 Song filled the soul at all times, in moments of celebration and solemnity. There were songs for all aspects of life. Mothers sang to their babes. Couples married with special songs of  crowning and ritual wedding presentation. At the end, the solemn strains of Vichnaya Pamyat (Memory Eternal) echoed through rural cemeteries. Eventually there were parish and community halls with church choirs, special choirs and children's groups. Local orchestras were usually honed from those whoever could play—top honors to violin and tsimabali (hammer dulcimer). Dance spots? Empty granaries, even wooden bridges, and eventually community halls.
Festive Foods: “Dai Bozhe Zdorovya!”
 Richness, beauty, feasting and celebration are integrally connected. Traditional foods abound, especially during holidays. It is often accompanied with a glass or two of wine or other spirits raised in a toast of “God grant you health!” or “Dai Bozhe!”…
”The Christmas season is full of special traditions. Among the many is the one involving the singing of special songs called “koliady” (carols). The melodies alone are beautiful, but the text of each “koliada” ties Christmases past to the present and to the future. Not only is the music beautiful but through its beauty are the glories of our Lord God proclaimed to all mankind and the onus falls on each singer to proclaim in song, the glory of the Lord from the very depths of his or her heart. Among the many other beautiful Christmas customs are the following: Holy Supper, which consists of twelve meatless dishes; the bearing of Christmas supper to older individual members of the family; the exchange of sincere seasonal and religious greetings. All these customs tend to enhance and enrich the Christmas season while at the same time uniting the families with stronger ties.”
  "The Christmas season is full of special traditions. Among the many is the one involving the singing of special songs called “koliady” (carols). The melodies alone are beautiful, but the text of each “koliada” ties Christmases past to the present and to the future. Not only is the music beautiful but through its beauty are the glories of our Lord God proclaimed to all mankind and the onus falls on each singer to proclaim in song, the glory of the Lord from the very depths of his or her heart. Among the many other beautiful Christmas customs are the following: Holy Supper, which consists of twelve meatless dishes; the bearing of Christmas supper to older individual members of the family; the exchange of sincere seasonal and religious greetings. All these customs tend to enhance and enrich the Christmas season while at the same time uniting the families with stronger ties."
Religion
Holidays are also times to attend religious services. Both the Orthodox and Eastern Catholic churches celebrate a great number of religious feasts, the greatest of which is Pascha (Easter) and also adhere to two fasts of forty days duration, and lesser fasts at other times.
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