.
Kolyada is the deity of fun and the beginning of a new cycle.
This deity was called upon by our ancestors, performing songs and other ritual actions. This was necessary to attract prosperity to the house, the prosperity of the economy - it’s not for nothing that carols were also called “grapes”, “ausen” . With the spread of Christianity, motives for glorifying the birth of Jesus Christ began to be woven into carols .
IMPORTANT: Nowadays, caroling is perceived simply as entertainment. But our ancestors took “difficult guests” very seriously. And it is not surprising, because carolers symbolized the souls of ancestors who come to their descendants, bringing them happiness.
All families were looking forward to the carolers with great impatience and prepared refreshments for their arrival. For such purposes, “difficult guests” took the bag.
Carolers always carried a bag of treats with them.
It often happened that in large villages 5-10 groups of carolers could approach one house. It was not customary to refuse them , otherwise the inhospitable hosts risked being accused of greed.
Mostly boys and girls , or unmarried men and unmarried women caroled . Children could also take part in the ceremony. They especially liked performances on the gospel theme, which were sometimes performed in front of hospitable hosts.
Children often enjoyed caroling along with adults
It is curious that each region had its own characteristics of caroling. Thus, the Volga region and the middle zone of European Russia were characterized by the fact that “difficult guests” addressed all the owners at once, outlining to them a specially exaggerated picture of domestic well-being. But carolers from the northern provinces shouted, “My grapes are red and green!” to each member of the family that met them separately.
IMPORTANT: It was believed that this tradition must necessarily represent an exchange: the guests gave the hosts good luck and happiness, and the latter - money, pies, cheesecakes and various sweets. Moreover, special flour products called “kozulki” were especially common.
This is what the Kozulki look like, which used to be generously given to carolers
How to carol correctly for adults and children?
Please note that the company of carolers must include at least 3 people . The point is that there must certainly be :
- Zvezdar - goes at the head of the procession, carrying a Christmas eight-pointed star. He must be a lively person who knows many poems and has a sonorous voice.
- The bell ringer follows the star, carrying a large bell. By ringing, he notifies others about the approach of a company of carolers.
- Mekhonosha is the third important participant in the procession, who is responsible for the large bag for gifts. Mechonosha must be strong, since carrying treats at the end of the celebration is not easy.
IMPORTANT: According to tradition, hospitable hosts themselves put the gifts in the bag. Even a fur-bearer should not accept them from hand to hand.
As many people as can be gathered can follow these three carolers It is believed that the larger and noisier the company, the better. It is recommended to dress in folk costumes.
Ideally, for caroling, you should choose a large company in bright folk costumes
It’s worth mentioning separately about the star This symbol should be bright, decorated with broken Christmas tree decorations, ribbons, and sparkles. It is advisable to paint it yellow.
The star for caroling should be bright and preferably yellow
It is also advisable to make the bag bright . It is recommended to decorate it with the month, stars and sun.
The process itself can be divided into the following stages:
- When approaching a house, one should sing “outdoor” songs that ask permission from the owners
- If permission is given, you can enter the house and start singing carols with greatness for all family members
IMPORTANT: According to tradition, a boy or a man must enter first.
- At the end, songs are sung with wishes for well-being . Only after them can you ask for a reward for the performance
A boy or a man should be the first to enter the house during caroling.
Russian short carols for Christmas for the youngest children: poems and songs
Carols, carols, carols - Good with honey pancakes! And without honey - it’s not like that, Give me some pies, aunt!
Shchedrik-Petrik, Give me dumplings! A spoonful of porridge, top of the sausages. This is not enough. Give me a piece of bacon. Take it out quickly, don't freeze the children!
Kolyada, Kolyada, We open all the houses, All the windows, chests, We give sweets and pies, So that it will be good for you, Say thank you to heaven, God will give us all health, After all, he is good at that!
Kolyada, Kolyada On Christmas Eve Pancake and flatbread Host Alyoshka Give me a nickel auntie I won’t leave home like that!
A little boy sat down on a glass, And the glass is fragile Give me a rub, mistress!
