"Carols" were baked on Vasiliev's Eve, addressed to the owners of the house, as well as separately to the housewife and her daughter, or the father of the family and his son, etc. The most ancient, pagan carol songs are connected with the theme of the magical growth of nature and living things, the later ones also absorbed religious themes:
Christmas, Christmas!
And there is Christmas
Christmas Eve,
Christmas has come
Christmas brought!
Currently, winter in Ukraine is primarily associated with carols, which are sung on the holiday of Christmas (January 6-8 according to the new style). But carols were once pagan songs, against which the Orthodox Church initially waged an unsuccessful struggle and banned them. However, Kolyada rites proved to be very stable in Ukraine, marked in many ways by the features of pagan beliefs, reminiscent of both honoring the newborn sun and the cult of ancestors.
Subsequently, with the introduction of the Christian religion as a state religion in Russia (the so-called "baptism of Russia"), the rite of caroling was adapted to the celebration of Christmas. Priests and monks created new religious carols with biblical images, which also gained great popularity among the people. Prominent composers undertook the processing and restoration of carols: Mykola Lysenko, Stanislav Lyudkevich, and others. In carols, according to tradition, all members of the family were honored: the master, the mistress, the boyfriend, the girlfriend. The caroling was combined with a corresponding theatrical performance, dances, and music. They caroled in groups, having previously distributed responsibilities: chieftain "birch", "star", "mihonosha" and "ryajeni".
Metropolitan Vasyl Lypkivskyi described Christmas carols as follows in his Christmas sermon "The Meaning of Christmas Carols":
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