Russia

In the days of the Soviet Union, Christmas was not celebrated very much. New Year was the important time - when ‘Father Frost’ brought presents to children. With the fall of Communism, Christmas is openly celebrated - either on December 25th, or more often, on January 7th. The date is different because the Russian Orthodox church uses the ‘Julian’ calendar for religious celebration days.

Special Christmas food includes cakes, pies and ‘meat dumplings’.

One of the most famous things about Christmas in Russia, is the story of Baboushka. It tells the story of an old women who met the Wise men on their way to see Jesus.

The Story of Baboushka

Once in a small Russian town there lived a women called Baboushka. Baboushka always had work to do sweeping, polishing, dusting and cleaning. Her house was the best kept, most tidy house in the whole village. Her garden was beautiful and her cooking was wonderful. One evening she was busy dusting and cleaning, so busy that she didn't hear all the villagers outside in the village square talking about and looking at the new star in sky.

She had heard about the new star but thought, "All this fuss about a star! I don't even have the time to look because I’m so behind with my work. I must work all night!" So, she missed the star as it shone brightly, high overhead. She also missed the little line of twinkling lights coming down towards the village at dawn. She didn't hear the sounds of the pipes and drums. She missed the voices and whispers of the villagers wondering whether the lights were an army or a procession of some sort. She missed the sudden quiet of the villagers and even the footsteps coming up the path to her door. But the one thing that she couldn't miss was the loud knocking on her front door!

"Now what is that?" she wondered, opening the door. Baboushka gaped in amazement. There were three kings at her door with one of their servants! "My masters need a place to rest," the servant said, "and yours is the best house in the village." "You want to stay here?" asked Baboushka. "Yes, it would only be until night falls and the star appears again," the servant replied. Baboushka gulped. "Come in, then," she said.

The kings were very pleased when they saw all of the of the home-baked bread, pies and cakes. She dashed about, serving them, asked lots of questions. "Have you come a long way?" "A very long way," sighed Caspar. "Where are you going?" "We’re following the new star," said Melchior. "But where?" The kings didn't know, but they believed that it would lead the to a new-born king, a King of Earth and Heaven. "Why don’t you come with us?" asked Balthasar. "You could bring him a gift like we do. I bring gold, and my colleagues bring spices and perfumes." "Oh, I'm not sure that he would welcome me," said Baboushka, "and what could I bring for a gift? Toys! I know I could bring a toy. I've got a cupboard full of toys," she said sadly. "My baby son, died when he was small." Balthasar stopped her as she went to tidy the kitchen up. "This new king could be your king too. Come with us when the star appears tonight," he said. "I'll think about it," sighed Baboushka.

As the kings slept, Baboushka tidied up as quietly as she could. "What a lot of extra work there was!" she thought, "and this new king, what a funny idea, to go off with the kings to find him."

Baboushka shook herself. There was no time for dreaming, all this washing-up putting had to be done. "Anyway," she thought, "how long would she be away? What would she wear? What about the gift?" She sighed. "There is so much to do. The house will have to be cleaned when they’ve gone. I couldn’t just leave it." Suddenly it was night-time again and the star was in the sky. "Are you ready, Baboushka?" asked Balthasar. "I'll come tomorrow," Baboushka called, ‘I must just tidy here first and find a gift."

The kings went away sadly. Baboushka ran back into her house, keen to get on with her work.

Finally, she went to the small cupboard, opened the door and gazed at all the toys. But they were very dusty. They weren't fit for a baby king. They would all need to be cleaned. She cleaned all of the toys until each one shined. Baboushka looked through the window. It was morning! The star had came and gone. The kings would have found somewhere else to rest by now. She could easily catch them up, but she felt so tired. She had to sleep. Suddenly, she was awake and it was dark outside. She had slept all day! She quickly pulled on her cloak, packed the toys in a basket and ran down the path the kings had taken.

Everywhere she asked "Have you seen the kings?" "Oh yes," everyone told her, "we saw them. They went that way." For day Baboushka followed the trail of the kings and the villages got bigger and became towns. But Baboushka never stopped. Then she came to a city. "The palace," she thought. "That’s where the royal baby would be born." "No, there is no royal baby here," said the palace guard when she asked him. "What about three kings?" asked Baboushka. "Oh yes, they came here, but they didn’t stay long. They were soon on their journey." "But where to?" asked Baboushka. "Bethlehem, that was the place. I don’t imagine why. It’s a very poor place. That's where they went." replied the guard. She set off towards Bethlehem. It was evening when Baboushka arrived at Bethlehem. She had been travelling for a long time now. She went into the local inn and asked about the kings. "Oh yes," said the landlord, "the kings were here two days ago. They were very excited, but they didn’t even stay the night." "And what about a baby?" Baboushka cried. "Yes there was." Said the landlord. The kings asked about a baby, too." When he saw the disappointment in Baboushka's eyes, he stopped. "If you'd like to see where the baby was," he said quickly, "it was across the yard there. I couldn’t offer the couple anything better at the time. My inn was really full, so they had to go in the stable."

Baboushka followed him across the yard. "Here's the stable," he said. He left her in the stable. "Baboushka?" Someone was calling her from the doorway. He looked kindly at her. She wondered if he knew where the family had gone. She knew now that the baby king was the most important thing in the world to her. "They have gone to Egypt, and safety," he told Baboushka. "And the kings have returned to their countries. But one of them told me about you. I am sorry but you are too late. It was Jesus that they found, the world's Saviour."

Baboushka was very sad that she had missed Jesus and it is said that Baboushka is still looking for him.