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i11EJIIIIII!MiWEM|Engl ish supplement of SVOBODA, Ukr ai ni an daily, founded 1893.

Dedi cat ed to the needs and interes ts of you ng Amer icans of Ukrainia n descent.Nj>. 1 JERSEY CITY, N. J., FRIDAY, JANUARY 3, 1941 VOL. IX

pTOWN HALL CONCERTHONORS METROPOLITAN

SHEPTITSKYI New York's famed Town Hall,center of great musical and oratorical attainments, found its fameIf as such further enhanced last Sun-fr day evening by the music that was[ .sung and played and by the wordsthat were uttered there in praiseW of-the life and deeds of, that fife . lustrious Ukrainian prelate and pa-W -triot; the venerable MetropolitanAndrey Sheptitsky, head of thef* Ukrainian Catholic Church, nowiy-suffering someWheres in UkraineI under Soviet misrule.fi ;Tt was indeed a stirring pro-K.-."gram that Ukrainian Catholicfc: -..Diocese of America presented.Professor Alexander K s h e t z,| ;famed exponent of Ukrainian choral music, added further lus ter toL his name by his masterly directionF ,- of the 300-voice United Ukrainianp'^Folk Choruses of the New Yorkft!'Area, composed of young people,1 . born and" raised in this~country.p-Musical; laurels were won, too, by

; Maria Sokil, soprano, and her pia-r ' nist-composer husband, Antiri Rud-[| nitsky, who accompanied her, andfcalso by Roman Prydatkevlch, vio-linist, accompanied by Vera Stet-|. kewicz. An opening talk in Englishfc- by Stephen Jarema, New York StateAssemblyman, and a truly inspiredaddress in Ukrainian by Dr. LukeI iMyshuha, editor of "Svoboda,"|. . extolling the 75-year old Metro-g pohtan .Sheptitsky, gave the au-P Hence, numbering over 2,000, aE better understanding and appre-ciation of his great services to thet Catholic Church and the Ukrain-r.ian Nation.

v The suffering the aged Metro-I politan is now undergoing on theI rack of Soviet inqusition must be| well-nigh unendurable, Dr. Mysira-S b & said in conclusion, "but may God grant him further strength tok survive -it, andlike Hetman Kal-heshevsky of old who despite allf. mistreatment .by the Muscoviteduring his imprisonment lived tillhe was 125.years of agemay the; beloved Metropolitan Andrew Shep- - titsky live even longer, as a shin-'t..ing.symbol of Ukrainian national|-.resistance to Soviet Russian misrule and oppression."." Besides the American and Uk-rainian national anthems, withte'which the .program was openedh and closed, the mass chorus underProf. Koshetz sang the following .selections: Great Is His Glory(final part of the III concerto on.'the-Psalm 20) by D. Bortniansky(1751-1825); Praise the Lord, My Soul (Psalm), by C. Stetsenko(1880-19205;.-. Open the Door ofI Penance to Me, by A. Wedel (1767-

hl806); Let Our Lips Utter Praise'of Thee (liturgical melody from1 Carpatho-Ukraine), by A. Koshetz;Lord I Have Cried Out Unto. Thee(traditional choral chant of the16th.century), by A. Koshetz; andth e - following carols: Ear ly OneDawn the Cocks Crowed, by V.Stupnitsky; In a Courtyard the; Tapers are Burning, by C. Stetsenko; God the Eternal, by A. Koshetz; and By the Jordan, by: A. Koshetz.| Maria Sokil's selections were:Recitative and aria from "L'en--fant prodigue" Debussy; Aria("Alleluia") from "Le Cid" Mas-gJBtet; Ukrainian' canticle ("Our|bady',of Potchaiv," 17th century)BWrRudnitskyits first perform-pance'i Aria from "Dovbush" A. [ERudnitsky; plus a number of en-K . v Roman -Prydatkevich's presenta-r-tien-'consisted of the first movement of the:Concerto D major by|.Tchaikovsky; and an encore.is. The United Ukrainian Folk Cho-^uses consist of: The Boyan So-

. O w e Gkuistmas (BustomsThe mystical "Sviata Veuhera" on Christmas Eve,the glorlorar"SliKhba Bozha" on Christmas Day, the heartwa rm ing "kol iadi" we sing an d the colorful c ustom s weobserve then, make our celebration t)f that great holidaytruly an inspiring eventwhose arrival we await withkeen anticipation and Whose pass age leaves us w Mi *-talgic memories.

Just now, Of course, we are in the stage of anticipation. Fo r our 1940 cele bration of Chrts tmas is before u s..Adfoering as we do in religious matters to the old Juliancalendar, we shall c elebrate Chris tmas n ex t Tues day Ja nu ar y 7, 1941 on the mo dern Greg orian calen dar butDecember 25, 1940 on the Jul ian cale ndar .Our anticipation of this great holiday, however, istempered by thoughts on the probable future of theUkraia$8u way of celebrating it here in Ame rica. Yearby year, as we know, the customs of Ukraine our parentsbrought over here have been undergoing various changesin order to become adaptable to their new environment.And though those bound with the observance of Christmashave been "the l e a s t affected thu s far, - still it requires no;prophetie mind to see that eventually they, too, will undergo some change s. That is only natur al and from o ur

: |* viewpoint highly desirable, for it is preciselyof suc h chan ge s and adap tation s of Old Wor ld c ustom sand'-traditions that a good deal of American culture isbeing formed. As Am erican s, therefo re, it is our duty toallow this process to take its natural course.

