Today (mon) is Ukrainian Christmas. For those celebrating the culture’s traditions, today would have been preceded by a Christmas Eve supper comprised of 12 meatless dishes prepared with vegetable shortening or cooking oil. The 12 dishes represent the 12 apostles.

There is much symbolism in a Ukrainian Christmas celebration, the date of which is determined by the Julian calendar used by the Orthodox Church. There is the bread at the centre of the table that represents prosperity, the first sheaf of wheat cut at harvest is placed at the corner of the house symbolizing ancestors. An extra place is always set at the table for someone who has died. And those celebrating a traditional Ukrainian Christmas would place a lighted candle in the window to welcome those without families. Ukrainian New Year’s is January 13th.

According to the 2016 census 1,359,655 people in Canada identify has having Ukrainian heritage. And 143,700 of those people live in Saskatchewan.