Christmas in the Eastern Orthodox Church

January 7 is Christmas in the Eastern Orthodox Church that use Julian calendar. This holiday corresponds to Christmas celebrated by all Western churches that falls on December 25.
Celebration of Christmas in the Easter Orthodox Church has got its own traditions which are very important for this holiday's celebration. An important part of the celebration is a special Christmas family meal that consists of 12 kinds of dishes that symbolize 12 apostles and 12 days of Christmastide.
In eastern part of Europe the traditional Christmas meal is kutia (served in Belarus, Ukraine and some parts of Poland) or sochivo (in Russia). This sweet grain pudding serves as a memorial dish (resembles koliva in Serbia and Romania).
Singing carols is another important Christmas tradition. Children and grownups in special costumes go from house to house and sing carols that tell about the birth of Jesus. Some carols praise the members of the family who listen to the carols. The singers are usually treated with sweets and money