The little sparrow flies, twirls his tail, And you, people, know, Cover the tables, Receive guests, Celebrate Christmas!
Welcome the Magi, welcome the Holy, Christmas has come - Let's begin the celebration!
Very young children often caroled
Carols for children
Christmas is a reason to gather the whole family around the big table. Children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren come to visit the head of the family. According to tradition, after the first star appears in the sky, a natural child must say words of wishes to the family and owners for happiness and prosperity, wealth and health.
People of the older generation consider it a bad omen if a carol is not heard in the house at least once on Christmas Day. If old people are lonely and have no relatives who can sing carols, they call neighbors and friends.
When little children sing or tell cute funny carols, adults are usually very moved and treat the children with various goodies and give small amounts of money.
According to all the canons of Christianity, it is considered unworthy and ugly to be greedy on Christmas Eve and lock your doors in front of guests.
Below are popular carols:
The little sparrow flies, twirls his tail, And you, people, know, Cover the tables, Receive guests, Celebrate Christmas!
It's like it's freezing outside, freezing your nose. He doesn’t order you to stand for long, He orders you to serve him soon, Or a warm pie, Or butter, cottage cheese, Or some money with a spear, Or a silver ruble!
***
Christ the Savior was born at midnight. He settled in a poor place. Over that place the Star shines. Christ the Master, on your birthday. Give peace and forgiveness to all people!
***
I'm caroling, caroling, I'll go into any hut. I’ll ask the hostess: “Give me some goodies!” And cookies, and sweets, And sherbet with nuts, Pastille and marmalade - I will be glad to see all the gifts. I will treat everyone and praise the hostess!
***
Good evening, generous evening, good health to good people. A falcon flew in, sat on the window, and cut the cloth. And the leftovers are for hats for the owners, And scraps and for belts, Hello, happy holiday!
***
This is how it has happened in this world For many years in a row On such a magical, good evening Angels are flying from heaven to us They bring goodness, hope, Blessings to every home Happy New Year to everyone
And Merry Christmas!
Russian folk carols for Christmas for schoolchildren: poems and songs
Kolyada, Kolyada, Christmas Eve! Good auntie, It’s a sweet pie, don’t cut it, don’t break it, serve it quickly, to two, three, we’ve been standing for a long time, but we can’t stand it! The stove is heating up, I want some pie!
The Eastern Star has long gone out in the winter darkness, But the Birth of Christ has not been forgotten on earth. How the shepherds came to him Before morning, How the wise men presented Him with their gifts. How the king killed babies, rewarding the murderer, How a sent angel saved the Sacred Child. How, preaching love and the truth of the Divine, He was born again every year on the Christmas holiday.
This holy night, This night of salvation Announced to the whole world the Mystery of the Incarnation. The shepherdesses near the flock did not sleep that night. The holy angel flew to them from the bright distance of heaven.
Kolyada, Kolyada, Come from afar, Once a year, Let's admire for an hour. With crackling frost, With prickly cold, With white snow, With blizzards, with blizzards. Scooters - sleighs We rolled ourselves - From village to village, Kolyada is cheerful.
Schoolchildren can also carol
Short carols
For children of kindergarten and primary school age, you need to choose short carols, and you should start learning them by heart at least a week before Christmas, so that the child knows the words perfectly and does not get confused. For Russian-speaking children, choose carols in Russian, with extremely simple vocabulary, without incomprehensible words.
By the way, for the ever-busy adults who, by the will of fate, are involved in a Christmas production, there are cool Christmas greetings that will take just half an hour to study.
Kolyada, Kolyada! And there is a carol. On the eve of Christmas, the carol came and brought Christmas.
***
An angel came down to us today and sang: “Christ is born.” We came to glorify Christ and congratulate you on the holiday. Here we come, shepherds, All our sins are forgiven. We set our path to home, glorifying Christ God.
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If you give to us, we will praise, but if you don’t give, we will reproach! Kolyada, Kolyada! Serve the pie!
