A New Christmas Album with Old Friends

If you're a Catholic who loves a rollicking good tune, you have probably heard of the band "Scythian": two Ukranian Catholic brothers, Alexander and Danylo Fedoryka, accompanied by two of their best buds, Ethan Dean and Johnny Rees, making music for the last two decades. Maybe you went to college with them at one of the Catholic colleges, or with one of their eight siblings, or maybe you were taught by their father, Dr. Damien Fedoryka (may he rest in peace), or their sister Dr. Maria Fedoryka, or your choir in Gaming, Austria was directed by their Julliard-trained mother, Mrs. Irene Fedoryka (may she rest in peace). Or maybe you haven't heard them yet, but you need to this Christmas.

Beauty + Memories

Their brand-new album, Christmas Out at Sea, provided just the Advent jolt I needed to get into the spirit this week. I cranked it up while making school lunches early in the morning, hummed along during laundry folding with the In the Bleak Midwinter featuring two of the band members wives in their own band (musical folks!), and teared up driving for school pick up thinking about why the world needs beauty and music.

Over the many years, I have danced to Scythian's incredible music at pubs, festivals, even at our own wedding. Music holds so many of my most precious moments in a bone-deep memory, one that only floods back when the tunes are flowing. I need beauty, and you do too, to call me to something beyond the normalcy mundanities of dishes, emails, and a child's missing sock.

A New Christmas Album You Won't Want to Miss

You'll feel familiar and nostalgia all at once, tapping along to reels like the Christmas Eve one, belt along with God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, and swing your glass (mine had smoothie, but yours might have whiskey) at Health to the Company.

Let All Mortal Flesh is on Spotify, and it offers a particularly heart-resonating sound. Danylo said, "Alex wanted it sound Byzantine style since he said it reminded him of the chant. When I did research, I found that it is indeed an ancient Byzantine hymn from 245 AD, sung only once a year in the liturgy of Saint Basil in Holy Saturday. It was picked up in the Middle Ages by the Latin rite and became a Christmas tune."

So you learn a little tune history! It feels like a true chant and very Byzantine with a haunting violin and church bells, too.

I'm confident you'll love this unique take on "classic traditional carols through the haunts of traditional pubs and out to sea."

Support small artisans, support growing Catholic families, and find an actual album of Christmas Out at Sea on their site here.

Listen my kids' fav song over on their YouTube—yes, that's Ethan climbing out of the dryer in the first few seconds.

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About Nell O'Leary

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Nell O’Leary is the Managing Editor for Blessed is She, an attorney turned writer, speaker, and editor while tending to her husband and five kiddos. She also facilitates our community groups as she loves helping women find sisterhood. Her undergrad is in English from University of Minnesota and her J.D. from Ave Maria School of Law. Notably, she can down a hot cocoa in two seconds. Find out more about her here.