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

Here are the links to the mp3s. I imagine you'll have to right-click, then "save target (or file) as"...

First part (7662KB)

Second part (12489KB)

Thanks again to the Administrator for the cooperation!

Dear Roman,

Thank you and thanks to the esteemed Administrator for going out of your way on this!

If anyone listens to this, let me know what you think of me, er, what I said . . .

Alex

How you hear the audio depends on how your computer is configured.

If you are using Internet Explorer and the Windows version of an MP3 player you should be able to stream the audio direct from the server simply by clicking the links.

If you are using Netscape and Winamp it will download to your hard disk and then play.

Other MP3 readers will behave differently.

At this site, I'm very much more an accumulator of knowledge rather than a distributor, so it was nice to get a chance to contribute using the know how I do have. I imagine there will be more than a few that will be glad to be able to put a voice to all of the posts!

Alex, in case you don't know, there was a decent amount of pre-publicity concerning your appearance: it was announced on preceeding shows and I saw 8.5" X 5.5" handbills at church and at a Ukie old folks home advertising the show with your appearance.

Dear Administrator,

What did you think of the interview?

Alex

Dear Roman,

It is my privilege to work with Fr. Kutash on religious outreach and he is a wonderful, active priest.

The Ukrainian community of Montreal and Quebec is indeed lucky to have such an apostolic man in their midst!

Alex

Is that broadcast in Ukrainian? It's all Greek to me!

Oh! The second one is in English!

Alex,

I just now had the opportunity to really listen to the interview (yesterday I only had time to verify that the links were working).

I thought the interview was excellent. You came across as a professional who is knowledgeable in his subject, enjoys discussing it, and as a person who has the communication skills to discuss it.

Admin

PS: Roman did an excellent job creating the MP3 files. Except for the first part of the first file which seems garbled and unintelligible. Or maybe it is in some unknown foreign language? :p

Dear Alex,

My surname, Romero (Spanish), also means "pilgrim", "pilgrim to Rome", or "pilgrim to Rome or to the Holy Land" depending on which source I consult.

I knew there was something I liked about you!

Peace in Christ,

Paul

Dear Paul,

Perhaps I should call you "Oscar?"

Alex

Dear Administrator,

Coming from you - that truly is a compliment! Thank you.

As for the garbled part, I was trying my hand at that language they use in Kiev . . .

As for enjoying it all - yes, for me, it's better than chocolate and you-know-what

Alex

I am wondering if I need to have anything like a disk or do I just 'click and listen' ? (I am still kind of computer-illiterate in some ways and don't want to break anything as I need this laptop for work, you know). I can use Internet explorer and I think it's Windows of some sort on the player.
Communion of Saints

If you're on a modem, it's probably better to right click and "save target as" for the download; after the file is downloaded and saved you can open it in winamp or windows media player ...

Christos Razdajetsja!

Dear Alex!

It was so good to finally hear your voice and to listen to your interview!

Do you have to 'save' it if all you want to do is just listen to it, like you would listen to a radio program that's on the air in real time?
Thanks
CS

(Sorry, djs, told you I was sort of computer illiterate ... ) But yes, it is a modem. I do know THAT much.
CS

Should go, per Admin's suggestion. I was just guessing that the streaming was too slow.

Have to admit that the first time I tried I was also using a lappy - and I hate it's trackpad The result was that in true Mac habit fashion, I double clicked on the link - and BINGO - I was listening to Alex in Ukrainian !! - then it did go to English to my relief. However saving it with only having 1 button for the trackpad is very annoying so I went and got my teeny Mouse [ nice wee 2 button trackwheel job ] and plugged it in , and right clicked and there it was - sitting on my desktop quicker than I could blink, soooo the second one joined it and now I can listen and concentrate in peace, in my own time.

Nice one Alex - thanks for the information

He is very talented indeed. Did you know that he is also a music (record) producer in Quebec ? (Celine Dion gotta have him )

Dear Hritzko,

It is a privilege for me to work with Father!

Did you know he is a relative of our UGC bishop Stephen?

Alex

Dear Anhelyna,

You should have seen my reaction the first time I heard the spoken Gaelic . . .

