Christian traditions
Christian traditions span the globe, from Ethiopian Orthodox fasts and Filipino Simbang Gabi to Swedish Lucia, Mexican posadas, Easter in Greece and the harvest services of Britain.
Christian traditions span the globe, from Ethiopian Orthodox fasts and Filipino Simbang Gabi to Swedish Lucia, Mexican posadas, Easter in Greece and the harvest services of Britain. They centre on Christmas, Lent, Holy Week and Easter, Pentecost, saints' days and the sacraments of baptism, communion, marriage and burial. Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant and Pentecostal churches each have their customs, and local cultures have shaped them in distinct ways. Here they are described with respect for the believers who keep them, and for the variety of ways of keeping them.
The church year
The year begins with Advent and builds to Christmas, then Epiphany, Lent, Holy Week and Easter, followed by Pentecost and the long season of ordinary time. Saints' days mark local patrons, and many towns have a patronal feast with a procession and fair. Orthodox churches keep their own calendar, so Christmas falls on 7 January in several countries. Fasting seasons shape food, and feasts follow.
Around the world
Christians in different countries have made the faith their own: the dawn masses of the Philippines, the carols of Wales, the gospel choirs of the American South, the white-clad pilgrims of Lalibela, the Corpus Christi carpets of flowers in Spain, and the Nativity scenes of Naples. These customs combine faith with local food, music and craft, and are among the most visible traditions of the world.
Written by the EveryParampara desk with AI assistance. Background on Christian (faith). Customs differ from place to place and family to family. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.
🇪🇸 Barcelona, Spain and 4 moreCaganerEl Caganer
A defecating figurine placed in Catalan nativity scenes to bring good luck and fertilize the earth.Festival
🇧🇪 Binche, BelgiumGillesGille
Costumed carnival figures of Binche and surrounding Belgian townsFestival
🇨🇦 Canada and 2 moreMummering
A festive midwinter custom of disguised visits, music and playful guessing gamesFestival · Tea-time and snacking customs
🇳🇱 Amsterdam, Netherlands and 3 moreZwarte Piet
Saint Nicholas's companion in the Low Countries, who hands out sweets to childrenFolklore · Sweets given and shared
🇮🇪 Dublin, IrelandShamrockseamróg
A small three-leaved clover, worn in Ireland on St Patrick's Day as a national emblemFolklore
🇦🇹 Austria and 5 moreKrampus
Saint Nicholas's horned companion, who comes for misbehaving children on 5 DecemberFolklore
🇬🇧 United KingdomPlough Monday
England's old start of the farming year, kept with ploughs, straw bears and sword dancesSeasonal
🇨🇳 China and 5 moreAncestor worship
Honouring dead relatives with offerings and prayers, kept in many cultures worldwideSpiritual
🇬🇹 Santiago Atitlán, Guatemala and 3 moreMaximón
A folk saint of the Guatemalan highlands, asked for health, crops and protectionFolklore
🇩🇪 Germany and 2 moreSwabian-Alemannic FastnachtFastnacht
A late-winter carnival of masks and jesters kept before Lent in the Alemannic landsFestival
🇬🇷 Greece and 4 moreVasilopitaΒασιλόπιτα
A New Year bread or cake with a coin baked inside, shared out slice by sliceTable custom · Sweets given and shared
🇬🇧 Llangollen, United Kingdom and 5 moreEisteddfod
A Welsh festival of poetry and music competitions, featuring the chairing and crowning of winning bards.Festival
🇧🇾 BelarusBatlejkaБатле́йка
A two-level puppet booth from Belarus, playing Nativity and folk scenes at ChristmasPerformance
🇮🇪 Dublin, IrelandBarmbrackbairín breac
A sweet Irish fruit loaf with charms baked in, eaten at Halloween and on New Year's EveTable custom · Tea-time and snacking customs
🇱🇹 Lithuania and 5 moreNativity of John the Baptist
A Christian feast day on June 24 that marks the birth of John the Baptist and anticipates Christmas.Festival
🇪🇸 Spain and 4 moreDay of the Holy InnocentsDía de los Santos Inocentes
A 28 December day of pranks and fake news, kept in the Spanish-speaking worldFestival
🇧🇬 Bulgaria and 5 moreKoledariколядники
A Slavic winter caroling custom of visiting homes with songs, masks and blessingsFestival
🇫🇷 FranceLa soule
A rough medieval ball game from Normandy and Picardy played between parishes on religious holidays.Game
🇬🇷 Greece and 1 moreIncubationἐγκοίμησις
The sacred practice of sleeping in holy shrines to seek divine healing and dreamsSpiritual
🇪🇬 EgyptHermetic Qabalah
A Western esoteric tradition blending Kabbalah, astrology, tarot and classical mythSpiritual
