Saturday, 7 January 2012

Chrystos rodyvsya!


Today is Ukrainian (Orthodox) Christmas under the old Julian calendar. The traditional greeting on this day is Chrystos rodyvsya! *

My Rare One is in Manitoba right now celebrating the holiday with her Ukrainian aunties and cousins. There are so many of them that they have to rent the local community hall just to hold their feast and party. Have a perogy or ten for me, miy malenky tsybulyna! **

This painting of a traditional Ukrainian Christmas Eve was painted by the great Ukrainian-Canadian prairie artist, William Kurelek. When I was in Manitoba a couple of weeks ago, I went to the Winnipeg Art Gallery to see a major retrospective of his work entitled William Kurelek: The Messenger. The exhibition is also available for interactive viewing on the web -- if you're interested, click here.

* Christ is born!
** my little onion!

29 comments:

  1. Happy Ukrainian Christmas! Yesterday was also the Feast of the Epiphany or "Little Christmas." I remember my Grandmother used to talk about it. I don't think too many Christian religions celebrate it today.

    Thanks for stopping by the other day! I hope you enjoyed my Greek Mac & Cheese!

    Happy New Year!

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  2. happy christmas! we celebrated this when i was young and we got oranges and tangerines in our shoes. it never was quite as exciting as the real one though!

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  3. Great website...I'm still looking ... learning something new today!

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  4. And a perogy or ten for me, too :) Happy Ukrainian Christmas!

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  5. hey , you're missing out on a great party!!
    I think this is a wonderful celebration as well, lots going on here too, I love Ukranian food and we have quite a large population of Ukraine peoples here, I also love perogies, of course, I'm making them today as well,

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  6. yep, not just Ukrainian but Orthodox Christmas celebrated in Russia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Macedonia, most of the ex Soviet republics, Greece, Romania and even in Ethiopia, which is for some reason more than 50% Orthodox :)

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  7. Hmm, I think I might have some perogies in the freezer I may ave to dog out later today. Not nearly as yummy as the homemade ones so many will be eating today, but they'll do.

    Happy Ukrainian Christmas!

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  8. ~Chrystos rodyvsya! a blessed holiday to you both...maybe she will sneak some perogies home for you! a beautiful painting above...i look forward to looking throughthe link you gave...much love light and blessings~

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  9. I had never seen that particular painting by Kurelek. Very moving, not soul dark the way some of his depictions of the life of Christ are.

    Merry Ukranian christmas to you too!

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  10. This is a celebration I plan to add on my own schedule. Sounds great. Too late for this year since plans are made, but there is always next year.
    Mary

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  11. Beautiful art and here's to the Ukraines!

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  12. Many blessings to you and the rare one.

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  13. gotta love them pyrogies... n onions!

    merry christmas to all orthodox-types [russian, greek, ukranian, etc.]! :D

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  14. I made (with help) pirogi's once but loved them..might make that my next cooking class at old farts home.

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  15. That would be a fine feast. Those Babas know how to do it up right.

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  16. Perogies..the only time I've tried these was in Krakow in Poland. Delicious! "My little onion" - I love that!

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  17. love the painting.... happy Chrystos rodyvsya

    Thought of you when i saw this:
    http://www.etsy.com/listing/89694245/labyrinth-ring-walking-the-path-bronze?ref=af_circ_favitem

    happy new year to you and R.O. c

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  18. Well, Happy day to you and your Rare One, Debra! Wishing you a fabulous 2012, too!

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  19. Merry Chrystos rodyvsya! Thanks for the link; Kurelek's work is so multi-layered - it's quite impressive.

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  20. A very blessed Ukrainian Christmas to you and yours! :-) And the joy continues on.

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  21. Huh, my comment didn't go through. (Who knows what I did.) I'll try again!

    I learned something from this post, thank you!

    And! I'm terrible at languages so I'll never remember how to say it, but happy Ukranian Christmas back at ya!

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  22. Thanks for sharing! I love reading about cultural practices I never would have thought to look into before. Have a happy Ukranian Christmas. :-)

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  23. Hope your Rare One had a wonderful time with the family yesterday! I can relate to needing to rent a hall to hold everyone.

    Hope you treated yourself well too! Perhaps some cabbage rolls for you and HRH?

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  24. Thank you for this wonderful post!

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  25. I remember when my brother in law, a Ukrainian, made perogies for the first time back in early 60's! Well you can imagine our faces when he started to throw them against the wall to test for their stickiness!!! lol
    Got to love it!

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  26. Jim tells the truth...he's told me that story many many times!

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  27. Nice painting, I did not know about the Ukrainian Christmas

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  28. Happy Ukrainian Christmas and thanks for visiting and commenting on my blog...it's nice to meet you too :) I will endeavour to find a Polish deli (I believe there is one in Perth - 2 hours away) to buy some perogies to try, they look and sound divine!

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