From eggnog and mulled wine to champagne and sloe gin, get loads of ideas for fantastically festive Christmas christmas main dishes ideas. This is the latest accepted revision, reviewed on 11 January 2023. For the album, see Christmas Night.

Christmas Eve is the evening or entire day before Christmas Day, the festival commemorating the birth of Jesus. Roman Catholics, Lutherans, and some Anglicans traditionally celebrate Midnight Mass, which begins either at or sometime before midnight on Christmas Eve. In recent years some churches have scheduled their “Midnight” Mass as early as 7 pm. This better suits the young children, whose choral singing has become a popular feature in some traditions. A nativity scene may be erected indoors or outdoors, and is composed of figurines depicting the infant Jesus resting in a manger, Mary, and Joseph. Other figures in the scene may include angels, shepherds, and various animals.

Whilst it does not include any kind of Mass, the Church of Scotland has a service beginning just before midnight, in which carols are sung. The Church of Scotland no longer holds Hogmanay services on New Year’s Eve, however. The Christmas Eve Services are still very popular. Lutherans traditionally practice Christmas Eve Eucharistic traditions typical of Germany and Scandinavia.

Methodists celebrate the evening in different ways. Some, in the early evening, come to their church to celebrate Holy Communion with their families. The annual “Nine Lessons and Carols”, broadcast from King’s College, Cambridge on Christmas Eve, has established itself a Christmas custom in the United Kingdom. This section does not cite any sources. It is the concluding day of the Nativity Fast and is observed as a day of strict fasting by those devout Byzantine Christians who are physically capable of doing so.

In the evening, the All-Night Vigil for the Feast of the Nativity is composed of Great Compline, Matins and the First Hour. Great Feasts are considered one celebration. Then they return to the church for the All-Night Vigil. The next morning, Christmas Day, the Divine Liturgy is celebrated again, but with special features that occur only on Great Feasts of the Lord. After the dismissal of this Liturgy, the faithful customarily greet each other with the kiss of peace and the words: “Christ is Born! The first three days of the feast are particularly solemn.

The second day is known as the Synaxis of the Theotokos, and commemorates the role of the Virgin Mary in the Nativity of Jesus. The third day is referred to simply as “the Third Day of the Nativity”. Byzantine Christians observe a festal period of twelve days, during which no one in the Church fasts, even on Wednesdays and Fridays, which are normal fasting days throughout the rest of the year. In Bulgaria, the meal consists of an odd number of lenten dishes in compliance with the rules of fasting. The belief is that if one lasted until Christmas dinner, they would see a golden pig, which is a symbol of luck. A typical Christmas breakfast is a sweet braided bread vánočka.

In French-speaking places, Réveillon is a long dinner eaten on Christmas Eve. Catholic “Feast of the Seven Fishes” which was historically served after a 24-hour fasting period. In Peru, turkey and panettone are the stars of Christmas Eve. Lithuanian Christmas Eve blends pagan and Christian traditions, as initially it was a celebration of the winter solstice. Traditionally, Lithuanians believed that animals could talk on that night, and it was possible to predict the future with charms and various games.