Christmas Eve, 6 January.
A treasured family tradition is to visit a monastery for the annual Christmas Eve midnight liturgy. A monastery service is a special experience and one that many find spiritually humbling and encouraging at the same time. On Christmas morning we’ll return home to a bountiful feast with family and friends, celebrating the new birth of the Saviour.
After the 40 day Nativity fast with no meat, a traditional favorite sitting in the refrigerator is “Herring under a Fur Coat” which is a layered salad with salted herring covered with layers of grated boiled vegetables (potatoes, carrots, beet roots), chopped onions, and mayonnaise. Grated boiled beets covered with mayonnaise and garnished with grated boiled eggs on top gives the salad a rich purple color. This salad is very popular in Eastern Europe and Asia on holidays.
Learn everything you wanted to know about Christmas in Russia and Eastern Europe/Asia here.
