A česnica (Serbian Cyrillic: чесница, ; derived from the noun čest, meaning "share"), also called Božićna pogača (Serbian Cyrillic: Божићна погача, "Christmas pogača") is the ceremonial, round loaf of bread that is an indispensable part of Christmas dinner in Serbian tradition. The preparation of this bread may be accompanied by various rules and rituals. A coin is often put into the dough during the kneading; other small objects may also be inserted. At the beginning of Christmas dinner, the česnica is rotated three times counterclockwise, before being broken among the family members. The person who finds the coin in his piece of the bread will supposedly be exceptionally lucky in the coming year. The česnica was used in folk belief for divining or influencing the amount of crops.
Preparation
The česnica is usually made with wheat flour and baked on Christmas Eve or early Christmas morning by the head of household or the woman of the house. The water for the dough is in some areas collected on Christmas Day before sunrise from a spring or a well, into which a handful of grain is thrown. It is called the strong water and is believed to be imbued with beneficial power. The preparation of the bread may be accompanied by various rules: the flour is taken only from a full sack; the water for the dough is collected from three springs; the person who will prepare the česnica must bathe before that; etc. In eastern and southern Serbia, after they kneaded the dough for the česnica, the head of household or the woman of the house take hold with dough-stained hands of the fruit trees, beehives, and cattle to make them more productive. Before baking, the upper surface of the loaf may be inscribed with various symbols,
In Vojvodina česnica is not a kind of bread, but a pastry made of layers of filo filled with roughly chopped nuts and raisins, similar to baklava, but drier and is usually made exclusively with added honey. A coin is placed at some point between the layers.
Christmas dinner
thumb|Members of a family break the česnica at a dinner during Christmas
thumb|Česnica in form of a walnut pie is more common in northern Serbia, Vojvodina since Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa's tax on cutting the bread česnica for annual slava and Christmas ceremonies
Christmas dinner is the most festive meal of the year. It begins about noon, or even earlier. The family members seated at the table stand up when the head of household gives a sign. The head makes the Sign of the Cross and lights a candle, before censing the gathered relatives and saying a prayer, after which they all kiss each other while saying, "Peace of God, Christ Is Born."
Up to three pieces of the loaf may be set aside: one for the absent relatives (if there are such), one for a stranger who might join the family at the dinner, and one for the polaznik, their first visitor on Christmas Day (if he is not present). The rest of the česnica is consumed during the dinner. The family member who finds the coin in his piece of the bread will supposedly be exceptionally lucky in the coming year. In Bukovica, several olive or bay laurel twigs are stuck around the candle. A similar practice was recorded in the 12th century among West Slavs on the island of Rugia in the Baltic Sea. Those Slavs were adherents of the cult of Svantovit, and had a big temple dedicated to that god at Cape Arkona. Saxo Grammaticus described, in the Book XIV of his Gesta Danorum, the festival of Svantovit which was held annually after harvest in front of that temple. In one of the rituals, a round loaf of bread covered with honey, with the diameter equal to a man's height, was held vertically in front of the statue of Svantovit. The priest of the temple went behind the loaf, before asking the gathered people whether they saw him. After they responded that they did, the priest expressed the wish that next year they would not see him. The aim of the ritual was to ensure a rich harvest of grain in the following year.
See also
- Barmbrack – similar tradition from Ireland
Notes
Christmas does not fall on the same day for the Serbs as for the Western Christians, although they celebrate it on the same date—25 December. This is because the Serbian Orthodox Church uses the Julian calendar rather than the Gregorian used in the West. Since 1900, the Julian calendar is 13 days behind the Gregorian calendar, and this difference will remain until 2100. During this period, 25 December in the Julian calendar—Christmas for the Serbs—corresponds to 7 January of the following year in the Gregorian calendar.<br />