Ukraine together with the entire Orthodox world living according to the Julian calendar is today observing Christmas Eve or Sviat Vechir.
Sviat Vechir is a ritual meal, which is prepared with 12 meatless dishes on the evening before Christmas to commemorate Christ's birth.
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It is the concluding day of the Nativity Fast and is observed as a day of strict fasting before Holy Meal.
Not all Ukrainians strictly follow the fast, but serving 12 meatless dishes on Christmas Eve has become a tradition for the whole of Ukraine.
The 12 dishes symbolize the Twelve Apostles. The main attributes of Holy Meal in Ukraine are kutia, or kutya, a cereal dish with poppy seed, nuts, honey, and uzvar, a drink made from dried fruits, usually slices of apples, pears, and plums.
And as soon as the first star – a symbol of the Star of Bethlehem that showed the Magi the place of birth of Jesus – appears in the evening sky, one can already start singing carols.
The rite of caroling has even pre-Christian roots, when Ukrainians' ancestors honored the sun with the holiday of Koliada, an ancient pre-Christian Slavic winter festival. When carol singers come to visit a house, it is important to let a male singer in first. According to the customs, he will bring peace and well-being into the house.
In the evening, solemn religious services are served in the churches, reminiscent of the great event from which the new calendar era began.
