The Christmas wafer gathering in Białki, 16.01.2010 - a report

On 10 January 2009 more than 150 people came to Białki. It was festive, warm and full of family feeling. Four generations shared the Christmas wafer and enjoyed themselves together: the eldest grandparents, their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. What we do in our families is, for now, something others do not do. I go to a great many gatherings, but on this scale, in no family or kin group, is there anything like it. That such gatherings can take place among us we owe above all to you, because you want to take part, and to a few enthusiasts who are willing to organise them. Among you are veterans who have not missed a single one, but there are also people taking part in a Christmas wafer gathering for the first time. The joy of being among family does not grow on stone. It grows in our homes, and it comes from knowing how to build good relations with the people in them.

For two years now our invitations have said that the Christmas wafer gathering is held for the Jasiński and Orze(y)łowski families and their Friends. We want to be open, not only to our closest relatives but also to our neighbours and friends, who are with us in everyday life. I am very glad that our families' friends accept the invitation. They are among us today too, and among them are guests who have earned our thanks and are friends as well, who worked alongside us on the editing of the Family Books, on the family film chronicle and on the recordings of the Family Choirs. I am speaking of Andrzej Szczygielski, who is here with his wife, Ania. It is not only we who count them as friends; they say so themselves, adding that they have long since become part of our family community.

None of our family gatherings is run for profit. We organise them at the lowest cost we can, and the Organising Committee always works unpaid. All we could wish for now is that a few active people might come forward from among you and bring something fresh, something new, to our gatherings.

For many years Ela Orzyłowska Łęczycka and I have been pulling this cart, arranging one family event after another, but we are tired now. I feel very strongly that it is time for a change, and I should like someone to take over the organising of these family gatherings from me. I know it will not be easy, because everyone younger than me is working and earning a living for their family. But I know from my own experience that if you want to, the two can be reconciled, and you can join the organising committee from time to time to help those who keep working for our families without pay.

I want to say that over the past year my cousin's son – Rajmund C-16723 Orzyłowski, who comes from Wielgorz – has been a very active help in the work for the family. His is the younger generation, watching what we do. Among them, Basia F- 44313 Łęczycka, daughter of Elżbieta from Białki, has been very active so far, as has Kasia C-13143, daughter of Bogusław Orzyłowski from Jasionka, together with her husband Karol Bojar. So there is hope that in time this younger generation will take the baton from us in this relay of generations. Looking at these lively young enthusiasts for the family, one can trust that thanks to them our family gatherings will go on in the years to come.

Wishing you all health and every good fortune in this year of 2010, I hand the microphone to my cousin's son Rajmund Orzyłowski, who will share with you his own feelings and observations about our family gatherings. So that you know who is about to speak, let me add that at last year's Christmas wafer gathering he and his wife Monika were given the audience prize in the ballroom dancing competition.

Stanisław C-1645 Orzełowski

B-4115 Jasiński on his mother's side

Białki, 16 January 2010

Dear cousins, dear Guests!

I am glad to have the pleasure of taking part in a Christmas wafer gathering for the second time, and of speaking before so large a company of cousins.

I remember that when, a dozen or more years ago, uncle Stanisław (C-1645) first came to my parents' house to invite us to a family gathering in Plewki, I was surprised to find my family was so large. Even then I knew I had many uncles and aunts, because my grandparents – Hieronim and Honorata (C-167) – had ten children. At that gathering in Plewki, which brought together the family descended from my great-grandparents – Tadeusz and Zofia (C-16) – it turned out that there were more of us still. And ten years later, when the first Orze(y)łowski family reunion was held, it turned out that there are thousands of us.

Looking back over the years, though, I am more and more convinced that the most important thing about all these gatherings is not that there are so many of us Orze(y)łowskis and Jasińskis. What I value most is that a large part of the history, and above all the culture, of our ancestors has been saved from being forgotten.

I admire and appreciate the sheer amount of work uncle Stanisław has done. It is mainly thanks to his energy and commitment that the great store of information held by his father – Franciszek (C-164) – and by other elders of the family has been set down. In the pages of the Orze(y)łowski and Jasiński family books, many facts and anecdotes from the lives of our relatives have been preserved, and they are part of our family inheritance.