That ..does no t mean, howe ver , tha t thes e cu sto msfrom the other side should be allowed to become extinct.On the contrary, only their superficial accretions should bepare d off. The essen tial for ms of these customs an d tr aditions should be preserved and carefully cultivated, sothat in time they may be easily introduced into the stre&m.of American life and culture for the purpose of ^

This is especially tr ue of Uk rain ian Chr istm as customs. We can, if we already have not, discard some eleme nts of them that are based on pur e super stition, tha tare definitely out of place in American society, and thatare of no real cultural value to anyone. Bat the Christmas Eve "Holy Supper," the Christmas Day church services, and those heart-warming Ukrainian carols, shouldbe faithfully cul tivated in all their beauty and s tre ng thher e on- the free Am er ican soil.

Ou r cou ntr y nee ds siiSSfa cu sto ms astSfttffcfsdth whichwe celebrate Christmas. Especially does she need them'now, when Christmas is being commercialized to such anexte nt that so mu ch of its tr u e spiritu al significance isbeing lost sig ht of. If ou r custom, for instanc e, of obser ving Chris tmas Eve in the manne r we do were adoptedby the other peoples here; certainly Christmas would become a true religious and national holMa$i6;the myri*aTof persons for whom at present it is hardly more than uchance to exchange purse-draining gifts and to surfeit";-oneself with food and drink.Hold fast, then, to your Ukrainian Christmas custo ms.a nd tradi tions. They will make Christmas more'meaningful and uplifting to you, strengthen the boundsamong you as Americans of Ukrainian descent; and likewise with your suffering kinsmen in their native but foreign occupied Ukraine, and finally they will prove to bea valuable contribution to American life an'd'eulture.

KaSkiw; The Ukrainian Choir of jSt. George's Ukrainian CatholicChurch of NewYork City, director,T. Onufryk; TheBoyan Society of IYonkers, N. Y., director, M. ;Fa-jtiuk; TheLyssehko Society of Jer- Isey City, N,-J:, director_3L . Gela; IThe Young Ukrainian Choir of 3Brooklyn, N. Y., director V. Sa--jvitsky; T h e . Boyan Society of PerthAmboy,. N. J., director,' S. Hrabar;The Boyan Society of Elizabeth. |N = J.., director, M. YadloVsky.Press' reports of the concert appeared in several metropolitan |newspapers, including The New York Times and the New York j

" I know of o poet in theliterature of theworld whomadehimself so consistently, so hotly,s o consciously the defender oft h e right of a woman to a fullhuman life."Franko ' sa id" aboyt Tar'as Shev---'chenko, the Bard of Ukraine.Why? Learn the: reason hiVS H E V G H E N K D A R D W f l M E I I

b y Vtr. LUKE MYSfiOHAT r a n s . by Waldimir 'Semeny.-.a.SVOBODA BOOKSTORE-,8 1 - 8 3 Grand Street ,Jersey City, N. J m

b y YUR1Y FEDKOVICHHoly Eve

- The bell rings-, "rings, rings!The whole city isablaze with light,Light dazzling as the heavens, 'mEven in the barracks the echoesring,Although it is all dark and quietwilhifii;''One soldier alone stands in a rayof light;He leans against a pillar sadly,As if it were indeed his coffin^He raises tearful eyes to Heaven,As though he would entreat thestars:The stars for him shine verybrightlyGleam houses beautiful and merry.Why then a bieart so faint andwearyIf there is naught to cause it an^guish?How can I know ? . . . I dare notask him . . .See how his brows are frowningever Who knows the troubles of asoldier?1

In ChurchSad and quiet is the House of God,Stillness holds all and is held there.Only the old priest' reads prayersfrom a book;A lonely candle is dying fast.Prom the walls the statues of goldLook down with a wondering stare.And on the stones, on the cold

pavement What do I see?A young, dead soldier resting ina coffin, .No sister lamenting, nor motherfainting with grief;Just like a candle, dropping itswax-like tears, .And the stare of the statues,And the priest saying prayers forthe dead,A last kiss beseeching for the deadorphan;But none rgoes. to kiss him. Andno one will. 'The black cover is nailed on; thecandle, melting, falls.(No Sister lamenting, nor motherfainting with grief!)This is a soldier, an orphanthenwho should mourn?Transla ted by Florence Randall LiVesayWIN S HI& M. A.

Vblodimir Bushhyck. editor of"Ukraina" and "Trident,* ODWUpublications, recently received hisMaster of Arts degree in SocialSciences at Columbia University.His thesis' was "The Russian Provisional Government and Ukraine." !Mr. Dushnyck came to America' in 1935. Previous to that he had '

attended Louvain University in 'Belgium where on the basis of athesis concerning the "NationalPolicies of the Soviets" he receivedt h e ; title '.of "Magistrate." As astudent there, he was active inUkrainian circles, attended as de-l'egate several Ukrainian interna-itional student congresses, and con-'tributed to various publications.Prior to his stay "in Belgium,'Mi*.Dushnyck lived in his native land,Western Ukraine; where he' wasfeorn in 1908. During his last yearat the Gymnasium in Berezhani,he Was conscripted into the PolishArmy in which he served for one-and one-half years. Returningfrom military service he completed; his u?tevrupted studies and thenleft the country \.o ;H'Ur5id Lcnivtun_;University. Here Metropolitan Sheptitsky, primate, of the UkrainianCatholic Church, had helped toestablish a center for Ukrainianstudents who had found it virtuallyimpossible to deceive a universityedtt6adoif .under Polish misriilo.At the time of Mr. . Dushnyck'sstav there about sixty such- >nu> .dents attended the univeratv .

