VIII. DAYS OF CHRISTMAS CAROLS OF CHRISTIANS OF SLOVAKIA

BLESS LORD KINDLY ALL THIS COUNTRY

By: Maria Rybarova

The eight year if this ecumenical festival of Christmas Carols of Slovakia and Upper Nitra’s Region called "Bless Lord Kindly all this Country" opened on Friday December 11, 1998. The first program by folklore group "Hajicek"-from Chrenovec-Brusno called "Get up Shepherds" at the cultural center in Bojnice was donated to all pensioners celebrating their round birthdays in 1998 from 65 years old. 

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Hajicek is singing the original recently discovered collection of songs by Gaspar Drozd accompanied with Emil Trgina play on accordion. Emil Trgina is also the Chrenovec-Brusno mayor. Through the evening we could hear the beautiful voices of the children and adult choir, the tones of Bagpipe, accordion, whistles and fujara. The program ended with a traditional New Years wish followed by now what I believe is the most sung Christian song in Slovakia "Bless Lord Kindly All This Country And The People In."

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Saturday morning all the participants of the festival met and were greeted in Chrenovec under the now famous mark, The Chrenovec Pinecone. Later on in Bojnice gala program was opened by the director of the cultural center Mrs. Elza Dadiikova followed by Emil Trgina who mentioned passing of Hajicek member Jozef Pavlik (83) and said that they want to continue in what he left them and what he thought them. Folklore group Hajicek is 19 years old. Jozef Simonovic also said good bye to Mr. Pavlik, thanking him for his whole life creative work and dedicated to him song sung by Hajicek. Anton Dubsky officially opened the evening with the play on his trombita.

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Folklore group from Zuberec performed the traditions associated with the name day of Lucia (December 13th), by showing the audience how to make love potion and how to evoke love in someone’s heart.
Anton Bendik from Hrusov told an interesting story from his youth of how he used to deliver Christmas Waffles and sung Christmas Carols in his village. And how his reward was a piece of sausage, little bit of beans or some small change. Other groups that performed at the festival were Vrutky. Cervenik, Telgart, Rimavska Sobota, Liptovska Teplicka. Rabcice, Kezmarok. Liptovske Sliace. Banska Bystrica, Vernar, Mana. Presov and Poluvsie. The evening program also ended with the song "Bless Lord kindly all this country" with all the performers and the audience joining in the singing. The atmosphere was just unbelievable.

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Folklore group Hajicek went to Poland prior to Christmas to perform and sing the Slovak Embassy in Warsaw

I have read an article about Christmas Carols by D. Medvecova and would like to tell you some things I found interesting. Perhaps you don't know that in the past the carol was a period between Christmas Eve and Hew Year. The word carol came from the Latin word "kalendae," which means the first day of the New Year. The main motive of the carols is the birth of Jesus, coming of the Three Kings into Bethlehem, prayers, etc. 

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The carolers were going with the Bethlehem's star; they were dressed up as the Three Kings, shepherds, angel, and a devil. They were wishing good health, happiness, success, and many other good fortunes. As a reward they would receive different gifts, as cakes, potatoes, lentils, apples, a piece of sausage, sometimes money. Carol is a song that is sung during the Christmas season, but it also could be a present to the carolers, Silent Night, holy night came into being in 1918 in a small Austrian village of Obendorf. We can't imagine Christmas without carols. They are the part of the Christmas atmosphere.

Maria Rybarova
Holleho 5
972 01 Bojnice
Slovakia

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Published in the Slovak Heritage Live newsletter Volume 7, No. 1, Spring 1999
Copyright © Vladimir Linder 1999 
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The above article and photographs may not be copied, reproduced, republished, or redistributed by any means including electronic, without the express written permission of Vladimir Linder. All rights reserved.