Orthodox Christmas Eve, Turau 2007. Куцьця, Тураў 2007 год.
Turau was one of the most important sites in the early development and dissemination of Orthodox Christianity in the Slavic world.
Kuts’tsja is a Roman Catholic and Orthodox ceremony and meal with pre-Christian roots, traditionally celebrated Christmas Eve in Belarus and Ukraine — and paralleled in the Christmas-Eve vigils in Lithuania and Poland. The ceremony includes placing straw under the tablecloth to commemorate Christ’s birth in the manger; the meal includes a sweet porridge, also called kuts’tsja).
Granny Aljona was 86 and her husband was 82 when I took these photos in January 2007 in Turau. In the third photo she was joking that if he got ill she’d throw him over for a younger man. Бабулі Алёне было 86, а яе мужу 82, калі я зрабіў гэтыя здымкі ў Тураве ў студзені 2007 года. На трэцім здымку яна жартам кажа мужу, што калі ён будзе хварэць, яна яго памяняе “на маладзейшага дзеда”.
