www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall Dr. Alex Roman on "Reviving Ukrainian Christmas Traditions"

Our Ukrainian Christmas special radio broadcast here in Montreal this year featured an interview with Dr. Roman (aka Alex aka Orthodox Catholic).

If folks are interested and if someone can host them, I would be pleased to provide mp3s.

Well I , for one , would love to hear it

Does he sing in the broadcast?

Dear Roman:

So, you are apprising us that our Big Guy, after successful stints in the print, TV, and cyber media, has invaded the air waves?

Thank goodness!

AmdG
(Are you sure you are NOT related to Dr. Alex Roman at all?)

and if he Did sing in the broadcast, did he sing "Nebo i Zemla"???

I was in the 'Old country' (Montreal) for 'Rizdvo' (Julian calendar Christmas) but did not hear the whole broadcast because of the children (they get excited 'cause it's Rizdvo). Please do send me a copy.

I love most of the traditions but here are a few failled Ukie Christmas traditions with our familly;

(1) My brother tried the 'Kutia' on the ceilling thing about 10 years ago. Tradition says if you throw it and it sticks to the ceilling you will have good luck all year. It stuck and so we left it there for about a month to show everyone. Big mistake 'cause it wouldn't come off! We eventually had to scrape it off and yes replaster and repaint the whole dinning area. :rolleyes:

(2) 'Straw on the floor' of the house to simulate the birthplace of Jesus. Our neighbors did it and it seemed so nice. Big mistake what a mess. The next year we told my nieces that Jesus was really born at the Hotel and our house looked like one so we didn't have to do anything.

Dear Friends,

All right, all right - there are some benefits to being canonically penanced from this forum.

One such benefit is that one has time to do other things . . .

And, no, I don't sing during that interview. I wouldn't subject my worst enemy to that .

Alex

Well Alex,

I guess we will wait till someone with the needed computer skills links us to this topic.

Don't look my way, I'm half Polish ! My Italian half is only interested in cooking & eating.

james

Well then that is good luck - a freshly renovated dining area!

Brat' Hritzko, I can tell you from experience that the yellowing kutia on the ceiling is an unsightly scene indeed. In our family I have a treaty with my sons that whoever's kutia stays the longest has to clean it up or touch up the paint. And since we live on a small farm we are cleaning up lots of straw from the inside as well...

In spite of having to clean it all up it still is fun flipping it up there...I think I am the biggest kid of all when it comes to Rizdvo, Malanka and Yordan.

I am waiting for the "Best of Dr. Roman" boxed CD set to come out... I would love to get an MP3 if someone has one.

Thanks for the positive response. The administrator has kindly offered to host the files and I'm just about done creating them.

Alex's interview was aired in 5 segments, interspersed with carols, etc. I've merged the first two segments into one file and the last three into another, so the entire interview will be made available as a two-parter. The interview is in English, but there was a short introduction in Ukrainian. The interviewer is the Rev. Dr. Ihor Kutash, Archpriest of St. Mary The Protectress Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Rev. Kutash is also President of the Montreal branch of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress.

Let's see if I can now figure out this ftp thingy...

The real story here is that the "textured" ceiling is probably a Ukrainian invention. :p :p

I hope he also includes some of the newer traditions (if that's not a contradiction of terms). One example would be:

'CALLING HOME'

Sixtyfive (65) years after having first experienced 20 months of living hell under the godless Soviets, then being deported during the darkest days of the war to NAZI Germany for forced labour, never expecting to see his familly again, my father can now pick up the phone and call Lviv (Ukraine) and wish his brothers and sisters; 'happy holidays'. This year while speaking to them the bells of a church in Lviv could be distinctly heard ringing in the background. That's a true blessing he never thought he would experience in his lifetime.

Hi Amado,

Given that we share some Galician clerical roots, I can't be sure. (The strength of these roots apparently manifests itself in 'Preferance' playing ability )
Galicia wasn't that big a place, after all.

Dear Amigo Amado,

FYI, the name "Roman" when used as a surname can relate to people who, in history, made pilgrimages to Rome.

This is why there are "Romans" all over Europe and many in Quebec and France.

Pilgrims could, in some cases, assume the name of the holy city they travelled to - at great cost and risk to themselves.

Those who made the pilgrimage to Jerusalem could add the prefix "Hatzi" to their Christian names.

The Greeks have surnames like "Hatzipaulou" or "Hatzipetrou" and this means that their ancestors were pilgrims of Jerusalem - an official title that is still bestowed on tourists to Jerusalem by the mayor by way of a document (which I also have ).

My ancestors were all pilgrims to Rome, beginning in the 14th century. My family has Ukrainian, Polish and Lithuanian branches and I've met distant relatives from Poland and Lithuania. Lithuania is where my paternal family comes from originally.

My great grandfather, Leo, had 25 children with two wives (he married again after his first wife died and both wives had the same first name "Magdalena").

When my grandfather, John, was born, he couldn't walk.

An uncle went to Rome and obtained some Holy Water from the church that marks the site of St Paul's martyrdom.

My great grandfather then put this water into a basin and went to church, before the entire town of Perehinsko, and solemnly vowed before God that if John could walk, he would have him become a priest.

He then dipped my grandfather, at age seven by now, into the water three times and put him on his feet.

John walked perfectly and started to jump into the air.

He became a priest (although he wanted to go into law) and served the Lord for seventy years, never having a problem walking long distances to get to church or to visit parishioners.

I never knew his actual birthday until his death since he celebrated his nameday, St John the Baptist, on July 7th (Old Calendar).

At my baptism, I was named for him as "John" and I celebrated St John the Baptist's Day together with him when he was still with us.

Hatzi-Alexander Roman