***
Kolyada, Kolyada, Christmas Eve! Good auntie, It’s a sweet pie, don’t cut it, don’t break it, serve it quickly, to two, three, we’ve been standing for a long time, but we can’t stand it! The stove is heating up, I want some pie!
***
Tyapu-lyapu, quickly give me a carol! My legs are chilly - I’ll run home. Whoever gives is a prince, Whoever doesn’t give is in the dirt!
***
The sleighs broke, the shirts got dirty, and the carols got lost...
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Look how brightly the stars Shine for the world there, in the distance. Holy gifts shine in them: Goodwill for people, Peace and truth for the Earth!
***
Christ the Savior was born at midnight. He settled in a poor den. Here the Star shines above the nativity scene. Christ the Master, On your birthday. Give all people the world of enlightenment!
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Shchedrik-Petrik, Give me dumplings! A spoonful of porridge, top of the sausages. Even a piece of candy, even a nickel - We won’t just leave!!!
***
Good evening to good people! Let the holiday be merry. Merry Christmas to you. We wish you happiness and joy! Generous evening, good evening! Good health to good people!
Russian folk carols for Christmas for adults: poems and songs
Oh, I’m dancing, I’m dancing for the dear one. Maybe it’ll give me half a gold piece. Oh, not enough, not enough, that’s it! Oh, I'm galloping, galloping, I want silver! Since you have a son, give me a wheel of cheese. Since you have a daughter, give me a barrel of honey. If you're not rich, kick him out of the house, be it with a piece of wood, or with a broom, or with a crooked poker.
Rich men, Open the chests, Take out the piglets, If there is no piglet, Then let's have some pie. If you don’t give me the pie, I’ll take the cow by the horns, I’ll take you to Torzhok, I’ll sell it there for a pie.
I sow, weed, I sow, I congratulate you on Kolyada, I wish you happiness and joy. I sow, winnow, winnow, barley, sprinkle wheat, so that the field produces more crops, so that the barn doubles, so that the children grow up, so that the girls are married. I sow, winnow, sow, I wish you happiness and joy. Whoever gives us a pie will get a barn full of cattle, Sheep with oats, a stallion with a tail. Whoever doesn’t give a pie gets a chicken leg, a pestle and a shovel, a hunchbacked cow.
Adults love caroling just as much as children.
Carols in Ukrainian
Despite the fact that in every Christian country Christmas carols and songs are sung on Christmas Eve, the Ukrainian “Shchedryk” is the most famous carol, translated into several dozen languages.
A distinctive feature of the Ukrainian tradition is the addition of the phrase “Generous evening, good evening, good health to people” after each quatrain.
Shchedrik, generous, generous, a swallow flew in, began to chirp, call out to the Lord: “Come out, come out, Lord, Marvel at the sheep sheep, And the lambs were born, You have all the good goods, You will mother a world of pennies, Even if not pennies, then sex - You have a black-browed woman.” Shchedrik, generous, generous, a swallow has flown in.
***
Carols, carols, carols, And the grandfather is watching from the stove. And the woman with the little candle - Walking at the blind man's buff.
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I’m a little boy, I sit on my own, I play with the little sniffle, I amuse the children. And hey, people, smell it, prepare Kolyada. Apple, peas - These are my nursery rhymes.
***
The heifer ran from the birch tree to the grandfather's door. And you, grandpa, give me some pie. And you, baby, look at the police. Give me a stick. Palyanichka has fallen, Give me a piece of bacon.
***
Kolyadin, Grandma, I am alone. Bring me a pie and put it by the bag. With arms, with legs, Running after us.
***
Carols, carols, carols, Goodness with honey is good, But without honey it’s not the same, Give me some pie, please. If you don’t give me a pie, I’ll take him by the horns, I’ll take him to the market, I’ll buy my own pie.
***
Kolyada, Kolyada, Give me some pie, man! If you don’t give me the pie, I’ll take the ox by the horns, and lead you to the sea, and break the right rig. I will blow a trumpet at the river, I will fight with an ox, I will scold with my tail and yell at buckwheat. Good evening!