Alex

Dear Brian,

Perhaps we'll meet face to face one day!

God bless!

Alex

Alex,


I'm just going to have to consider you a cousin or something - MY great, great grandfather Yehuda Labe Balter (originally named Balterinsky - ethnically Polish) also hailed from Lithuania, siring twelve children upon two wives. Each of the children eventually came to America, some with children of their own. My grandmother Bertha, came as a four year old when her father, Moshe Aaron Balter packed up the family and climbed on the boat during the heyday of Eastern European immigration. My grandmother once wrote to a distant cousin of mine that they had the Cossacks to thank for their survival - the Cossacks made it so inconvenient to be a Jew in Lithuania, that one by one they left - years before Hitler came.

The shtetl she was born in was Eishashok (various spellings) about 37 miles SW of Vilnius. Jews had lived there for over 900 years before the Nazis obliterated it. There's a haunting display of photos of ordinary life there in the Holocaust Museaum - a photographer moved into town in the early part of the 20th Century - extra haunting to me because some of those faces look SOOOOO much like family. There are also some very difficult to read tales from there in a shattering book called "Hasidic Tales of the Holocaust" by Yaffa Eliach.


But anyway, if you aren't a distant cousin, you ought to be.


I can't listen to the interview, but I can imagine....


Best,

Sharon

Dear Sharon,

Yes, I see that our ancestors were productive indeed . . .

It's what happens when one has a firm resolve and really puts more than one's mind to such a project!

When my dad went with his dad into the Carpathians to visit with the family, a bunch of kids came out and surrounded their horse-drawn wagon.

My dad said, "Is school out so soon?"

To which his dad replied, "Be quiet . . . these are all your brothers and sisters . . ."

A spooky thing happened to me in church some years back when a man I never met came up to me and said, "I knew your uncle and I know who killed him and why . . ."

I've still not been able to find out much about this relative, but do know that his death was considered suspicious . . .

Yuck . . .

Alex

Alex and Sharon,

It would be cool to find out there is a relation there, wouldn't it?

My husband of 100% Irish descent has an uncle by marriage who is a Ukrainian Catholic in Alberta. When my husband heard Alex mention growing up with someone named Mitro, he was ecstatic - thinking it might be his uncle. That is, until I explained that Alberta and Toronto are not exactly the same neighborhood, and that his uncle Mitro is quite a bit older than Alex!

Personally, I'm an all-American Heinz-57 mutt. But they tell me that among my ancestors are a French-Canadian missionary to the Sioux Indians, and the Sioux woman he married... I assume they were Catholic, and that God's blessing to the thousandth generation of those that love Him is the reason He brought me into the Catholic church!

Tammy

Tammy,

My ancestry is just about all Eastern European, with a bit of German - and 100% Jewish.

My Dearly Beloved is German (Prussian!) on one side, and Scots-Irish on t'other. The Scots-Irish came over about the time of the American Revolution as pirates and horsethieves. (We are rather fond of that...) In any case - the Prussians on the other side of the family...

We solemnly affirm (with a perfectly straight face) that since his ancestors oppressed my ancestors, we had to get married.

That's our story & we're stickin' to it.

Cheers,

Sharon

Hi Sharon!

You wrote:"...The shtetl she was born in was Eishashok..."

Have you seen the PBS program THERE ONCE WAS A VILLAGE?? The grandaughter of the photographer of the village takes back a group of Survivors and their children and those who have roots in the shtetl. It's a WONDERFUL look at life as it was before the SHOAH and what it is like today.

Did you know that some famous people, at least here in America are from this shtetl? The actors Ed Asner and Lauren Bacall both trace their roots to this shtetl. AMOF, Ed Asner's cousin has a major part in this PBS program. It seems that his family hid the village TORAH during the last days of the shtetl and of his search for the home where he hid the TORAH.

They often repeat the program here during the month of May.

mark

CHRISTOS RAZDAJETSJA!

PAN DOKTOR ALEX, please email me off-list please, I need your help....

thanks!

mark

Dear Medved,

You can e-mail me at: alex@unicorne.org

If the Administrator has some time, perhaps he could restore my PM privileges here . . . if I have his permission . . .

Alex