How to Celebrate a Hungarian Christmas

In Hungary, children await the arrival of the angels and Baby Jesus on Christmas Eve. After opening gifts, families enjoy a festive meal and attend mass together.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Christmas Tree Ornaments
• Christmas Trees
• Angels
• Bells
• Candles
• Charcoal
• White Yarns
• Candies
• Fish
• Fruits
• Onions
• Wines
• Candles
• Onions
• Fruits

1. Celebrate St. Mikulas day on December 6. Remind children to place their freshly polished shoes outside their door on the evening of December 5, when St. Mikulas will come and reward good boys and girls with a piece of fruit and some candy. Very bad children will receive a piece of coal or an onion.

2. Hide the Christmas tree in a separate room away from the children and decorate it (see "How to Decorate a Hungarian Christmas Tree") with candy ("szalon cukor"), candles, an angel and a bell on Christmas Eve.

3. Ring the bell, signaling to the children that the angels have brought and decorated the Christmas tree and that Baby Jesus has arrived with gifts.

4. Gather around the tree holding hands and sing "Angel from Heaven," or "Menybol Az Angyal" in Hungarian.

5. Open gifts from Baby Jesus.

6. Serve a dinner of wine soup, or "borleves," and fish for Christmas Eve dinner.

7. Attend midnight mass, if you and your family are Catholic.

Tips & Warnings

• "Kellemes Karacsonyt" means Merry Christmas in Hungarian.
• Serve Tokay, the Hungarian dessert wine, after dinner.
• Exercise caution with real candles on the Christmas tree, as this presents a fire danger.

on 11/22/2005 St. Mikulas is St. Nicholas. Also other than a piece of coal or an onion, my grandmother used to receive a stick if she was bad.
Here is another way to say Merry Christmas in Hungarian: Bolodog Karasconyi unnepeket.