EDITORIAL: Sharing our Christmas (01/04/98)

EDITORIAL

Sharing our Christmas

On January 7, many of us will celebrate Christmas according to the Julian calendar. And, since that is the date on which Christmas is observed in Ukraine, it is only natural that our thoughts turn to the land of our parents, grandparents, great-grandparents ...

Many of us, while sitting at the dinner table during "Sviat Vechir," as Christmas Eve is called in Ukrainian, will think of family, friends and colleagues in distant Ukraine. In our thoughts, and perhaps in our toasts, we will wish them a Merry Christmas and a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year.

During our "Sviata Vecheria" we feel a strong connection, by way of tradition, with our kith and kin in Ukraine. The same customs we observe here in the diaspora are observed in Ukraine. They have been passed down through the ages from generation to generation. They have survived wars and other cataclysms, migrations and deportations, exile and repression.

One Ukrainian youth organization active throughout the world has made that Christmas connection seem even more real with a very special ritual. On January 6, on Christmas Eve, members gather at the same hour that the first star appeared in the heavens above Ukraine, marking the start of the traditional 12-course meatless repast on Sviat Vechir. At what is called the "Svichechka," Plast members light candles, sing our beautiful Ukrainian Christmas carols and partake of the most important course of the special Christmas Eve dinner, the "kutia" - so rich in its symbolism and in its ties to the very essence of Ukraine.

In the early days of this custom of the Svichechka (literally: little candle), Plast members would solemnly recall that Christmas could not be celebrated openly in Soviet-dominated Ukraine. Later they cautiously rejoiced when the spiritual rebirth of Ukraine was beginning. Now they simply join with fellow Ukrainians in the joy of the newborn Christ Child, all the while realizing that others worldwide are doing the very same thing on Sviat Vechir.

During this Christmas season, let us Ukrainians around the world continue this remarkable connection with each other. No matter where we are, let us symbolically join hands and hearts as together we celebrate Christmas.

"Khrystos Rodyvsia - Slavim Yoho!"