An altar at Holy Trinity Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Prince Albert is decorated with small Christmas trees. Local believers will start marking Christmas on the evening of Jan. 6. (Derek Craddock/paNOW Staff)

By Derek Craddock

NATIVITY OF THE LORD

‘Let us glorify Him’: Local Ukrainian Orthodox believers celebrate Christmas

Jan 6, 2023 | 12:00 PM

It is a time to be grateful, rejoice, and come together for one of the biggest celebrations in the Eastern Orthodox church.

Prince Albert’s Holy Trinity Ukrainian Orthodox Church will be one of many in Saskatchewan to mark Christmas starting Friday evening and into Saturday, Christmas Day.

The reason for the different dates for Christmas goes back centuries when the church shifted from the Julian Calendar to the Gregorian Calendar.

Orthodox believers did not want to follow the Gregorian Calender like the Catholic Church did, one of the proponents involved in the Great Schism of the early 11^th Century when the churches split. Many Orthodox traditions still follow the Julian Calendar which puts Christmas Day on January 6 or 7 each year.

But what about Christmas traditions, songs, and other aspects of Christmas? Are they still celebrated by Orthodox believers?

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“If you look deeper about the Orthodox celebration and the Nativity of Our Lord, it’s not much different, it’s just the date,” said Father Michal Lomaszkiewicz with Holy Trinity Church.

“There’s not much difference in celebration because we are also singing carols, we are also preparing a special eve celebration. We have 12 dishes, but they are meatless dishes.”

He went on to say the celebration concludes a period of fasting until the first star appears in the sky on Christmas Eve, mirroring the Biblical story of the wise men following the star to see Jesus as a child.

The fast is broken with a supper that leads into the celebrations for Christmas, which in Prince Albert will start on the evening of Jan. 6.

Another note Father Lomaszkiewicz wanted to make, was the name of the celebration.

“We don’t call it Christmas; we call it Christ’s Nativity.”

The most important part of the festivities comes on Friday evening when the church gathers for a liturgical service to officially mark the coming of Christ to the world.

The service will go late into the night with liturgy spoken by the priest and congregation.

“We have a special greeting at this time,” added Lomaszkiewicz. “We greet people with ‘Christ is born’ and people answer ‘Let us glorify Him.”

The celebrations of the Nativity of Christ don’t necessarily end after Jan. 7 but will continue up until Epiphany, the feast that recalls the Baptism of Christ by John the Baptist.

While Father Lomaszkiewicz is expecting a good turnout for the Friday service, he does not anticipate many Ukrainian newcomers will come by.

“In this church, we don’t have many newcomers,” he said. “We have people that have come here 15-20 years ago. and are still here.”

He said there has been a large number of Ukrainians relocating to Prince Albert but acknowledged most are young people who believe they have no need for the church.

Nonetheless, he said the doors will be open for the Nativity celebration at Holy Trinity Church with the service starting at 9 p.m. Friday.

Meanwhile, in Ukraine, Orthodox believers will celebrate the holiday despite the ongoing conflict.

Russian President Vladimir Putin issued an order for his military to hold off on attacks for 36 hours on Thursday, to mark the Orthodox Christmas holiday.

Putin’s order does not appear to be conditional on a Ukrainian agreement to follow suit, and it’s not clear whether hostilities will cease.

An adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says any truce is dependent on Russian forces leaving the occupied territories.

Many in Ukraine though celebrate Christmas on Dec.25 as a show of defiance against Russia.

Zelenskyy had proposed a Russian troop withdrawal earlier before December 25th, but Russia rejected it.

–With files from The Canadian Press

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derek.craddock@pattisonmedia.com

Twitter: @PA_Craddock