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'S WJA ТА VECHER YA " One of the most beautiful holy- days in our calendar year is Christ mas. It is celebrated solemnly and joyfully. It is a holyday filled with traditions and customs — Christian and those dating back into anti quity. Our ancient forefathers were farmers mostly, due to the rich soil of our land. Their religion, pagan at the time, concerned itself with fertility of the land, the seasons of the year, the weather. Their religious observances and customs were strictly tied to the land and its ability to provide a livelyhood for them. With the coming of Christianity in 988 A.D. a new set of values for the spiritual life was introduced, but the land still remained the basic provid er for the people, hence the old cus toms and traditions continued to be observed to some degree. With the passage of time, many of these an cient observances were lost, yet many remained to this day as part of our Christian observances. In Christmas the new and old customs blend to create unique, colorful and symbolic rituals. The Ukrainian Christmas festivities begin on Christmas Eve. When the first star appears, the family sits down to a Holy Supper ( Swjata Vecherya). The table is strewn with hay — comemmorating Christs birth in a manger. It is cover ed with two table cloths — one for the living members of the family, one for the dead. It is believed that during Christmas Eve the spirits come into the world to visit with their living families. An extra place is set for them at the table. There is a "kolach" (Christmas bread) placed in the center of the table, made up of three braided rings, symbolizing the Holy Trinity, while the rings refer to Eternity. 12 meatless foods are served at the Supper. The old customs refers to the number 12 as symbolizing the twelve months of the year. The new belief dedicated each food to one of Christ's Apostle's. The Church pre scribes the days before Christmas Day as fasting days. In ancient fest ivities to the god of fertility the foods dedicated to him were meatless — a bloodless offering, consisting only of what grew from the soil. "Swjata Vecherya" begins with the most important food — "kutja". Kutja is a blend of boiled wheat mix ed with poppy seeds and honey. METHOD. Boil 11b. shelled wheat in 3 qts. water. Simmer 2Уг to 3 hours. Cool. Before serving discard starch skin and pour on 1 cup boiling water. Stir and separate kernels. Add 1 cup honey and 1 cup ground poppy seeds. (Nuts — chopped) may be added. Cool to serve. There are various interesting rituals involved with "kutja" as there are regions of Ukraine. The eating of "kutja" also involved various chants in Thanksgiving to the god of fertile harvest and incantations for a future bountiful year. In some regions of our country, cups of "kutja" were left on graves, as feast for the spir its. In others, "kutja" was thrown up at the ceiling by the head of the household to symbolize a wish for a bountiful harvest and fertility among his livestock. 72 BRANCH UNWLA Branch 72 of the U.N.W.L.A. is happy to announce that their Bicentennial Dinner-Dance w eekend held at Soy- uzivka, Kerhonkson, New York, on S ep t ember 27th and 28th w as a huge su c c e ss. After a week of torrential rain on the tail of hurricane Gladys, the w eek end turned into two lovely fall days with a beautiful foliage display. G uests were particularly festive during the cocktail hour and dinner dance immediately after. Mary LeSawyer, the gracious Chairlady of the dinner dance and the hard working dance com m ittee can be proud of this su ccessfu l, sell-out event. In addition to the popular raffle that has occurred each year, this year's Co- Chairwomen, Ann Bezko and Stella Klawsnik, planned a special raffle in honor of the men in attendance which was purchased by the ladies for their favorite men. This added greatly to the humor and festivities of the occasion . To carry on the Bicentennial them e, another high spot of the evening was Susan Nazarewicz' reading of Mr. Joseph Lesawyer's remarks entitled "Carry on the Traditions of the Flag," which were delivered by Mr. Lesawyer, Supreme President of the Ukrainian National A ss ociation, at the 89th Annual Meeting of the National Fraternal C on gress of America held in Cincinnati, Ohio on Sunday, Septem ber 21st, to W ednesday, Septem ber 24th, 1975. Q ueen Elizabeth II continued Harold II left his widow and five children to a fate of exile. The youngest daughter, Princess Gytha found re fuge with her uncle, Danish King Swain II. He, in order to befriend the mighty kinddom of Russ-Ukraine, arranged to have the Princess marry Kiev ruler Wolodymyr Monomach. Their union brought together two royal blood lines — the royal house of England and that of Russ-Ukraine. Wolodymyr Monomach and his Queen had eight sons and three daughters. Their eldest, Mstyslav (1076- 1132) married a Swedish Princess, succeeded his father as a ruler of Russ-Ukraine. Their children, and there were eleven of them, intermarried with other royal houses of Europe. (from an article by Stephan Gela — in this month's Our Life) 24 НАШЕ ЖИТТЯ, ЛИСТОПАД 1975 Видання C оюзу Українок A мерики - перевидано в електронному форматі в 2012 році . A рхів C У A - Ню Йорк , Н . Й . C Ш A.
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