The run-up to Christmas in Vlkolínec was always filled with eager anticipation for the festive days to come.
During Advent, no celebrations or weddings took place. Women and children, in particular, attended the early-morning Advent services each day.
In the early 20th century, Vlkolínec embraced the tradition of giving gifts to children on St Nicholas Day (6 December). On the evening before, children carefully cleaned their shoes and placed them by the window before going to bed. In the morning, much to their delight, they would find sweets and nuts inside. Life then was simpler, and people took joy in even the smallest of pleasures.
A special custom was connected to 13 December, the feast day of St Lucy. On this day, young men and women each cut thirteen paper slips. The girls wrote boys’ names on their slips, while the boys wrote girls’ names on theirs. These slips were placed together in an envelope. That very evening, each drew one slip from the envelope, looked at the name, and then burned it. Every evening thereafter, they repeated the ritual, drawing and burning one slip each time. According to superstition, the final slip revealed the name of the boy a girl would marry, and for the boys, the girl they would wed.
Another custom linked to St Lucy was the “driving-out of witches”. At dusk, children and young people would hang cowbells around their necks, then run through the village, shouting and jingling, to chase away any witches lurking in Vlkolínec.
