From author Emilien Tremblay, C.ss.R. (Redemptorist priest.)
The feasts of Christmas, Epiphany and Easter reveal a solemnity unknown in other liturgies. Christmas is celebrated in every home by ceremonies, unsurpassed in beauty only by those of their church. Christmas Eve is a day of complete fasting until when at late evening, a large table is set for a banquet. The poor are invited because the night’s theme is one of charity. The entrée — symbolic of welcome is a piece of yeast bread in the shape of a communion host and is dipped in honey before being presented to diners. It is followed by three full plates of food and twelve others in honour of the twelve apostles. During breaks, people sing Christmas songs until it is time to leave for Midnight Mass. The whole of the celebration is of incomparable beauty not seen in other traditions of the world, except perhaps for those of Italian people.
Source: Translated excerpts from the book Father Delaere and The Ukrainian Church in Canada, published in 1961. Written in the French language by Emilien Tremblay C.ss.R, a graduate of Slavic Studies of the University of Manitoba.
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