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U K R A I N I A N W E E K L Y , F R I D A Y , J A N U A R Y 3 , 1 94 1 \ anb * Mm

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Ukrainian Situation Before the War(To be concluded) j

(Editor's Note: At the present time when somuch of the true Ukrainian situation is obscured bywar and Soviet Russian censorship, when enemiesof Ukraine take advantage of ffiat to spread falsereports concerning" it, it is well to learn what aprominent British authority on Eastern Europeanaffairs, had to say before the present war broke outabout Ukraine and her struggle for freedom-! especially .since his remarks o n the su bject then are verytimely now.' He is Lancelot L awton, author and journalis t.At a meeting f the Near and. Middle East Association in London, presided over by Mr. Tracy Phillips,M. C, now on a lecture tour through, Ukrainian-Canadian comm unities, M r. Lawton delivered -anaddress on "Ukraina: Europe's Greatest Problem."Below is =- it, as it appeared in the spring1939 issue of "East Europe and ContemporaryRussia," a publication which had attained, in theopinion of the London "Times""a commendableand uncommon degree of objectivity. . .and itscon tent s are unusually, well-docum ented. . .of valueto all serious studen ts of Soviet Affairs." Its editorwas Lancelot Lawton. Since the opening of thewar no issue of it has appeared.)TN 1929, the G.P.U. disclosed a widespreadj revolutionary organisation, called the Unionfor the Liberation of Ukra ina. Forty-five of theleaders were sent to long terms of imprisonmentand m any of their associates were shot. Onlytwo y ears la ter , in 1931, anothe r revolut ionaryorganisation was discovered, called the NationalCent re . Tha t was the year in which the enforcement of collectivisation among the peasan t r y began .

Here i t should be explained that the nat ionalmovement was not confined to intellectuals.Among the inte l lectuals were many agr icul tural ists who w ere hi close relationsh ip w ith thepeasants . In no par t of the Soviet Union wascollectivisation resisted with such stubbornnessand s t ren gth as in Ukrain a. The reason wastha t in Tsar i s t t imes , unl ike most of the Russ ianpeasants , the Ukrainian peasants had no vi l lagecommunal system, but were mainly individualfarm ers. By all mean s within their pow er theyfought to retain their Ukrainian mode of l ife,and in the end five mill ion succumbed to famineand other causes . L i t t le was heard of thi s greatt ragedy in the West .

Revolut ionary Act ivi ty in UkraineIn each of the famine years, 1932 and 1933,revolut ionary conspi racy was again discovered;in 1932 i t took the form of a m ili tary o rganisat ion, which included Red Army commanders .In 1933, 4,000 people were arre sted . One prominent Ukrainian af ter another was found gui l ty of the capital crime of patriotism and vanished from the scene.In 1933, Skrypn ik, an old Bolshevik and afriend of Lenin, who occupied a nu mb er of highposts, including th at of Vice-P resident of t heCouncil of Commissars in Ukraina, was accusedof conspiring to become a leader of independentUkraina and, on being summoned to Moscow toaccount for his actions, committed suicide.

, (3 ), Postys hev, a Russian, was sent from thenorth to crush the rebell ion. He was accompanied by*" ma ny Russ ians, and large num bersof Russian troops.. Nationalists were found inall sphere s, and all over the country. Nea rly halfthe members of the Ukrainian Communis t Pat ty-1were. 'dismissed, together with hundreds of officials;. . ; : ^ ^ I Many of the Ukrainian communis ts , who hadbeen spared, congratulated Postyshev on hisgood work and, believing in their sinceri ty, hewas pleased - 'with' himself. At the -same* t ime,Lubchenko, the new President of the Council ofPeoples ' Comm issars in U kraina, pro udly declared that under the s t rong leadership of thePar ty, Ukrainian nat ional i sm had been completely des t royed. Yet -wi thto a year the t rouble began all over again, and riots occurred in manyregions. Soon, Lubch enko was compelled to say

tha t "once more the Ukrainian nat ional i s t s ar eadvancing in close formation," while Postyshevhimself lamented that i t was difficult to harmon- [ise Bolshevism with nationalism; in the end, htsaid, nationalism always won. After, that , he,too, was summ oned to Moscow and su bsequentlydisappeared, somewhere in the Far Nor th.Nat ional i s t s Disguised As Communis tsThen, in J anu ary 1937, Lazar Kaganovich,Stalin's brother-in-law, was sent to Ukrainawith a retinue of controllers and cheMsts; Hefound that many Ukrainian communis ts whowere nationa lists-in disguise sti l l rema ined; andsoon a new conspiracy was discovered. Thist ime the chief culpri t was Lubchenko himself;the Pres ident of th e Council of Com missars. Atone t ime he had been bit terly hosti le to theUkrainian nat ional i s t s and had even acted as

prosecutor of the first forty-five leaders to bearre sted an d put upon trial . Suddenly he beganto protes t agains t the int roduct ion of the Russian language for young children in the_;scho'olson the ground that i t hindered them from learning thei r own Ukrainian language. Russ ian, hesaid, could be taught much later as a foreignlanguage. And, a t a Communis t Pa r ty Confer ence, he deplored that foreign elements, bywhich, of course, he mean Russian elements,obst ructed Ukrainisat ion, which he., said shouldbe pursued wi th a l l energy.The n Moscow sen t a new represen tativeL toUkraina , an exp er t chekis t , named Israel Lep-levski. Again, i t was discovered that Ukrainiannationalists had obtained the leading posts inal l enterpr i ses and ins t i tut ions , the Academy ofScience, technical organisations and Co-operativesocieties. Thereupon, Lubchenko committedsuicide rather than face a tr ial . His successor,a young Communis t , named Bondarenko, wasunwise enough to accept an invitat ion to Moscow, and since then nothing had been heardof him.For some time the Ukrainian Council lor-Commissars or Minis ters was wi thout a Pres ident .Then a well-knowrr~Russian chekist , named Ko-rotchenkov, was appointed, and another well-known Russ ian chekis t , named Khruschov, wasmade Secretary of the U krainian Comm unis t