***
Marusya ran across the ice. I lost the carol. You, Oleno, don’t go for a walk, but listen to a carol. Be healthy, Happy Holidays!
***
Kolyad, kolyad, kolyada, let's get around you. Let joy come to your doorstep in the New River. May you blossom in kindness, May you live happily, And may this young river reward you for the old. Friends are rich in winter; So that during everyday life the tables would bend against your holy ones. May everyone be healthy!
***
Carols, carols, carols. Good luck with honey. And without honey it’s not the same, Give me a nickel, man. If you don't give me a nickel, I'll take the bull by the horns. Don’t give a penny, Because your guts will break, Be arrogant, people! Give me paper pennies.
***
I am a little shepherd, huddled in a little casing, I play the violin, I cherish you all. And you, people, hear, prepare a carol - Apple, pots for the children for nursery rhymes.
***
I sing a carol for you, May God grant you a harvest, Generous fields, flowering gardens, A star in the sky on Holy Eve For the old and young. My carol is mooning, the whole world is floating with Christmas.
***
Oh, God, let us wait for Christmas, Let's go and sing carols before Grandfather. And in our grandfather there is a lot of bread: Two stitches of life, and a third of wheat on the palyanitsa, And a fourth of buckwheat for buckwheat, And the fifth is all that carol. Good evening!
***
I sing a carol in full voice, in the whole house: - Carols, carols, carols, I sing carols alone. Carols, carols, carols, Take it easy, little one.
Russian folk carols for Christmas are short and funny
Happy Christmas - We wish you sober thoughts, So that the Earth does not sway, And the soul enjoys!
Kolyada, Kolyada, And the woman has a beard. And my grandfather grew a tail. Runs to the girls, the scoundrel.
Kolyada, Kolyada... We dance all the years. And on all fours we boldly climb the steps.
Kolyada, Kolyada, We never get sick. The wives start an argument - We fly naked into the yard.
The process of caroling is often made funny and causes laughter.
Comic carols
*** We sing good carols to you, Hay, buckwheat, and millet, So that there is money, So that the lazy ones are not lazy. So that the kids grow up and help their loved ones. Health to all, wealth to all, only happiness to your home!
*** Open the chests, take out the snouts, give them a penny at a time, give them to the little children.
*** Don’t be stingy, give, There will be a great harvest! Don’t offend the mummers, treat them tastier!
Russian folk long carols for Christmas
The moon shone in the sky, and showed us the way, Upper and Lower, to the nearest house. Go out onto the porch, owner, pour some wine into a glass. If we don’t drink wine, we’ll smear it on your lips, We’ll smear it on your lips, and we’ll tell you about your house. There are four corners in your house, In each corner there are three young people: Goodness, Comfort, Peace live. A girl walks from corner to corner - A braid spreads across the floor - The girl's name is Love, Your roof rests on her! If you reward us generously, you will preserve happiness in the house! Let's leave the yard with gifts - the bins will be full! Even a piece of candy, even a nickel - We won’t just leave!
Kolyada arrived on the eve of Christmas. Give me the cow, the oil head! Standing on the window, looking at me. Serve the pancake, the oven will go smoothly! Kolyada, Kolyada, give me some pie! Damn and a cake in the back window! The New Year has come, the old one has been stolen, and it has shown itself. Go, people, meet the sun, drive away the frost! And whoever is in this house - God forbid! He gets an octopus from the ear, a loaf of grain from the grain, a pie from the half-grain! May the Lord reward you with both life and existence!
Kolyada, you kolyada, The kolyada came in, The kolyada wrote down, The Sovereign's courtyard, The Sovereign's yard in the middle of Moscow, The middle of the stone. Gossip dear, Donate splinters for holy evenings, for games, for gatherings. Thank you, godfather, my white swan, you didn’t celebrate, you didn’t play pranks, you went to the market for a walk, bought silk for yourself, embroidered a fly, gave it to your dear friend. Give you, Lord, forty cows, fifty piglets, and forty chickens.
They prepared for caroling for a long time, staging entire performances, so the carols could be long
