27 th, 2014
Friends and family,On behalf of the “Kolędy Polskie” organizers, we want to invite you, your family and friends to join “Kolędy Polskie” on Saturday, December 27, 2014 at 12:30 p.m. in Chappell Hill, Texas at St. Stanislaus Catholic Church. This will be our seventh annual “Kolędy Polskie” and we hope that you will invite your loved ones to join in this beautiful Polish tradition. Everyone is encouraged and welcome to attend and help celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ embracing our Polish culture.The “Kolędy Polskie” will convene at 12:30 p.m. on the steps of St. Stanislaus Catholic Church. In addition, we encourage everyone to bring a Polish covered dish for our evening meal to share for a pot luck supper. You are welcome to take your dish early to Jozwiak’s store if it is something that needs to stay warm. In addition, we would like for you to dress in costume and bring a candle for our cemetery vigil at dusk. Dressing in costume is an old Polish custom dating back to the 14th century and we would like to honor that tradition. However, you do not have to have anything elaborate or fancy. You may dress as a beggar, an angel, a king, a shepherd, a devil, St. Nickolas, a wise man, make a homemade costume and/or wear a traditional Polish Folk Costume. To reduce the number of cars in procession and to foster fellowship, we have rented a school bus that will seat 50 people. Vehicles will be left in the St. Stanislaus parking lot and we will come back for them before we go to the cemetery candle light vigil.The “Kolędy Polskie” organizers changed the date from our traditional date of December 26 to Saturday, December 27. The change was made to accommodate the host families and participants that were not able to take off of work in the middle of the week. However, the first day after Christmas, December 26 is known as St. Stephen’s Day and it was traditionally the first day outside of the home after Christmas to visit friends and family. Sometime during the 14th century, the tradition of ”Kolędy Polskie” began on St. Stephen’s Day and continued thru Epiphany, January 6 (the 12th day of Christmas) until Candle Mass, February 2. We encourage you to go visit your friends and relatives on St. Stephen’s Day to bring cheer and joy to those in need, especially our elderly in nursing homes and those living alone. Please join us in celebrating the true meaning of Christmas by sharing your time with friends and family honoring the birth of Jesus Christ with one of our most beautiful Polish customs ”Kolędy Polskie”.
Once again, we look forward to celebrating “Kolędy Polskie” with each of you and passing down our Polish traditions to another generation of Polish decedents and friends. Each year, it continues to grow in attendance and participation. Your presence would help make this year’s “Kolędy Polskie” memorable and fun. Please feel free to invite your family and friends to join in the celebration, especially the children. We want to share this tradition with our youth so that this beautiful activity is passed down to another generation. We have admirers from Poland, New York, New Jersey, Wisconsin, Michigan and Illinois that are envious of the Polish heart and soul in Texas!
When the schedule is confirmed, we will provide each of you the itinerary through a second email. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me personally. Remember, this tradition is open to everyone!
Wesołych Świąt i Szczęśliwego Nowego Roku!
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Jim
P.S. If you would like to learn to sing some of the songs in Polish, you may go to the Polish-Texans website at: http://www.polish-texans.com/category/video/kolendy/
All the songs that we sing are on this site and if you scroll down, you will see all of them listed. They are YouTube video’s for you to sing along Karaoke! It is a great way to learn!
Jim Mazurkiewicz, Ph.D
Regents Fellow, Professor and Leadership Program Dir