🇦🇱 Gjirokastër, Albania and 5 moreDodola and Perperuna
A rainmaking ritual kept across Southeast Europe, where children dressed in greenery lead processions to call for summerSpiritual
🇷🇴 Bucharest, Romania and 2 moreCaloian
A Romanian rainmaking and fertility ritual centered on the creation, funeral, and rebirth of a clay effigy.Festival
🇵🇱 Poland and 3 morePodłaźniczka
A decorated evergreen branch hung over the Christmas Eve table in Poland and SlovakiaFestival
🇷🇸 Serbia and 3 moreLazariceлазарице
A spring procession of girls in flower wreaths, singing door to door before Palm SundaySpiritual
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreCorpse road
Historical paths used to carry the dead to parish burial grounds across Britain and Ireland.Rite of passage
🇸🇪 Sweden and 2 moreSaint Knut's DayTjugondag Knut
A Nordic holiday marking the twentieth and final day of Christmas each JanuarySeasonal · Sweets given and shared
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 2 moreScottish folk music
Traditional ballads, fiddle tunes and bagpipe melodies from Scotland and its diasporaPerformance
🇩🇪 Germany and 5 moreSaint Nicholas
Boots out on 6 December: sweets for good children, a switch for the restFestival · Sweets given and shared
🇮🇹 Benevento, ItalyWitches of Benevento
A southern Italian tradition of walnut-tree gatherings and protective folk charmsFolklore
🇩🇪 Weingarten, Germany and 1 moreBlutritt
An equestrian pilgrimage across southern Germany honoring a relic of the Holy BloodSpiritual
🇷🇸 Serbia and 2 moreZapisзапис
A consecrated village tree marked with a cross, venerated in Serbian folk traditionSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇸 IcelandChristmas in IcelandJól
A winter festival of mountain folklore, family feasts and thirteen mischievous visitorsFestival · Dinner
🇩🇪 GermanySeven Sleepers' DaySiebenschläfertag
A German feast day on June 27 where the weather predicts the next seven weeks of summer.Seasonal
🇬🇧 United KingdomJack o' Lent
An English Lenten custom of abusing and burning a straw figureSeasonal
🇷🇺 Russia and 5 moreRussian superstitions
Everyday omens, etiquette rules, and household rituals observed across RussiaFolklore
🇫🇷 France and 5 moreRespite SanctuarySanctuaire à répit
A historical Catholic custom of seeking brief revival to baptise stillborn infantsSpiritual
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Russian superstitions: Сергей Чеботарёв, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Caganer: Roeland P., CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Gilles: Marie-Claire, CC BY 3.0, source
- Mummering: https://www.flickr.com/photos/jerry_curtis/, CC0, source
- Seven Sleepers' Day: either an unknown master or „Frater Rufillus“, Public domain, source
- Krampus: Naturpuur, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Plough Monday: Rawpixel, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Ancestor worship: Lyn Gateley, CC BY 2.0, source
- Maximón: Sapfan (Jan Pesula), Public domain, source
- Swabian-Alemannic Fastnacht: Photo: Andreas Praefcke, CC BY 3.0, source
- Vasilopita: Μυρμηγκάκι, Public domain, source
- Eisteddfod: Llywelyn2000, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Batlejka: user:Хомелка, CC BY 3.0, source
- Barmbrack: Solo Beckett, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Day of the Holy Innocents: Attributed to Pieter Brueghel the Younger, Public domain, source
- Christmas in Iceland: Bryan Ledgard, CC BY 2.0, source
- Nativity of John the Baptist: Brakeet, CC0, source
- Koledari: Mikhail Germashev, Public domain, source
- La soule: Unknown author Unknown author illustrator (based on a sketch by M.J.L., Public domain, source
- Hermetic Qabalah: Jean-Louis Durant (1654-1718), Public domain, source
- Caloian: Costică Acsinte Archive, No restrictions, source
- Blutritt: Joseph Bayer, Public domain, source
- Witches of Benevento: Guglielmo della Porta, CC0, source
- Scottish folk music: Kim Traynor, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Lazarice: Svetlina bov at Bulgarian Wikipedia, Public domain, source
- Podłaźniczka: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Zapis: Zblagojevic, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Shamrock: Kenraiz, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Zwarte Piet: The illustrator is Daan Hoeksma, who died in 1935. The author is liste, Public domain, source
- Respite Sanctuary: Atelier Roussel à Beauvais 1878, Public domain, source
- Corpse road: Mick Garratt, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Saint Nicholas: Chmee2, CC BY 3.0, source