Special to the Journal/Janice Kiaski The Rev. Rade Merick of Holy Resurrection Serbian Orthodox Church in Steubenville stands near the icon of the feast day.

STEUBENVILLE — Christmas is the celebration of the greatest of all mysteries, and that, says the Rev. Rade Merick of Holy Resurrection Serbian Orthodox Church, is what the Serbian Orthodox community will embrace today and Saturday in their parish and their households.

“God becomes one of us. He puts on our human nature. We were lost. We could not get back to him, so he comes to get to us, and he takes us by the hand, and he leads us back, shows us the way,” Merick explained Wednesday in the midst of preparing for special services at the church located at 528 N. Fourth St.

“And that’s really what Christmas, and the miracle of Christmas is all about. Too often I think in our society, when we lose faith, we substitute other things,” he said. “We substitute the shopping, we substitute Santa Claus, we substitute so many secular things for what the real purpose and  meaning of this feast day is, and it should be a feast day, a celebration, because it’s the sign of God’s great love for us that he does this. He becomes one of us, he empties himself, as St. Paul says, and takes on the form of servant so that he can take us, who are servants of God and make us children of God.

“That’s the great mystery and the great wonder, and it’s important that we always keep our focus on that as Christians,” Merick said.

Holy Resurrection honors the old Julian calendar, which was in use at the time of the birth of Christ and is 13 days behind the Gregorian civil calendar.

That means today is Christmas Eve, known as Badnji Dan. Parishioners will gather outside in the front of the church for the burning of the badnjak, or yule log, and for the nativity vigil. The burning of the log, which begins at 8 p.m., symbolizes the warmth and light of Jesus.

“We start our celebration this evening with the burning of our yule log,” he said. “We’ll have the Christmas vigil service right after that, which is our preparation service and the beginning of the celebration of Christmas, and follow that with a little fellowship downstairs. On Saturday, which is Christmas Day for us — it’s Dec. 25 on the Julian calendar which is Jan. 7 on the Gregorian calendar — I will have divine liturgy at 10 in the morning.”

Merick explained the icon of the feast day is always placed in the center of the church at Christmas.

“We call icons windows into heaven, and an icon shows us in a pictorial form what the whole meaning of the feast is,” he said.

“The icon has the Virgin Mary and the Christ child lying in the cave, because this is what it originally was,” Merick noted. “It wasn’t a building structure, it was a cave that was being used for the caring of the animals. You see the animals, the star, the angels, the shepherds and the wise men coming. Basically, when you see an icon, it is an explanation of the whole theological meaning.

“Down here you have Joseph listening to this old guy, and the old guy is Satan, and Satan is tempting Joseph to disbelieve in the virgin birth, and so Joseph is kind of thinking about all this, and over here, we have a couple of girls that are bathing the newborn Christ, which is supposed to show us that he really does take on flesh, he really is a human being,” he said.

The Christmas season brings much symbolism, including candles representing the light of Christ; wheat planted on St. Nicholas Day that serves as a centerpiece and reminder that Christ brings life to the world; cesnica, or Christmas bread baked with a coin inside it, its recipient destined for good luck in the new year; and straw around the icon, on the church floor and in the homes of parishioners, typically under the table on Christmas Eve, is a reminder of the humility of Christ.

Traditional hot drinks are served following the services and Christmas fare includes roast pig as the main course. Gifts, however, are given on the three Sundays leading up to Christmas instead of exchanged on Christmas day itself.

Celebrating his 30th Christmas at the Steubenville church, Merick finds it occasion for retrospect.

“I’ve seen so many people come through here — many weddings, baptisms, and, of course, many, many deaths. The parish becomes your family, and the people in the parish you share their good times with them, you share their difficult times with them, and we all are trying to work our lives through in the light of Christ and constantly going to him for inspiration, for support and for enlightenment so we can come to understand what we are really all about,” Merick said.

jkiaski@heraldstaronline.com