Pa rty . Abou t this time, Petrovsk i, an old Bolshevik and friend of Lenin, who had been President of the U krainia n Soviet Republic" since itsbeginning, was ar res ted and disappeared. OtherCom mun ists of equal p rominen ce also. Vanished. .Lat ter lypal l Ukrainian nat ional i s t s have been represented as Trotskyists and hirelings of theFascis t powers .* Thus , in Ukra ina dur ing thelast seventeen years, conspiracies have occurredat frequen t interv als, a nd . . there have been nu me rou s ri sing s. The se ma nifes tatio ns have .-.not b een m erely anti-Soviet . Th ey :hal?e alwaysha d a fu rth er ob ject : the creatte auo f an hide-Impen den t U krainian '.nation. '

Soviet Ukraina i s as lar ge 'as was" Germanybefore before he r union- with Au stri a; I t is some-tames said that , without her, Russia could notfeed herself. Tha t i s not t rue . Ukrainian bar - Ivests a re- at presen t hardly suficient to sustain ,rthe Ukrainian people, and when, as now, a largeportion is taken by the Government many Uk- ra inians m us t go hungry. I t is t rue th at to anot less extent than did Tsarist Russia the Soviet .Russia depends u pon Uk raina for "coal, ironand other raw mater ia l s , but an abundance ofthem are available elsewhere in her own terri tory?If deprived of Ukraina, she would be driven to .develop th ese reso urce s of her own. It "is onlybecause she t reated Ukraina as a colony thatshe could afford to neglect them.

P o li sh , s r u l e of U k r a in i a nsThe Soviet Government m akes no pretenceof being merciluf to i ts opponen ts. From Po- land one might expect bet ter thing s/" Yet therelatio ns between th e Poles and the Uk rainians 4arc as bad as they can be. In 1918, the Ukrainians" set up an indepe ndent Governm ent inEastern Galicia, which they desired should belong to a Great Uk raina, wi th i t s capi ta l in |Kiev. After severe - f ighting, this Governmentwas suppressed b y the Poles , who la ter , af ter

their war with the Bolsheviks, gained from themtwo Ukrainian districts, Volynia and Polisia.At that t ime, P i l sudski was dreaming of the-ult imate revival of the old Polish Empire to becomposed of three federated . state s, Poland, -Lith uan ia and Uk raina . The all ies, faced withan accomplished fact , accep ted i t , largely be- Icause F ranc e had the i l lusion th a t a big "Poland^mean t a s t rong Poland; but they s t ipulatedth at - autonomy should be granted to the Ukrainian s in Galicia. The Po lish Governm ent - agreedpfo this condit ion, and, furthermore, signed atreaty intended to safeguard minorit ies. Frequent ly, by Par l iamentary and other means ,[the Ukrainians have striven to induce the Polesto keep th ei r word. So far th ey hav e failed. A[state of permanent revolution now exists in Pol i sh Ukraina.The Ukrainians compain that their popuia"-t ion, which they say amounts to six mill ions,; is-;[.deliberately under-iestimated, and that to faci*.l i tate this under-estimation, large sections are["wrongfully named Ruthenians.* This circumstance is largely responsible" "bthe illusion widely prevalent outside the Soviet Unitthat the national movement in Ukraine was origi:ated by Germany.

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. .ULNIAN WEEKLY," & :. J / NU/ RY ^^ ^,. ;.>.tgttnasliEbe in ~> Ukraine is one of the two most;jrtant holidays, and in certain respects most Important one. Although primarily areligious holiday, yet many of the customs con-El nected with its observance date far back beforethe coming of Christianity to Ukraine, back tof the observance of a pagan holiday, known as the "kolyada," when the ancient Ukrainians celebrated the passing of the coldest part of thewinter and the coming of warmer weather, oras the ancient saying goes, "when the sungroweth in strength and the day in length."I Under* Soviet godless rule, of course, it is: very difficult for the Ukrainian people to observeI Christmas in the traditional manner. So thefollowing description is that of the times whenthey did.

h The 39-day fast preceding; Christmas, ("Pe-lepivka" as it is known,) has barely begun whenalready the villagers begin to think of the preparation for the feasts of Nativity. As Christmas draws nearer, a feverish activity begins to:' pervade the household. Everything has to beI put in order. A general housecleaning takes/.place, the women whitewashing the walls,^scrubbing tables and benches, and hanging new.. embroidered towels.

Preparing For ItAbout a week before Christmas the masterof the house harnesses his horses to the -sleighI and drives to the nearest town to do his shopping. He returns with" purchases of extra fineflour, of dried fish, pepper, candles, nuts andall the other articles of food that are indispensable for the proper celebration of the holi-day. Some buy new articles of clothing, great[coats fur lined.on the inside ("kozhukh"), caps,shawls, boots,, etc.

""While the.;womanfoik busy themselves with.preparing food for the- three days that the"J. ^Christmas holidays will las t, the husbandsmanI ("hospodar").- with his sons turn to the clean-.; ' ing up the courtyard, barnyard, "and put the

.barns- and: stables in order. The woodshed hasto be stocked up enough wood to last through-, out the holidays.The church, too, is being gone over. Floors Tare scrubbed', incense burners polished, crosses,and holy pictures-dusted, candlesticks provided:;with new candles, etc.- r.:Ia the; meanwhile, great activity prevails^;' among .the youth;. The church choir, composed*-!t 'of a majority of younger folks, rehearses for;..I "4he High Masson Christmas~Day. Those of theyoung people that intend to go caroling ("ko-lyaduyaty") gather in one of the' homes, dividethemselves into; groups ("tabor") elect theirgroup leaders ("bereza") and practice, theI Christmas "kolyady." In the mountain regions,"1-among the so-called "Hutsuls," where musicians,take part in the caroling, mostly violinists, thee,- sound of their instruments ar e heard days in- advance as they rehearse their pieces. Old* songs- are recalled.

