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Blessing of the Badnjak: Serbian Orthodox Christmas |
| Section: CULTURE / HERITAGE |
| Author: Dan Marshall |
| Publication:
The World & I Online |
| Issue Date: 1/1/2001 |
| Size: 2,024 Words, 11,935 Characters |
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The blaze casts its orange-yellow glow upon the hundreds encircling it, and shadows dance on the brick walls of Holy Trinity Serbian Eastern Orthodox Church. In the flickering light I notice the wide, youthful eyes of Zoran, who fled a crumbling Yugoslavia just a few years ago; the rosy cheeks of Mira, who carries her son as her parents once held her; and the mellow gaze of 85-year-old Steve Miloradovich, who has experienced this event annually over more than fourscore years.
As the priest chants, the choir responds a cappella, filling the air with praise, thanks, and petitions to God. "Thy nativity, O Christ God, hath arisen upon the world as the light of wisdom," they sing, while Very Reverend Father Radomir Chkautovich censes the people and the badnjak with fragrant incense. After calling down blessings upon the water, he sprinkles the crowd and tree by dipping the basil into the water.
"O Lord Jesus Christ, our God, who did plant the Tree of Life in paradise so that it might bestow upon us eternal blessedness," intones Chkautovich. "Bless also now this tree which is a symbol of Thy cross and the Tree of Life in paradise, and which reminds us of Thy holy birth ...
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...hioners keep a branch from the badnjak beside their icons at home throughout the year. "As we gather around the badnjak, so too should we gather around Jesus Christ," the father explains. "The oak tree is a symbol of the strength of our faith." That strength, expressed in the devotion to the tradition, burns brightly in the hearts of American Serbs and at their churches every Christmas Eve.
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Publication Details
(The World & I Online) |
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The World & I Online is a
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articles by scholars and experts in the areas of Global Studies,
Liberal Arts, Fine & Applied Arts, General Science, and Spanish.
Originally published monthly in print as The World & I, our site
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