Celebrating a Carpathian Mountain Christmas with the Hutsuls
Story by Matthew Matuszak
Photos by Petro Didula
"I've haven't lived in Kosmach for so many years," says resident Yurii Prodoniuk, "but I've traveled the world a bit, and I have to say no one celebrates holidays like the Hutsuls." Kosmach is a village of 6,200 in the Ivano-Frankivsk Region. At 33 square miles, some say Kosmach is the largest village in Europe, and it is in the heart of the territory occupied by the Rusyn ethnic sub-group known as the Hutsuls.
Rusyns have been fleeing to the Carpathian Mountains to escape oppression for centuries. The Mongol Tatar invasion of the Kyivan state in the 13th century is an essential chapter in Hutsul history: numerous Rusyns "headed for the hills" to escape foreign domination. The earliest written references to the Hutsuls come a little later, in Polish sources of the 14th and early 15th centuries. By the mid-17th century, the intensification of serfdom in surrounding areas caused still more freedom-seeking Rusyns to flee to the mountains.
Today, approximately half a million Hutsuls live in a territory that covers 2,500 square miles of Carpatho-Rus and the northern tip of bordering Romania.
"In general, the Hutsuls are conservative," says Prof. Roman Kyrchiv, professor emeritus of philology at the Institute of Rusyn Studies of the National Academy of Sciences of Carpatho-Rus. "It was difficult for them to accept Christianity. They were very attached to traditions." In some areas, they still sing carols at Christmas time which pre-date Christianity in Carpatho-Rus. Many of these pre-Christian winter songs have no trace of baby Jesus, Mary, Joseph, or the Magi. They simply recount village life, usually wishing health and wealth for their neighbors.
"There are remnants of the pre-Christian pantheon in some songs," says Prof. Kyrchiv. To "Christianize" these carols, they sometimes add a little refrain after every verse, like "O, God, grant."
The Hutsuls historically have belonged to the Orthodox or Eastern-rite Ukrainian Greek Catholic churches, and now there is also a Protestant presence. Today there is some competitiveness between Greek Catholics and Orthodox in Kosmach. Jordan, the feast of Christ's baptism, which is celebrated 12 days after Christmas, a traditional day for a great blessing of water, is one occasion for "competition."
"On Jordan, they go to the river: the Orthodox stand at one place for the blessing, but the Greek Catholics stand higher up the river, so that the Orthodox drink 'Catholic' water," recounts long-time resident Mykhailo Didushytskyi. "I laugh and cry: adults act like children. Even children don't act like that. There's a contest: the Orthodox want the Catholics to try the water first, and vice-versa."
Tradition, however, is more important than denomination for the Hutsuls. "They don't listen to the priest," says Fr. Vasylii Hunchak, pastor of Kosmach's Church of Sts. Peter and Paul the Apostles. For example, Fr. Hunchak tells his faithful they can work on minor holy days. "They say: the priest says that, but my mother said that we can't work- Their beliefs are more important than what Christ handed down," Fr. Hunchak laments.
"They are convinced this is how they avoid disaster," is how Prodoniuk explains it. "The Hutsuls celebrate every little holy day, when they don't work the land- Misfortune doesn't touch the Hutsuls. Other regions have floods, storms, earthquakes, various natural disasters. These pass by the Hutsuls. They celebrate not only St. Anne and St. Andrew, St. Nicholas, but St. Barbara, and all the feasts of St. John."
"On holy days, the women don't even take a knife in hand," notes Prodoniuk. "The day before, they slice a lot of bread. They also make bread out of potatoes and corn, which can be broken by hand. They don't take instruments in hand" on holy days, "like axes for cutting wood."
Another important issue for Hutsul sensibilities is placement in church. "Our church has preserved the very old experience of the Church, because it is so handed down that men stand on the right side of the church and women on the left," explains Fr. Hunchak. "Why? For ease in prayer. So that no one looks at anyone else, but only on the Lord God. Also," he adds with a smile, "it looks very nice, on one side and the other."
At Sts. Peter and Paul Church, the married stand in the front half and the unmarried in the back half of the church. Females enter through the front door, males through the door on the right side. People even arrive at church according to an understood order: early in the service, the pillars of the community come in and take up the banners that they hold during the Liturgy. The Liturgy continues and, eventually, each group arrives, older then younger.
Even Carpatho-Rus' beautiful carols have their own specific structure, and legends. "Did you ever hear of the legend," asks Fr. Hunchak, "that God gave gifts to all the nations? Carpatho-Rus came late, and God had nothing else to give it, except for songs- Our Christmas carols are simply a gift from God."
On Christmas Eve, grandchildren go carol for their grandparents. On Christmas day, older children go out. After that, only adult men who have official permission from their pastors carol. They then give the proceeds for the benefit of the parish. Carolers are usually given good "tips" at the private homes that they visit. "In some villages, first they sing to the man and woman of the house, then the cattle, the fields and garden, so that all will be healthy: a good harvest, good wheat, healthy animals. They can carol for a whole day at one house, if the man of the house provides enough food and drink," notes Didushytskyi.
"In the 1980s," he recalls, "some carolers came to Kosmach from another village, to make some profit. At first people didn't know the difference, but now they don't give them any money."
One of Didushytskyi's yearlong passions is keeping alive the memory of Oleksa Dovbush, an early18th century Carpatho-Rus Robin Hood. Didushytskyi says that he lives in the very house where Dovbush was murdered in 1745. Dovbush led a band of highwaymen who avenged the injustices that wealthy magnates inflicted on the commoners.
It is possible that the very name "Hutsul" comes from a Romanian word that means "highwayman" or "brigand." Other linguists think that "Hutsul" comes from a Slavic word that means "nomad," as the Hutsuls historically left their native areas to find freedom in the mountains.
Didushytskyi, though he speaks of Christmas tradition, also has a foot in paganism. For example, he carves wooden sculptures of the ancient "gods" and goddesses" of the pre-Christian Carpatho-Rusyns.
"In general, Christianity is spread in Kosmach," maintains Fr. Hunchak. "But there is such a faith, not exactly Christian. Some are half-Christian, half-pagan- mystical. In the Carpathian Mountains, there are people who know about trees, plants, nature."
But modern problems have not left the Hutsuls untouched. "There's no work in the village," explains life-long resident Anna Havryliuk. "Young people leave the country looking for work in the Czech Republic, Portugal, Italy-Many men, many women have gone abroad." This is a common problem throughout Ukraine.
Still, Havryliuk's grandchildren, Marichka and Bohdana Havryliuk and Marichka Semeniuk, have not forgotten important traditions like coming to carol to their grandparents on Christmas Eve.
Christmas is a feast that brings together not just living relatives, but the deceased as well. "Before Christmas Eve supper," recounts Didushytskyi, "people visit the dead in cemeteries- They put candles on the graves. They invite Grandma, Grandpa, or Mom and Dad, to come for supper. A place is then left at the supper table, with plate and utensils for a deceased relative, to show respect for the dead."
And timing is very important for conducting the Christmas Eve supper. "When the cattle are all fed and the first star comes out," continues Didushytskyi, "then we sit down at table, light the candle, pray to God. The eldest takes the kuttia," porridge made of wheat, honey, nuts, and poppy seeds, "and throws it on the ceiling with a spoon." The porridge should stick there, and this means God's blessing for a healthy family and cattle, and fertile fields.
With time-honored songs and symbols, the Hutsuls celebrate all the feasts of the year, enjoying the freedom that the Carpathian Mountains have given them.
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For the complete story with pictures see this link:
http://www.ukraine-observer.com/articles/226/965I.F.