The Fast DishesAt last dawns the day of Christmas Eve.I The house is clean, spic and span. The smallestatom of dust has been hunted out. The oven,*. with a hearty 'fire blazing in it all day long,gleams white from the new coat of whitewash given to it. This is the day when the wholehouse Sums with activity. The children, theirfaces alight with happiness, run about theirtasks, getting in the way of their mother busyH'at the oven. The "hospodar" has killed a pig,and the "hospodynia," his wife, has prepared; the meat and sausages. Now she is engaged anR preparing the twelve-course dinner for the eve-- ning, Christmas Evea course in memory ofeach of the Twelve Apostles, and everyone ofthese twelve dishes must be fast dishes, prepared' without meat and without dairy products. Thatis indeed a feat. It takes culinary experiences

r. 'ofmany centuries to prepare twelve such dishes.There will be, of course, "borsch," the typicalf Ukrainian soup made of beets, or in its placesour cabbage pea soup; fish soup in jello-like| form; "pirohy" with mashed potatoes inside, andanother kind with plum jam inside, and.":stillanother kind .with sour cabbage. There ~"1*be "holubtsi"* stuffed with "kasha," bUckwe'afgroats, or with rice. There will be dishes made.. of mushrooms, and griddlecakes fried in hemp-|: oil. Also "pampushki," and before all there willp be the "kutya," the exclusive Christmas eveL delicacy, prepared from wholewheat grainsF; cooked for "many hours, and then seasoned withf'honey mixed with poppyseeds. This " ku tya" isundoubtedly one of the most ancient Ukrainian!t dishes, reaching far back to those prehistoric\ft times ;..when bur ancestors did not know as yetthe art of baking bread but fed themselves with| - cooked wheat grains.

Even Satan HidesTowards the. evening the housewife washeskthe young ^children, combs them, and dresses-Lthem in clean clothing. The "hospodar" makesthe last rounds of the household. When theL; supper has been cooked the housewife takes

a bit of each course into a pot and addingsome wheat and a bit of salt to it "takes it tothe barns and stables and then feeds the cattleand horses, so that the animals should knowtoo that it is Christmas Eve and that theyshould not complain among themselves that their< master are not taking good care of them. The"hospodar" brings a generous share -of. thechoicest-hay to the cattle, often saying prayers,and asking each cow, ox, and calf if it is contented. Fo r this is the eve of great miracles.Various happenings take place that night. EvenSatan himself hides and the evil spirits disappear, ceasing their pranks upon ail good folks.Imbued with the magic spirit in the air, animalsbecome possessed of the miraculous power ofspeech and talk sagely amongst themselves fa rinto the night. They speak of the past, presentand future with equal ease. The future holds nosecrets from them. Alas, few people would careto be caught eavesdropping at the manager, forit is said that the man who knows the future,soon dies.So the stable doors are closed and the beastsare left to their ruminations,

. - Twilight swiftly falls over''the earth. Lightsappear in the houses, casting their soft glowthrough the window unto the gleaming whitesnow outside. A breathless hush descends uponthe village.The "Dyid"

. Inside our home all is ready. The children,flushed and happy, impatiently await the beginning of the "Holy Supper." They all stand jaround, waiting for something. The door opens,and in walks their father. He is bearing in hisarms-a large sheaf of wheat stalks. Pausing inin the doorway he greets the family, 'all stand- [ing around, with Christmas greetings. Then he.]proceeds to the "honorary" corner, just behindthe table with this sheaf, which is known asthe "dyid" (Old Man), and sets it up there,adorning it with basil. This custom is also veryancient, for the sheaf in the ancient pagan daysrepresented the god of plenty who fed andprotected the family.The door opens again and the eldest sonappears with a large bundle of straw and hay. jAfter greeting the family appropriately iie putsthe hay on the table and the straw he spreads !'on the ground, or at least under the table, Mother then places a wreath of oats, made of Jthe last sheaf of oats cut in the last harvest, adorned with basil and dried flowers, in the center of the table, and a clove of garlic at eachcorner, to protect the table against evil spirits,,for in the olden times garlic was a supposedcure against diseases and a protection againstevil sp iri ts Over this a white tablecloth isspread; Two choice round loaves of white breadare placed one on the top of the other, anda candle is'stuck into the upper loaf. A "topka"of salt and a bottle of honey, are placed at itsside; the wreath symbolizes the sun, while thebread, salt and honey represent the earthlysubstance of the man.All is ready now. The Holy Supper, however, cannot begin until the appearance of thefirst star. For that reason we have the children at the -windows, craning their necks andStraining their eyes for the sight of the firststar. At l as t! . . . The first star appears. Thechildren raise a joyful din. All take their placesat the table-.

A Family FestivalThe Christmas Ev e supper is a family' fesjjtival. On that day all the members of the family who have been away from home come torejoin the family circle. The sons who havebeen away in schools, those who serve theirterm in the army, as well as those who wereaway to eke out the family's livelihood, all arehome tonight for the "Holy Supper." Thosemembers" of- the family who have died since lastChristmas, have a place at the table reservedfor them, so that their souls: may come -back;and be with the^family.'- The servants sit downto the supper with their masters, too, for thereis no social difference before the Great Masterwho was born on this night.All lights "are dosed except the- candlelightin the center of the table. The entire familystands; around the table, their faces lit by the-J[flickering candlelight, awaiting for the fatherto begin. A solemn hush comes down, uponthem al l . . . Involuntarily, thoughts go back tothe dear departed ones, or to the brother Whois far from home, in. America, or Argentine,

striving to eke out a better livelihood than isipossible at home. In a low tone the fatherleads the others- in a brief prayer, usually "OurLord's Prayer. " When that is done, all. remainstanding. Taking up a platter bearing honeyedslices of bread blessed in church, or "kutya,"the father turns to his wife and wishes herthe best of everything. Both partake of thebit of the - "prbsforka or the "kutya." Thenhe repeats the process with the others, beginning with his eldest son down to the youngestchild.