Thanks to the work of uncle Stanisław and of his allies, led by aunt Elżbieta Orzyłowska-Łęczycka (F-4431), a beautiful tradition of family gatherings has been started, from the yearly Christmas wafer gatherings to the great family reunions. Besides being sociable occasions, all of them have an artistic and cultural part as well, which is very valuable.

Here I would like to express my deep admiration and thanks to the organisers – my uncle Stanisław Orzełowski and my aunt Elżbieta Orzyłowska-Łęczycka, for their many years of such energetic work for our family community.

As I mentioned above, we have managed to bring to life a wonderful tradition of family gatherings. I doubt there are many other families who can meet together in such an atmosphere as we, the Orze(y)łowskis and the Jasińskis, do. That is why we must do everything we can to keep it going. Without our shared effort and commitment, what took so much work to build could easily disappear. We cannot let that happen.

In closing, a saying we all know comes to mind: "The family is a treasure." I am glad that the years I spent in my family home made me aware of it, and that the time since I started a family of my own has confirmed it. And so I would like to express my gratitude to my parents – Barbara and Tedeusz (C-1672), and to my beloved Wife Monika (C-16723).

Rajmund C-16723 Orzyłowski

Białki, 16 January 2010

A report from the gathering

Dear Cousins, worthy Relatives!

The eighth Christmas wafer gathering has passed into history. It all began early in 2003, when I approached the Orze(y)łowski Family Choir with the idea that the next singing rehearsal should be held in the village hall in Białki and turned into a gathering where we would share the Christmas wafer and sing carols. The idea was taken up with enthusiasm, and the moment was a good one, because the hall was run by our cousin Ewa C-16331 Pasztor, who lived in the village and served as its head. The singers were joined by their families, and 60 of us sang carols together that evening.

The following year there were already 100 of us, and so, year by year, our numbers grew. On 16 January 2010 we set a record: 171 of us came together, and for the first time we took a group photograph. It is fair to say by now that the Christmas wafer gatherings have become an annual tradition in the Orze(y)łowski family. At my suggestion, members of the Jasiński family, from which my mother comes, have been joining us for the past two years.

It is a beautiful way of drawing a family together: in the atmosphere of Christmas, on the first Saturday after Epiphany, by the tree and the burning candles, the family carols ring out. We always call to mind the poems of Polish poets who wrote about the Nativity. The gatherings always bring several generations together, with the young watching their elders and soaking up the family atmosphere.

Above all we feed the spirit, but we look after the body too. There is always dancing and fun to music of every kind, and we hold all sorts of competitions. Every year St Nicholas comes to us with small presents, and in the kitchen the old Polish dishes hold sway, the ones that remind us of the Christmas Eve fare our Grandmothers used to make.

I would dearly like this tradition not to die, but to go on for years to come. In this way and in this place I appeal with all my heart to the younger generation to take up the organising of these family gatherings, because my own strength has run out. Please take over from me. If Providence allows, I shall still be able to help and advise, but sadly I can no longer be the chief organiser of such gatherings.

I am an ardent enthusiast and advocate of family gatherings, and so for one of the reunion songs in 2003 I wrote the following words:

THE FAMILY IS A GREAT TREASURE!

To the tune of "Fale Dunaju" (Danube Waves)

Words: Stanisław Orzełowski

Oh, if someone were to ask you

where they should look for their happiness,

tell them: in their own family.

That is surely where it is.

Chorus. Family, family - it is a great treasure!

Today sister and brother know it for themselves.

For who could tell us it is not so?

The family is a treasure!

So let us make a circle of joined hands,

and with our children call out to our cousins

to sing with us today.

At the top of our voices.

Chorus. Family, family...

Time passes, our numbers grow,

and God gives us more strength,

so that our family may still

work for Poland.

Chorus. Family, family...

Let us not squander this treasure that is the family, or these gatherings that bring it together. Let each of you examine your conscience and answer the question: what have I done so far, and what can I do now, so that these family gatherings go on? Together we can do anything; alone, no one will manage, and the family gatherings will come to an end.

To all of you I send my warmest wishes for good health and God's Providence on every day of the New Year - 2010.

Yours sincerely – Stanisław C-1645 Orzełowski

B-4115 Jasiński on his mother's side

Białki, 17 January 2010