Many Sides of Amy: Merry Christmas Micah!

Merry Christmas Micah!

Today is Ukrainian Christmas. I'm all about hanging on to a little bit of my son's cultural heritage... even though, lets face it, Micah's probably never gonna care much (or at least for a LONG LONG time). :) When Micah came home I thought it would be fun to always save one Christmas present for him to open on January 7th. Well, this year I thought I would let it slide (bad adoptive momma, I know). But as it worked out, one of the things Micah got for Christmas was a trampoline- one of the mini ones with a handle bar to hold on to. Its supposed to be great for kids with low tone to work on balance and coordination and... ok, I won't go into all that right now. Well, in the chaos of Christmas and kids and toys and two sick parents... it never got put together. So its still sitting in a big box. And today is Jake's day off and I'm going to have him do it today! So how cool is it that it just happened to work out that Micah will get his Ukrainian Christmas Day present after all. :) A little wink from the Lord for Micah.

And no we aren't having any Ukrainian cuisine for dinner. I was pregnant when I was in Ukraine and I think it put a bad taste in my mouth for Ukrainian food (mostly fried, covered in dill... ugh nevermind) and I'm pregnant now sooo... yeah, not tonight. :) Maybe for his birthday? :)

Anyway, in honor of my little Ukrainian man, here is some interesting info that I pulled from Wikipedia. ;) Pretty interesting stuff!

Sviata Vecheria or "Holy Supper" is the central tradition of the Christmas Eve celebrations in Ukrainian homes and takes place in most parts of the country on 6 January. In Western Ukraine, especially in Carpathian Ruthenia, due to historical multi-culturism, Christmas can be observed twice—on 25 December and 7 January, often irrespectively whether the family belongs to Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, (Roman) Catholic Church, one of the Ukrainian Orthodox Churches or one of the Protestant denominations.

The dinner table sometimes has a few wisps of hay on the embroidered table cloth as a reminder of the manger in Bethlehem.

When the children see the first star in the eastern evening sky, which symbolizes the trek of the Three Wise Men, the Sviata Vechera may begin. In farming communities the head of the household now brings in a sheaf of wheat called the didukh which represents the importance of the ancient and rich wheat crops of Ukraine, the staff of life through the centuries. Didukh means literally "grandfather spirit" so it symbolizes the family's ancestors. In city homes a few stalks of golden wheat in a vase are often used to decorate the table.
A prayer is said and the father says the traditional Christmas greeting, "Chrystos rodyvsya!" which is translated to "Christ is born!", which is answered by the family with "Slavite Yoho!" which means "Let Us Glorify Him!". In some families the Old Slavic form "Сhrystos rozhdayetsya!" is used.

At the end of the Sviata Vechera the family often sings Ukrainian Christmas Carols. In many communities the old Ukrainian tradition of caroling is carried on by groups of young people and members of organizations and churches calling at homes and collecting donations.

Traditionally, Christmas Day opens for Ukrainian families with attendance at Church. Ukrainian Churches offer services starting before midnight on Christmas Eve and on Christmas morning. Christmas supper, without Lenten restrictions, does not have as many traditions connected with it as Sviata Vechera. The old tradition in Ukraine of giving gifts to children on St. Nicholas Day, December 19, has generally been replaced by the Christmas date.

In Ukraine, at Christmas Eve when everyone is at the table, Angels bring presents which they leave near the Christmas tree.

С Рождеством Христовым Micah!!

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