Learn the traditional Serbian Orthodox Christmas greeting, its correct reply and several warm messages you can send to family and friends in Latin or Cyrillic script.
How to Congratulate Orthodox Christmas in Serbian?
Merry Christmas to everyone celebrating it today! Today and in the next seven days, until Serbian New Year, I want to give you a Christmas gift of a free online course!Christmas SMS for religious family and friends
In the Cyrillic Script via Duhoviti websiteЛепшег јутра од данашњег нема, ко је верник за Божић се спрема. Срце твоје љубав нека води, мир Божији и Христос се роди! Ту где се бадњак данас ложи, у том дому срећа нек се множи, нека срећна звезда кроз живот вас води Мир Божији и Христос се роди!
In the Latin Alphabet
Lepšeg jutra od današnjeg nema, ko je vernik za Božić se sprema. Srce tvoje ljubav neka vodi, mir Božiji i Hristos se rodi!
Tu gde se badnjak danas loži, u tom domu sreća nek se množi, neka srećna zvezda kroz život vas vodi Mir Božiji i Hristos se rodi!
Informal Christmas SMS
In the Cyrillic Script via OpuštenoДогорева Бадњак свети и полако ватром тиња, пуно здравља и среће желим теби и твојима. Христос се роди! Срећан Божић!
In the Latin Alphabet
Dogoreva Badnjak sveti i polako vatrom tinja, puno zdravlja i sreće želim tebi i tvojima. Hristos se rodi! Srećan Božić!
Formal Christmas SMS
Using these Christmas greetings the way Serbs actually use them
The central Christmas exchange is Mir Božji, Hristos se rodi! with the reply Vaistinu se rodi! You will also hear Srećan Božić! in everyday communication. Religious messages often mention peace, health, love, family and the home. When adapting a message, keep the register appropriate: a short greeting suits a friend, while a longer blessing may suit relatives or a formal card.
Serbian Christmas greetings are fixed exchanges, not free sentences, so learn them as pairs. Someone says Hristos se rodi! and you answer Vaistinu se rodi! — the reply is not optional and not improvised. Read each greeting aloud until the response comes automatically, because on 7 January you will hear these words within seconds of walking into a house.
Christmas greetings in Latin and Cyrillic
| Latin script | Cyrillic script | English |
|---|---|---|
| Mir Božji, Hristos se rodi! | Мир Божји, Христос се роди! | God’s peace, Christ is born! |
| Vaistinu se rodi! | Ваистину се роди! | Indeed He is born! |
| Srećan Božić tebi i tvojoj porodici! | Срећан Божић теби и твојој породици! | Merry Christmas to you and your family! |
| Želim vam mir, zdravlje i radost. | Желим вам мир, здравље и радост. | I wish you peace, health and joy. |
| Neka vam Božić donese ljubav i spokoj. | Нека вам Божић донесе љубав и спокој. | May Christmas bring you love and serenity. |
Church-related greetings are the place where you will most often meet Cyrillic, so the second column here matters more than usual. Božji, Srećan and Božić all carry diacritics that change the sound completely: c and ć are different letters, and a greeting card written Srecan Bozic looks careless to a Serbian reader.
Practising the greeting exchange
Practise this out loud with a partner if you can, one of you giving the greeting and the other answering, then swap. Alone, say both halves yourself with a small pause between them. Add the person's name or i tvojoj porodici at the end — that small addition is what makes the greeting sound personal rather than recited.
Write your own Christmas wishes
Translate these greetings into Serbian, first in Latin and then in Cyrillic. Then write one more wish of your own, addressed to a specific person you know.
- God’s peace, Christ is born!
- Indeed He is born!
- Merry Christmas to you and your family!
- I wish you peace, health and joy.
- May Christmas bring you love and serenity.
Answers
- Mir Božji, Hristos se rodi!
Мир Божји, Христос се роди! - Vaistinu se rodi!
Ваистину се роди! - Srećan Božić tebi i tvojoj porodici!
Срећан Божић теби и твојој породици! - Želim vam mir, zdravlje i radost.
Желим вам мир, здравље и радост. - Neka vam Božić donese ljubav i spokoj.
Нека вам Божић донесе љубав и спокој.