Ukraine christmas i

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Christmas Eve is known as Sviata Vechera in the Ukraine, and the following is a description of their celebration. It is from the cookbook "Festive Ukrainian Cooking" by Marta Pisetska Farley.

The traditional year for the Ukrainians started with the great period of abstinence called Pylypivka (Advent). By fasting on certain days and restraining from dancing, Ukrainians prepared themselves for Christmas and its celebration. Until quite recently, Ukrainians celebrated the Christmas season from Christmas Eve (January 6, O.S) to the Feast of Jordan (January 19, O.S.). The Birth Of Christ (Rizdvo Klustove) started the church calendar for Uniate and Orthodox Christians alike. As with many great feasts, the eve (navecherie) preceding the day marked the beginning of the celebration. Christmas Eve ended with Holy Supper (Sviata Vechera).

However there was much preparation beforehand. Before partaking of the Christmas Eve meal, the family fasted all day. The house was put to order, but no outside work was done. All members wore festive clothing. This was a holy day. The tone of the supper was that of "festive dignity". The meal officially began with the sighting of the first star, a task assigned to the children. The male head of the household (hospodar) took a bowl of Kutia (flummery) and invited the souls of all the departed family members to partake of the meal. He invited the forces of nature to share in the meal and to protect the family from natural calamities in the coming year. Specific rituals and spells to placate nature's fury differed regionally. One important ritual that prevailed in many households was the communal sharing of bread and honey. The Hospodar took a plate with small pieces of kolach and a dish containing honey and salt, and dipping each piece of bread lightly into the honey, approached each member of the household, starting with the eldest. "Chrystos razhdayet'sia" ("Christ is born"); he was answered "Slavite Yeho" ("Let us glorify Him"), The female head of the household (hospodynia) repeated the greeting. After that the supper began, dish following dish, ending with kutia or uzvar, depending on which one began the celebration.

Each family in each locality developed its own adaptation of this meal, so that there were many variations on a basic theme. After the meal, the hospodar visited the barn animals and added kutia to their food. This custom reflected the strong belief that the dish had magical properties far greater than the sum of the ingredients would suggest. The animals were believed to be endowed with speech on Christmas Eve, as a gift from God for their service to the Christ Child on the night of His birth. Other ritual activities were important to varying degrees in different regions. The menu for Sviata Vechera varied from province to province in execution and in order of presentation. The number of dishes ranged from twelve (most common) to nine or seven. Each number had magical associations. The table was set with specific items. The table was strewn with hay, symbol of fertility and abundant harvest, then covered with a cloth. A large kolach flanked by candles, was placed in the center of the table. A dish of salt and a dish of honey were put at the host's place. On a sideboard, a lit candle with a dish of kutia commemorated the family's dead. An extra place for the unexpected guest remained set until the end of the meal. A sheaf of wheat, symbol of abundance and nature itself, graced a corner of the room.

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