All sit down to supper. Dish follows dish.The father takes a spoonful of "kutya" andthrows it against the ceiling, striving to haveas great a number of grains-as'possible adhereto it. If he succeeds, it is said that his cowswill bear many calves, his oxen will fatten,his apiary yield many new swarms of bees. Ifhe fails in making the grains stick to the ceiling, his oldest son tries;his luck, and so onuntil someone succeeds. and the family are assured that the season to come will be full ofbliss - and happiness for them.The members of the family try their best todo justice to the food, not for the sake of indulgence, but that they may hot be hungry allthe year around. No drinking takes place. Onlyin very rare cases a glass of "horivka" would beemptied by each member during the entiresupper.

A Happy SceneThe clean attires, silver-white tablecloth, the cleanliness of the house, the straw onthe ground, the happy cheerful faces, fill theatmosphere with never-to-be-forgotten happiness. The father and mother through misty

eyes gaze proudly upon their brood, some already big and grown up, others in their' teens.As they sit there, eating and gazing into theflickering light of the candle, perhaps theirthoughts go back through; the mists of time toa similar, scene, many, many years ago, whenthey were the brood, seated around the tablewith their parents.Outside, the moon shines softly on the glittering snow, while stars twinkle merrily in theblue dome of the sky; A soft, breathless still- ..ness pervades the village. It is too early for thecarollers to be going around.When the supper has come to an end, thethe children receive gifts of nuts and apples,and jump with great .glee into the straw onthe ground. They cackle like hens so that the-hens may bear, many eggs. They play many

games, most of which have a meaning all theirown, designed to bring luck and bountiful crops.to the. family. The girls Who are old enoughto think of marriage, collect the spoons andcarry them outside-. Rattling them they listenfronrwhich direction the . dogswill -bark in response : this -is the side from which they expectthe matchmakers ("starosti") . to come. Andhaving brought the report the girls stick' the' spoons behind the girdle of the "dyid"oldman. '--"Kolyadi"

Meanwhile the family is singing the "kolya-das," Ukrainian carols, many of which, thoughChristian in their outward form, date from.pre-Christian times, and incorporate more thana thousands years of the spiritual experienceof the "Ukrainian race.In the lulls between the singing, voices ar eheard from t he / distance, coming closer an dcloser. These are the carollers, wending theirway slowly from home to home and announcing- 7their arrival with the merry tinkling of a bell.

Soon the bell tinkles under the window ofour home. Faces appear in the windows. Thesnow squeaks under their feet. The "bereza"(leader) asks permission to sing. A candle isplaced in the window as a sign of invitation, 'andthe carol lers move forward closer. Their l ipsopen, and there is heard the. strains of "BohPredwitchney Narodywsha" (God the Eternalhath been born). And this is followed by others.Small gifts are passed to the singers, a fewcoins, foods, etc. Occasionally an especially well-singing group is invited into the house an dfeted. Carol-singing then goes on in the house.And so the celebration of Christmas Eve goesfar into the night. In some villages specialchurch services are held at midnight; in othersearly "on Christmas day, before the sun haseven risen.Churches are packed, with holiday crowds.

When Ukraine Shall Be Free.Slowly the candles dwindle in size. One byone, despite the singing, the younger childrenfall..asleep'-tm1'-benches or the straw covered

floor. They are tenderly picked up add placed.gently by their parents in bed. The older folkssit far into the night, and by the flickeringcandlelight talk in low voices of the past, oftheir departed ones, recalling happenings ofmany years ago. They speak of the future too,of those glorious days to come when their nativecountry Ukraine shall be free, and independentof foreign rule and oppression.

One by one they retire to bed. Finally ailare asleep. All but the spirits of the dear departed ones, who, it is said, come down an dfeast at the table. For them the candle is leftburning.

8/14/2019 The Ukrainian Weekly 1941-01

4/4

4 UKRAINIAN WEEKLY, FRIDAY, JANUARY , 941.. L I F E

For a long t ime I have beensaving something I copied from abook borrowed from a l ibrary . Thename of the book was "Thoughtsfor the OccasionFraternal andBenevolent Societies," and what Icopied w as a sermo n by -M. A.Matthews, D. D., of Seatt le, Washington, enti t led "Fraternal Life Insurance." Being a member of theUkrainian National Association, afraternal order, I found the sermon interes t ing in more ways thanone. It not only deals with frater-nal ism. but presents a thought -provoking discussion on fraternal insurance. I am sure that otherU.N.A. members will f ind the sermon interesting, and I believe thatnon-members will find it to befood for thought . Dr. Mat thews begins by s ta t ingthat " this i s the most ext ravagant ,reckleSs and careless age of thewor ld" and that " i t cos ts you moreto l ive today than ever before." Heclaims that "rapidly changing circumstances" makes this the ageof unce rtainties." The man andhis family have an ex traord inaryexpenditure because of social demands . "The man makes his money, the man spends his money,the man rises and the man falls.""The disposit ion on the part ofthe people to keep up with eachother i s bankrupt ing thousands andthousands of men." Families andchildren are being left paupers, Dr.Mat thews s ta tes , and the honestman is agitated by the question ofhow to provide for his family. Theman makes very l i t t l e today, butwhere can he put Ms money inthese u ncertain t imes, even- if hemakes i t?Men in all walks of life "haveeach and all arrived at the conclusion that the safest investmentand provision for their wives andchildren is a well-protected insura nce policy." Dr. Matthe wssays that no man should get married unless he can provide for hiswife, and that no man has a rightto bring a child into the world"unless he can make an honestprovision for i ts support , deportment , and educat ion." Through alife insuranc e policy th e ma n can,secure comfort , happiness, andprotection for his family. "An insurance policy is a bridge acrossthe yawning chasm of ext ra- 'vagance, recklessness, carelessness,and uncer ta inty." I t i s an honestman's duty to bridge this chasmfor the benefit of his family, cont inues the doctor .Dr . Mat thews ' turns his a t tent ion to fraternal l ife insurance inthe- following concluding paragr aphs :"I call you r at tention to fraternal ins uran ce. I believe in it. I bel ieve in anything that will r ighteously draw men together and teachthe great idea of brotherhood, humanity, helpfulness, and divinekindness;*** So I have policies inseveral f ra ternal orders ; and Itook policies in fraternal insurance because they teach the ideaof. bro therh ood , of friendship,"' of;charity, of confidence, of kindness,and love; of personal hand-to-handcontact with a man in his sufferings and in his sorrows. I am inthese f ra ternal insurance orders andman y other f ra ternal orders becausethey br ing to my personal a t tent ion and lay upon my personalhear t the woes , sor rows, and painsof the individual man, the individual woman, the individual child.They ; preserve the ident i ty 'of t heindividual, and the suffering of theindividual beeomes the specific object to which the love, friendship,and brotherl iness of every man inth e order are di rected. When youpay a policy in a fraternal order,each and every member in tha tf ra ternal order shares the sor rowsand participates in the relief ren-I dered. I would l ike to help everysuffering man, woman, and childin the world, and if I could bringeach- into the influence of thes eGod-blessed orders I would du i t . '\ It could go in every home wherethe table i s bare , the hear ths tonecold, and the room bleak and un-"ortable, and put upon the table

Brother Acts To FirtAfeli Color in U.N AMetropolitan - DivisionNew York Branch 361 Favored forTitle; Millvil le Underdog;FhiHy Improved

In ab out a, week New Yo rk'sBran ch 361 will oppose the Ukra inian National Association YouthClub at Philadelphia to pry the l idoff of the 1940-1941 basketballcampaign in ' the Metropoli tanDivision. This contest was originally slated for February 16th, butsince Philadelphia finds it impossible to play on th at da te, i t wasdeemed advisable to move the gameup to Jan. 12th ra ther than toMarch 2nd.This season the Metropoli tanDistrict will fea ture no fewer tha n7 sets of brother combinations onthe wooden way. In the January^12th advanced opener, for instance,New York will present the veteranCzarnecky and S tadnyk brotherswhile Philly .will reta liat e w ith th eJuzwiak and Hryhkow boys .

All the games will be played onSunday with the 'exception of theon es schedu led at Millville. The sewill be contested on Saturday because of the exist ing Sunday "bluelaws" there .Al though we do not have muchinformation on the Metropoli tanfoursome, Branch 361 of New Yorkseems to have a good chance ofretaining i ts Division erown, withall of last year 's men returningand then some. Millville has beenvery good around home recently in the Ci ty League. According toMike Romanik, several of the Millville U.N.A . squad, also' perfo rm inthe South Jersey Legue. So watchout for M illville, which can a ppropriately be called the "dark hors e." And don 't exactly forgetabout Philadelphia. Last year 'sentire * squad of Quakers re turnsaugmented by a young J . V. 5 thatis rapidly rouding into shape. Infact" we hear that several of i tsmembers are pressing the -varsi tyfor s tar t ing posts .

New York 's Branch 423 i s ques t ion mark . We have not heard Ia word f rom the team to date , hutmaybe no news is bad news for theother clubs.Everyone i s urged to suppor ttheir local U.N.A. 5. The schedulefor the Metropoli tan Division appears below. Clip i t out for futurereference . You will be glad you did,for this season promises to be themost eventful in the history ofUkrainian National Associationsports. The teams' rosters will bepublished in The Ukrainian Weeklyafter the December 31st deadline \f or r eg i s t r a ti on^ " --'-The Metropolitan Division Schedule

January 12th: New York 361 atPhiladelphia; New York 423 andMillville not scheduled. Jan. 19th:New Yor-361 a t New York-423;Millvi l le at Philadelphia. Jan. 25th:New York 423 at Millville. Jan26th: Philadelphia at New York361. Feb. 1st : New York 361 atMillville. Feb. 2nd: New York 423at Philadelphia. Feb. 8th: Philadelphia at Millville.- Feb. 9th: NewNew York 423 at New York 361.Feb . . 16th: Mil lvi l le at New York423; Phi lade lphia and New Yorknot scheduled. Feb. 23rd: Millvilleat New York 361; Philadelphia atNew York 423. March 2nd: reserved for postponed game. March9th : reserved for Intra-Divisionplay-off. M a r ch 16 t h : J a ^ -Qi v i s i onplay-offs.

Change of AddressDietr ic . Slobogin, Metropoli tanDivision Athlet ic Director , who hasbeen convalescing from an i l lness

at his Philadelphia home, has returned to his posi t ion with the So-sial Securi ty Board. All communicat ions relat ive to Metropoli tan Division sports should, therefore, beaddressed to him at 1710 We stHoll ins St . , Balt imore, Md.DIETRIC SLOBOGIN

Mc ADOOG F pf . S 0 1 0s 0 1 0f 4 0 8$*& 0 2

. 9 0 1 8% . 1 0 2

McADOO ST . C LA IRBRANCH 9, 50 TO 19In a game played at St . Clair onDe^temtwr" 2$nd, McAdoo defeatedSt, rClair 's U .N.A. Branch 9 by a50 to 9 score. Through the effort sof 'N. auhina, who accounted for 8points, 'Sashko and M. Plaskono s,

who netted 10 each, the McAdooboys outplayed the St. Clair squadin all 4 quarters of the one-sidedaffair.T he box-s c ore :

M. Plas tohos . fSa s l rko ; ? . . .T. Novy, c ,G. Suhina, g^N. Suhina, gA. Ferashko, g .T o t a l s :

substantial meal, and in the fireplace warmth and cheer, and inthe family room t he music, love, and dom estic comfort ne cessary, Iwould be the happies t man in theworld. I would father be able todo th at for suffering huma nity!than to be Emperor of al l the em-!pires in the 'World...."Therefore, I will become a member of these orders, and as aninfinitesimal part of these greatorganizations, through my contribution Jmohth after mon th, Iwill go into these bleak and uncomfortable homes, leave in eachthe sustenance and protectionwhich an insurance . policy fromthe han ds of friendship, bro therlylove, and kindness can bestow."Submitted by Theodore Lutwiniak

ST.' CLAIR BRANCH 9J. .Procak, fW. Salak, f .F. Lessick, c . . . . Salak,* gW. Yarosliak, g \J . Kovalskick, ' gf

G F p. 4 0 8. 0 0 0. 2 1 53ji- # ' 0 . 2 0 41 0 2

Tota l s : 1 19McAd oo:. . . . . . . jjE . f O 8 18 14 5 0St. Clair 9: ' 2 2 10 519Pucher, referee. Krensa'vage, scorer.Panclwsion, tiftier. *

McAdoo played St."CIar Branch31 on December 29th, and the results" will be reported sho rt ly. TheMcAdoo tea m ' would l ike to playother Ukrainian teams from Al-lentown or Nor thampton. For homeand away games in teres ted t eammanagers should wri te to WasilPlaskonos, 242 S. Tam aqua Street ,McAdoo, Pa.W ASI L P LASKONOS

" CLEVEbAND 'f cLUB P RESE NT 'SCOM EDY* A merry three-act comedy, "Hap-ka the Bolshevik," was presented'.:in Cleveland o n Decem ber '8th before an audience of about 300 per-,sons by the local Youth of O.D.W.U., branch number 8 . 'A l tho ughfor some members of the cast thiswas (th e f irst t ime on the stage,al l of them acquit ted themselvesThe cast feels gratefu l to i tsdirector , Mrs. Sophie; Ko lrut , . forher cooperat ion, pat ience and courtesy dur ing the t edious rehearsa l s . m em bers of , the cas t aremembers, of the Ukrainian NationalAssociation. Nicholas Bobeczko.

I LISTER the Ukrainian Yo'uih Ra?d Pro gram sport - |I * by Bo ok & Music Co. , 32 5 E . 14tb. S t . . New E York C ity, every Si?irday from 3:45 to 4:00 P.M ., ' from 2 R a t i o n W .B.N.X. , 13 50 kc , New York Ci ty. Specinl"-vout li ' f -l ^ a W t g s , guest stars .-;:f his- v/eek . * N ew vY e ar ^ - I s . Michael Herm an, Annou ncer . I

\BREAD AND W*.

day I 'm par t of thi s machine ,The weary t read SOf toil a nd swe at th at knows. no 'change And this is bread.Then night br ings Sreedom and walkHer hand in mine;We drea m our d ream s of days tocome-And this is wine.

PROFESSOR BUMBKOPF'SQUESTION BOXDear Professor: You've been an- swering all sorts of questions for'"']quite some time but I am press ed. Any fool cart"think up ananswer t o fi t a g iven Now I've got an answer and -want you to dig up a question th'atjawill fit it. Th e an sw er: I should sta nd on one of the to wers of the

George Wa shin gton Bridge with- aninety pound anvil t ied to my neckand a p int bot tle of carbolic, acid in.one hand and a 45 calibre automaticin the other hand. Quickly gulp-,']ing down the carbolic acid, I should'^fire thr ee sho ts in rap id succession Iinto my head, then dive off -thetow er in to the m urk y wate rs of the'': 'Hudson far below, (signed) Un- ;;impressed.Dear Unimpressed: That's easy..')To fit art answer like that,; the question without a doubt would be : ^What should I do if I were Bromo;;Seltzer?

NOT I N W E B S T E R 'S "DIPLOM ACY : An endeavor toside-step Nemesis.-DIPLOMAT: 1. A man who says'".;"perhaps" when he means no as topposed to a woman who says "per- ha ps" when she means yes. 2. A- ' man who d oesn't say what_ he wa nts to sky w hen He sees his wife's "a"new $a t. 3. A m an who will go' ' ;out his way to avoid "ah argument" -..if the other fel low is biggerthanhe is.GLOR Y: Th e five senses of the Idead.

T HE P AS S I NG S C E NE ' 1The other day we were looking*]throug h our scrap hook and we-ran' acr os s th e following bit ofirony -which, considering this sea-,son of "Peace on earth, goodwill,,to men", is very timely. It was;,wr i t ten a half, a centu ry ago byIMark Twain but i t could have beenWritten yesterday.

A WAR P R AYE R"O Lord, our God, help us ..to. ; :tear their soldiers to bloody shreds ~with our shells; help us to cover ,their smiling fields with the'pale'."'. '; !forms of their patriot dead; help;"us to drown the th und er of the' .guns with the cries of the wounded' ' , |writhing in pain; help us to lay.R,wa ste the ir hu mb le 'homes with...'hurricane of fire; help us to wring'.'; the hearts of their unfoldingwidows with unavail ing grief; help..;.us to t ur n then i ou t roofless, with'.'' !the ir little children to wan der ,im-'.',friended' throu gh the wa stes of their '"desolated lands in rags and him- .ger and thirst , sport of the sunflames f summer and the icywinds of winter, broken in spirit, .worn with travail , imploring Theefor the refuge of the grave anddenied ft~or our "sakes" who adoreTh ee, . Lord, b last their hopes,bl ight their l ives, protract their : / jbi t te r pi lgrimages, make heavy |their s teps, water their way withtheir tears , s tain ' . th e white snow 'with blood of th eir wo unded feet!' ' JWe a sk of One who is the spirit "of ;. |love, and who is the ever fai thful" |refuge and friend of a ll tha t are ,-sore heset and seek';"His aid with ! ; ! lInimble conc 'r ite - ' G rantour prayerj Lord; -and Thine