The Christmas Season always brings back many fond memories for everyone, and if you are lucky enough to be from Beaver County, those memories are twice as good! That’s because many local residents of various orthodox faiths celebrate Christmas according to the Julian Calendar, which marks the holiday on January seventh. So, traditional Christmas would occur on December twenty fifth, and then, just when things were settling down after new year’s festivities, another celebration, a “second Christmas” if you will, was right on the doorstep. In this edition of Beaver County Memories, we will take a look at the sights, sounds and traditions of “January in Aliquippa”, which was always a hub of activity around Orthodox Christmas celebrations. Beaver County Memories is presented by St. Barnabas.
St. Elijah Serbian Orthodox church continues to be a thriving place of worship and is a prominent landmark along Main and Irwin streets in Aliquippa. The building was and is more than just a beautiful church and a fine place to worship, it was the epicenter of national identity, culture and tradition for a large contingent of town residents of Serbian descent. Orthodox Christmas Celebrations in Aliquippa revolved around the church, it’s congregation and the entire Aliquippa community. The fact is, Orthodox Christmas church services that began at midnight on January sixth were broadcast live on WBVP back in the day. The radio broadcasts of “Serbian Christmas” from inside the ornate sanctuary of St. Elijah Church were so popular that sponsorship opportunities were typically reserved every year by neighboring C & L Supermarket. Setting up the radio transmission for the annual late night special involved a little problem solving on the part of the radio station technical staff. The process usually meant running a cable through a back window in the Nave of the church and out to a transmitter in the station van parked in the street. But on the inside, it required a little help from church clergy to rout the wiring from the window to the pulpit. That’s because according to Eastern Orthodiox tradition, only the Parish Priest was allowed to enter the area around and behind the altar. So, for at least once a year, anyway back when, some radio station staffers had a little “divine” guidance, and even assistance in performing their duties.
Beaver County Radio news correspondent and St. Elijah church member, Sandy Giordano, offered that Orthodox Christmas celebrations in Aliquippa commenced on the day beforehand with men of St. Elijah church marching to the church cemetery on Brodhead Road and cutting down an Oak Tree. The tree would be brought back to the church in a procession accompanied by Christmas music where it would be set on fire and burned throughout the evening and following Christmas Day. This is what has become known as the burning of the Yule Log, In many Christian faiths, burning of the Yule Log is a symbolic representation of the fire that was created to help warm the newborn baby Jesus in the manger, and therefore is a visual reminder of the arrival of joy, and the central focus point of the Christmas season. It was also the responsibility of the St. Elijah men to tend to the Yule log and keep it burning throughout the timeframe.
Other preparations for Orthodox Christmas in Aliquippa included fasting prior to the big midnight service. It would seem this practice may have had a double benefit. Certainly, it helped church members focus attention on solemn, serious activities and prepare their hearts and minds for worship, but it no doubt also helped amplify the celebrations that would immediately follow the gathering when merriment was allowed to begin in homes. It was not uncommon for a Serbian Orthodox household to roast a pig on spit for the occasion. The fact is, much like young Amish boys learned from their dads how to become great carpenters, many Serbian lads similarly received an in depth education year after year on the fine art of preparing and then roasting a whole pig in the backyard. Even today, it’s not uncommon to discover that catering and on site food preparations companies that offer pig roasts are operated by folks of Serbian heritage.
And you thought January in Aliquippa meant football playoffs. Well, now you know the other reason everybody gets so excited in the city at that time of year! As always, Beaver County Memories is presented by St. Barnabas and can be heard every day on Beaver County Radio and the online streaming outlets. Archived transcripts of this and previous archived segments of the Beaver County Memories series can be found at beaver county radio dot com.