Prosfora Christmas Dinner

Christmas Eve dinner is a big deal for American-Ukrainian community in the USA. It's very traditional and requires a great deal of preparation, which means that the three or four days leading up to Christmas Eve are incredibly busy. Normally, Christmas Eve dinner is something you would celebrate with your own family at home, like Thanksgiving. But there are so many who are alone, widowed, the elderly, singles who don't have family to celebrate with, so every year St. Stephen Parish in Toms River  is having  a Christmas - Prosfora dinner  for all parishioners and their friends.  It is truly special when an annual tradition is celebrated in such a way as to bring the community together in a heartwarming manner. This year the ladies from the Altar Rosary Society prepared a traditional dinner of twelve dishes, to symbolize the number of the 12 Apostles. All the dishes were of the Lenten kind — Mushroom gravy, Kolach (braided 'babka'), Compote (made with dried fruit), Kutia (wheat berries, honey, poppy seeds), Borshch (beet soup) with vushka (mushroom dumplings), Beans for the borshch, Varenyky with potatoes, kapusta (sauerkraut), smothered in sauteed onions, Holubtsi (stuffed cabbage - rice and mushroom), Didukh (grain bouquet).

 

It’s hard to imagine Ukrainian Christmas without Christmas carols. They tell us the whole Christmas story: how the Blessed Virgin Mary gave birth to the Son of God in a manger, how humble shepherds came to pay homage to baby Jesus, how the three wise men came bearing gifts, and how Joseph saved the Holy Family from King Herod by fleeing to Egypt. Christians have been singing about these blessed events for centuries, in honor of Jesus’ birth and as prayers for the health and welfare of their homes and countries.

 

This year for Christmas Prosfora, St. Stephen Parish was visited by the Accolade Chamber Choir from Ukrainian Educational and Cultural Center in Philadelphia. I would like to thank the Accolade Chamber Choir for a wonderful Christmas concert at our parish. I want you to know how impressed and moved many people were by your performance.  I personally knew I would be treated to lovely singing, but what I didn't know was how touched I would be by it.  The choir did more than sing the carols; they reached out to everyone in our church and helped people to experience the true meaning of Christmas.  Their voices came together so beautifully that people were carried away from the often manic pace of the holiday, and treated to one hour of peace and thus, the real meaning of Christmas – the birth of Jesus Christ.

 

Filled with the spirit of the carols, everyone was happy and enjoyed the Prosfora Dinner. I also extend my sincere thanks to the tireless members of St. Stephen's Rosary Society, for their hard work in preparing our annual Prosfora. I can proudly say that our annual Prosfora was a great success because of many volunteers who helped us - we couldn't have done it without you. A special thank you goes out to Mrs. ANNA DZERA for organizing the event. Everything was just great.  The decorations for the tables were beautiful and the food was extra delicious.  Everyone commented how nice the people were and how much they enjoyed being in our church.  Thank you for everything. You are truly a blessing to our parish.

 

I sincerely wish all our parishioners their families and friends a very Merry Blessed Christmas, and peace, health and happiness in the New Year 2007. Hope to see you all at our next Prosfora in 2008

 

Photo Album

 

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