ST ELIJAH IN ALIQUIPPA CELEBRATES ADVENT 2004
Aliquippa, PA - At the start of the Church School year, Fr. Stevan Stepanov talked with the Church School teachers about finding innovative ways to teach about the importance of Advent and its religious, traditional, and cultural meanings.
He wanted our students to understand that Advent is more than the period before Christmas and that as Orthodox Christians, we have the responsibility to do more than shop. Furthermore, that we are unique in that we do not really begin “celebrating” the birth of Christ until Christmas day, and that Advent is a time reflecting upon our faith, our families, and our community.
Taking up this challenge, the Sunday School teachers came up with a series of activities to meet Fr. Stevan’s goals, which began with an Advent Gathering in the church hall on Saturday, December 11, 2004. Conceived by Georgette Osman, the Gathering was an opportunity for St. Elijah’s students to extend their hearts and hands to less fortunate children in Beaver and Allegheny Counties. In order to gain “admittance”, each child had to bring a new gift that would be distributed to a child service by the Beaver County Children & Youth Services or Northwest Human Services. Mothers Club members and Sunday School teachers assisted the students in wrapping each gift and marking it for a “boy” or “girl” and an age. They were treated to a Lenten luncheon, had the opportunity to make Christmas crafts and ornaments, and were taught to sing the St. Nicholas Hymn in Serbian and English. Fr. Stevan then gathered the students to discuss the beauty of giving to others as instructed in the Bible and how we should spend some of our time during Advent helping those in need. The day concluded with evening prayers, at which time Fr. Stevan presented each child with a wonderful booklet he had prepared with Orthodox prayers that should be read each morning and evening.
This was a prelude to Sunday, December 19, 2004, which was both St. Nicholas Day and Detinci or Children’s Day. As one of Fr. Stevan’s most happy childhood memories from Serbia is the celebration of Detinci, Materice, and Ocevi, he asked that the Sunday School demonstrate this tradition in church.
Therefore, twenty-one students from pre-school to twelfth grade were chosen at random to participate; adults from the various church organizations were then chosen to be their partners. So, on each of these three Sundays, following the Divine Liturgy, seven students and adults came to the front of the altar to be “tied up”, and then released with the presentation of a small gift provided by the Mother’s Club. We took this opportunity to teach the congregation that the “tying up” is symbolic of the strong bonds between generations of Serbian families and that we should be thankful for each other. Children should be especially appreciative of the time and commitment that their parents, grandparents, kumovi, and others give to them daily. We are hopeful that more Aliquippa families will begin celebrating these days at home to keep alive this special Serbian tradition.
As this was also St. Nicholas Day, a special choir made up of most of our Sunday School students sang the St. Nicholas Hymn during the offertory. The congregation listened with great joy at the sound of these beautiful young voices. Following the Divine Liturgy, the Mother’s Club presented each child in attendance with a gift of a prayer rope bracelet.
On Monday, December 27, 2004 the St. Elijah Youth Group members made their annual visits to our homebound parishioners. Working in three teams, our teens visited over thirty older church members who Fr. Stevan has identified as no longer being able to attend Sunday services. In addition to their cheerful greetings, each older parishioner was presented with a gift bag filled with the Sunday bulletin, 2005 church calendar, personal care items, treats, a small gift, and a fresh-baked pogaca! Especially meaningful was one carload of teens who had been given donations throughout the day from grateful family members who appreciated their efforts to cheer up our seniors. This money had been intended for the use of the Youth Group; however, they decided to give it to one homebound parishioner who is having an especially difficult year. This was a true demonstration of the Advent spirit, where giving is more important than receiving. Participating this year were Youth Group members Natasa Cvetkovic, Adam Loverich, George Milosh, Alex Osman, Laura Ralich, Sarah Ralich, Melissa Ridjaneck, Alexis Sergeant, Natalie Suder, and Cera Trkulja joined by junior volunteers Jovana Cvetkovic, Jessica Osman, and Bobby Suder. Adult helpers were Billie Brnilovich, Brian Hayden, Kathy Loverich, Georgette Osman, and Darcey Suder.
Finally, our Advent activities came to a joyous conclusion on Thursday, January 6, 2005 with Badnjidan. In addition to our traditional Badnjidan service and yule log burning, our Sunday School did a special play representing a visit from Polaznik, or the first visitor to the home on Christmas morning. The students demonstrated the traditional way a Serbian family prepares for Christmas morning with chesnica filled with a coin.
Featured in this play were students John Buffalini, Jessica Osman, Garrett Cheran, Michael Malobabich, Bobby Suder, Dominic Tomei, George Milosh, Stephanie August, Kylie Chichester, Luke Megaludis, and Alex Osman accompanied by our Sunday School choir. This play was dedicated to the memory of Mrs. Nellie Lampich who committed -over fifty years to the St. Elijah Sunday School and passed away recently. We would like to thank all of the Sunday School teachers who made this evening successful, Joann Ludovico, Dayna Milich, and Juliann Taylor who planned the Christmas program, Georgianna Kross, this year’s Sunday School co-ordinator, Milana Milosh who doubled as piano accompanist, and Barb Buffalini, Brian Hayden, Dawn Kosanovich, Georgette Osman, Lynn Popovich, Darcey Suder.
We were pleased that our students of all ages embraced our Advent activities with such enthusiasm and excitement. We believe that we met Fr. Stevan’s goals of not only teaching but living the real meaning of Advent’s Christian principles. This gave our young people a little more to do during their Christmas break than spend time at the mall or in front of the television, but instead to enjoy fellowship, share their Serbian traditions, and live their Orthodox faith.