Δευτέρα 5 Ιανουαρίου 2009

MY WORLD TUESDAY: HAPPY NEW YEAR



Hello everybody!!!!!!

I hope you had great holidays and wish you the best for the new year.

Let me tell you how we spent the New Year's Eve.

On December 31st, in the morning, the girls went to grandparents, aunts and uncles for the new year's carols.



I was cooking all day for the dinner.



We gathered at my home 13 people (my parents, my sister with her family, my brother in law and his wife and my family) at 10 pm.

We had dinner and at midnight we welcomed the new year with songs (like: paei o palios o hronos..), we cut the vasilopita (i'll tell you about that later), we drank champagne and we sat by the fire place for the dessert.


My girls and my sister's younger daughter performed a play for us:

"A mouse's New Year's Eve"

Director and narrator : Alexandra (my niece)

Santa Claus: Olga

Mouse : Alexandra

The sleeping baby: Antonia

You can't imagine how proud i'm of them.


At 2 am everybody went to sleep, except me.

I did the cleaning and prepared the gifts that Agios Vasilis brought to kids.

It's time to tell you about our Agios Vasilios (Greek Orthodox Church use for Santa) and Vasilopita.


Vasilios was born in 330 into the wealthy family of Vasilios (a famous rhetor) and Emelia in Caesarea in Cappadosia (now known as Turkey).

It was a large household, consisting of ten children, the parents, and Vasilios's grandmother, Macrina.

His parents were known for their piety and his maternal grandfather was a Christian martyr.

Four of Vasilios's brothers and sisters are known by name, and they are saints in Orthodox history.

His older sister Macrina was a well-known nun.

His older brother Peter served as bishop of Sebaste in Armenia, and wrote a few well-known theological treatises.

His brother Naucratius was an anchorite, and inspired much of Vasilios's theological work.

Perhaps the most influential of Vasilios's siblings was his younger brother Gregory.

Gregory was appointed by Vasilio to be the bishop of Nyssa, and he produced a number of writings defending Nicene theology and describing the life of early Christian monastics.

In Greek tradition, his name was given to Father Christmas and he is supposed to visit children and give presents every January 1 (Ag.Vasilios's Day) .
It is traditional on Ag.Vasilious's Day to serve "Vasilopita", a cake baked with a coin inside (flouri), in commemoration of Agios Vasilios's charity. Everyone takes a piece of Vasilopita and the one who wins the flouri, take a little gift and has good luck for the whole year.(My sister won the flouri of our Vasilopita this year.)
It is customary on his feast day to visit the homes of friends and relatives, to sing New Year's carols, and to set an extra place at the table for Agio Vasilio.
In Greek tradition and according to historical records, Agios Vasilios, of Greek heritage, is the original "Santa Claus", who being born into a wealthy family, gave away all his possessions to the poor and those in need, the underprivileged and children.
Agios Vasilios died on January 1st in 379, the day on which the Eastern Orthodox Church celebrates his feast day together with that of the Feast of the Circumcision.


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25 σχόλια:

Sylvia K είπε...

A lovely chance to share your holiday and your family! Beautiful photos!

Louise είπε...

Wow! You REALLY celebrate New Year's! We were asleep when it rolled around here.

EG CameraGirl είπε...

AH! So that's where the original Santa came from! Greece is a long way from the North Pole!

Thank you for telling us about your New Year's holiday. ;-)

SandyCarlson είπε...

Happy New Year to you, too!

Ανώνυμος είπε...

The holidays is a time for family to get together. There were 27 people at my place on New Year's day for lunch and every one is a family member. It was sooo much fun.

Ανώνυμος είπε...

That was interesting ! I did not know that.
and I can imagine your happiness about your daughters and it is just right!
Perhaps you and girls want to see, how my grandchildren spent last Sunday with us in -25 degrees Celsius
on the lake :)
You can see it from my post of Tuesday.

Happy new year, 2009 to all of you!

http://leejattas.aminus3.com

Tamara Jansen είπε...

I just LOVE it when the kids do little plays.....I hope you got it on video! I was just watching some old movies where my kids would act out different Fairy Tales. What a joy to watch!

Reader Wil είπε...

What a lovely tradition to celebrate 1st January as the day that gifts are given. Most people do that at Christmas and in Holland we do that on 5th December, St. Nicholas'Eve. Have a very happy 2009.

Jane Hards Photography είπε...

Fascinating post again. Always so much to learn here. I did know but not as in depth as you have covered. Excellent post

Müge Tekil είπε...

Wonderful celebration of the New Year in your house dear Antigoni! And thank you so much for the precious information about Agios Vasilios.

I would like to ask you a question: I saw in your blog that you celebrated Christmas on December 24th although you are Orthodoxes (I suppose). But our Greek compatriots in Turkey celebrate Christmas on January 6th. What is the reason of this difference?

Best regards from the other side of the Aegean Sea,

Müge

This Is My Blog - fishing guy είπε...

Antigoni: That looked like a wonderful table and the story told was precious. Thanks for sharing your world in Greece.

Ανώνυμος είπε...

How interesting - you must be very proud of your talented and resourceful children.

Thanks for sharing your world and teaching us about your celebration.

Baruch είπε...

Such lovely family pictures representing great traditions. I can recall a similar picture of our 3 children singing to "Ouma" (grandmother) when they were small.

MaR είπε...

Wonderful traditions and great pictures. Thanks for all the information!
Happy New Year!

Arija είπε...

interesting to read about your Greek Orthodox traditions, and so nice to see inside your home how you celebrate with your family.

Mojo είπε...

Dessert looks fabulous! I usually stick to a quiet New Year's Eve most years... But my boys are grown now so the excitement quotient isn't as high as it once was.

Janie είπε...

Learning about your Greek holiday traditions was great. I loved the holiday and family photos, too. Thanks for sharing!

2sweetnsaxy είπε...

Great post. I've never heard of the Greek's father Christmas so I'm glad you shared this with us.
:-)

Maria είπε...

Happy New Year, Antigoni, what a nice way to celebrate the New Year!
Hugs, Maria

dianasfaria.com είπε...

Your holiday table looks so inviting and appetizing. Everything looks perfect-a great way to bring in the new year.

Donna είπε...

What a lovely gathering! Happy day sweetie to you!hughugs

Carver είπε...

What a great post! I enjoyed your photographs, learning about your family traditions and also the historical information.

Ανώνυμος είπε...

Beautiful family and Christmas.
Beautiful that Vasilios painting.
Beautiful painting style.
Beautiful your World.

chrome3d είπε...

Thanks for sharing your holidays. Lovely stuff.

Ruth είπε...

Your posts are so interesting! What a wonderful family celebration for New Years and what a beautiful family you have.