In Hajdú-Bihar, the custom of chanting and nativization is “in vogue again” – news from Debrecen, news from Debrecen | Debrecen and Hajdú-Bihar county news
In Hajdú-Bihar as well, the custom of chanting and nativity scenes is “in vogue again”
Where does your Christmas celebration come from? How has it changed over time? Which customs do we still keep? We can find out from the ethnographer in Debrecen.
The whole city is in a Christmas mood, love and peace pervade the homes. The holiday has changed a lot over the past centuries. What customs do we still have today, and which ones have been forgotten? Ethnographer Andrea Mátrai-Nagy talks about these, among others, in Debrecen Televízió’s Debrecen Színképek program.
Andrea Mátrai-Nagy said that the most characteristic customs of the Christmas holiday season – and which are once again in great fashion – are chanting, rejoicing and nativity scenes. He added that in the case of the first two, young people go from house to house saying greetings and good wishes, collecting donations, and the latter is a dramatic story inspired by the church, in which the birth of Jesus is told.
– Following the inventive footsteps of St. Francis of Assisi, the nativity play spread, which was originally born within the walls of churches and was sung in Latin. Later, it necessarily became profane, since the vast majority of people did not understand Latin. In Hungary, for example, since the 17th century, texts in Hungarian have been published, with which these nativity plays could be performed, he pointed out.
Where does the tradition of decorating the Christmas tree come from?
The ethnographer said that it is a custom of German origin, Countess Teréz Brunszvik first set up a Christmas tree in Hungary in 1824.
– In general, all such customs started with the aristocratic class, then were adopted by the urban bourgeoisie, and finally ended up with the peasantry. In peasant circles, bringing the green branch into homes and decorating it with nuts and apples was already the current custom.
However, the Christmas tree itself began to spread in 1824, and today it has become the most important decoration of every apartment
he highlighted.
According to tradition, the Christmas tree is taken down on January 6, Epiphany. As Andrea Mátrai-Nagy said, this is the day of the Kings of Bethlehem, when he arrived in Bethlehem, “according to legend, we strip the Christmas tree of its decorations before the 6th of January, it brings bad luck”, he said.
How was gift-giving connected to Christmas?
According to the ethnographer, this is a completely new custom.
– In the past, people celebrated much more at Christmas that they were in a beloved community, they expressed their love for each other at this time, not together for gifts. This type of gift-giving started in the 1910s and ’20s, and today, I think,
giving gifts at Christmas is a bit of an over-priority. The most important gift in this period – especially in today’s world – is to give each other attention, love and care, in addition to or instead of material things.
he emphasized.
The festive table
The ethnographer pointed out that the Christmas table has a special mystery: everything that was placed on or under it was “listed as a dedication”. Bread, legumes and fish were put on the table in hopes of health, abundance and wealth for the coming year. The hay, straw and work tools placed under the table also had a similar role.
The entire conversation can be found in the video below, from 9 minutes and 20 seconds: