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Community Corner

At St. Michael's Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Christmas Has Just Begun

You don't have to be Ukrainian to join the celebration.

If you think the Christmas season has ended in Woonsocket, think again.

At on Harris Avenue - the church with twin Eastern-style, gilded spires - it's just begun. Today and tomorrow there'll be worship and singing, with some feasting in between, to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, the Christian savior. And most of the world's 300,000,000 Orthodox Christians will be doing the same.

That's because the church holds on to the Julian Calendar, a system of counting days and months that fell out of favor in Western Europe in 1582, with most of the world picking up on the trend as the centuries rolled past.

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The new system, known as the Gregorian Calendar, was adopted for the sake of accuracy; it trims the length of a year by 10 minutes and 48 seconds. That difference means that by the Julian count, Dec. 25 won't get here until midnight tonight.

No matter how you count the days, if you're looking for something spiritual or simply want to enjoy the music, the door is open at the church on Harris Avenue. "Everyone is invited to worship with us for Christmas and throughout the year," says Rev. Anthony Perkins, the pastor. "You don't have to be Ukrainian any more than you know Italian to worship in the Roman Church."

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The pastor speaks from personal experience. He grew up Christian, but has no Ukrainian ancestry. He found the Orthodox church shortly after the September 11 attacks. He was then a member of the Army reserves, and found himself called up for active duty and stationed in the Washington, DC area.

"I was away from my family for a long period, and started spending
more time in church," he said. "I went to an Orthodox liturgy, and was really moved by it. The Eastern tradition has so much mysticism and depth, I fall in love with it every day."

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church is part of the Eastern Orthodox Church, the dominant strain of Christianity in Russia and much of astern Europe. It was brought to this country by immigrants from Ukraine, who began settling in northern Rhode Island in the late 1800s.

For church members in the Woonsocket area, the Ukrainian Christmas is primarily a religious celebration. That hardly means church members miss out on the parties and the gift giving; they do all that in December. In Ukraine, children traditionally receive presents on Dec. 19, the Feast of St. Nicholas, according to the church calendar, and many church members in Woonsocket observe the same custom.

Saint Nicholas, by the way, was a real person, a bishop in the early Christian church who, according to legend, helped poor families by tossing coins through their windows at night. In this country and in Western Europe, he eventually morphed into Santa Claus, who's more a magical folk figure. St. Nicholas also delivers presents, and sometimes he visits children, but he looks more like a bishop than a rotund elf.

According to Rev. Perkins, most families in his church also celebrate Christmas on Dec. 25.  "One of the great things about doing Christmas twice is that when the second celebration arrives, there are no distractions, no commercialism," he said.

This week is about worship, community, and tradition. The observances got started this morning - Christmas Eve on the Julian Calendar - with services from 10 a.m. to around 12 noon.

In the afternoon, families will get together for a meal known as the Holy Supper. The 40 days that lead up to Christmas are a time of fasting, in which observant church members avoid meat, eggs, and dairy product, and those restrictions continue, but people eat hearty nonetheless. A traditional feast consists of a dozen courses, with baked fish, pickled herring, stuffed cabbage with buckwheat or mushrooms, and potato dumplings. A traditional appetizer: garlic cloves dipped in honey and salt.

"As with fasts in other religions, the goal is to develop self-discipline and compassion for the poor," Rev. Perkins said.

In many households, Ukrainian folk customs are part of the event. Some families will place a bit of straw under the table cloth, a reminder of the birth of Jesus Christ in a manger. And they may leave one seat empty, a reminder that there's always room at the table for one more. Some also seat a straw man at the table, to represent their ancestors. It's an older custom, with roots in pagan times.

The main service begins at 7:30 tonight. Worshippers will find the church decorated with poinsettias and lighted Christmas trees. This time of year, there's also a stand near the alter holding an icon - an Orthodox religious painting that depicts the Nativity. The entire service is musical, with chanting as well as hymns by the spirited church choir.

During the evening liturgy, Rev. Perkins will bless bread, wine, and oil. "Everyone comes up to eat the bread and be anointed with the oil, as an act of thanksgiving," he said. "It's not a holy sacrament, so anyone can join in. We have a lot of mixed families, so this is a good way for everyone to feel included."

Saturday's celebration begins with a choir concert at 9 a.m., an a capella performance of Ukrainian hymns and songs.  "The Orthodox church has a strong theology of beauty," Rev. Perkins said. "The idea is that through contemplation of beauty, we can move closer to God."

That idea is reflected in the decor as well. As at most Orthodox churches, the interior of Saint Michael's features many religious icons.  Paintings of saints adorn the walls, and angels appear on the vaulted ceiling. Smaller framed icons are displayed on stands in several areas. On one wall, a large mosaic depicts the baptism of Christ in the River Jordan. On the opposite wall is another showing the baptism of Prince Vladimir, who turned the country toward Christianity in 988 AD.

The story of Vladimir's conversion illustrates the importance of art and music to the church. "He saw that paganism was no longer getting them where they wanted to go," Rev. Perkins said, "so he sent emissaries around the world to study different religions. He made his decision when he heard one of them tell of the beauty of the service in Constantinople."

Should any recent arrivals from Ukraine enter the church, they might be surprised to see people sitting in pews. In the Old Country, most worshippers stand throughout the service. The only seats are benches against the wall for those who can't stay on their feet that long.

The usual coffee social that follows in the church hall will take a different turn this weekend. When the service ends, the 40-day fast is over, and that means everyone is eager to indulge. There's a pot luck meal, with families bringing dishes that feature favorite foods they've denied themselves. Often, they'll also indulge in something they usually avoid for health reasons.

"Someone will bring quiche, and there's a lot of kielbasa," Rev. Perkins said. "My favorite is salo. I hate to admit it, but it's salt pork, really just fat."

Later church members form a car caravan to travel about the area caroling to shut-ins. "It's a strong Ukrainian tradition," Rev. Perkins said. "In villages they still walk from house to house, with the leader carrying a star mounted on a pole."

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church is part of the Eastern Orthodox Church, the dominant branch of Christianity in Russia and much of Eastern Europe. Not all branches of the church will celebrate Christmas this week. Orthodox Christians in Greece and some other countries in the Balkan Peninsula use the modern calendar to designate religious feast days.

As it turns out, most Rhode Islanders who call themselves Eastern Orthodox trace their roots to that part of the world. "We're the only Eastern Orthodox church in the state that's still on the old calendar," Rev. Perkins said.

The church isn't the only one is Woonsocket that holds on to Ukrainian traditions. Just around the corner on Blackstone Street, you'll find , a sect in communion with the Roman Catholic Church.

A century ago, when Ukrainian immigrants were new arrivals in Woonsocket, most of them worshipped at the Blackstone Street church. In the 1920s, however, the majority of church members voted to leave the Catholic church and become Orthodox. Spiritual beliefs had nothing to do with the parting of the ways. Those who backed the switch were instead upset that their church was considered part of Rhode Island's Roman Catholic diocese, and most of the priests who dominated that organization knew little about Ukrainian culture or language.

Those in the congregation who wished to remain Catholic were reluctant to settle the issue with a vote. There were lawsuits, and eventually the Catholics prevailed and kept the church building. Those who became Orthodox then built their own church and brought in their own priest.

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