FESTIVE FACT # 24
In Germany, during the reformation carols were greatly disapproved of, so as a result many were converted into hymns.
FESTIVE FACT # 22
The first church to be built in New York or New Amsterdam as it was at the time was built by the Dutch.
When it was completed the Dutch named it in honor of the gift giving Saint - St Nicholas.
THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER
- CHRISTMAS IN CONNECTICUT
The 1945 film “Christmas in Connecticut” tells the amusing story of a magazine writer, played by Barbara Stanwyck, famous for being an expert cook, mother and homemaker who has to entertain a war hero (Dennis Morgan) and her employer (Sydney Greenstreet) at her home on a Connecticut farm.
The only snag being that she can only write about homemaking, she isn’t a mother, she isn’t married and as for cooking she can’t even boil water and she lives in a small apartment in the city.
THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER
- IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE
No Christmas would be complete with watching Frank Capra’s 1946 classic “It’s A Wonderful Life”.
It was not a success at the box office at the time but it is now one of the most popular and heartwarming films ever made.
A typical performance by the ever dependable James Stewart is supported by the beautiful Donna Reed and playing the grasping villain of the piece Lionel Barrymore.
The film is a slightly dark almost bittersweet tale of a savings and loan manager, and a bit an Earnest do-gooder George Bailey (James Stewart) who struggles against a greedy banker and his own self-doubting nature in a small town.
After suffering a financial catastrophe he see suicide as a possible solution to his predicament only to be rescued by a whimsical, endearing, trainee-angel named Clarence (Henry Travers).
Bailey after years of feeling trapped in a small town finally recognizes his life as wonderful and truly rich.
It’s definitely not the kind of film that would be made today as nobody writes happy endings anymore.
THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER
- MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET
There have been two versions of Miracle on 34th Street and both are well worth watching.
The 1947 version starred Maureen O'Hara and John Payne with Edmund Gwenn as Kris Kringle while in 1994 there parts were played by Elizabeth Perkins, Dylan McDermott and Richard Attenborough.
It’s the story of a child brought up by her mother not to believe in Santa Claus however the mother unknowingly employs Kris Kringle to be Santa Claus at Macy’s department store.
Eventually he has to go to trial to prove he is the real Santa.
Apart from being hugely enjoyable films they both have in common the fact that the child stole the show in each case.
Natalie Wood in the original and Mara Wilson in the remake, both were a delight.
THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER
- WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING
The 1995 film 'While You Were Sleeping' is the story of a lonely young woman, Lucy Eleanor Moderatz (Sandra Bullock) who lives alone in an apartment in Chicago, with only her cat.
She works in the token booth at a subway station and fanaticizes about being rescued from her lot by a handsome stranger, Peter, who comes to her booth.
Then on Christmas day her world is turned upside down when the handsome stranger is mugged and pushed onto the tracks and she saves his life.
After a mix up at the hospital Lucy is introduced to Peter’s eccentric family as his fiancée.
This begins an amusing chain of events, during which Lucy finds the friendship and sense of belonging to a family which had been missing from her life and as a result she can’t bring herself to tell the family the truth.
Then she falls in love with Peter’s brother Jack (Bill Pullman).
It’s a truly heartwarming love story not to be missed.
POINSETTIA THE FLOWER OF THE HOLY NIGHT
The Poinsettia is named after the USA's first ambassador to Mexico, Joel Robert Poinsett, who served from 1825-1829.
He saw and was greatly taken with the colorful indigenous plant which was the Mexican Christmas flower.
The Aztecs called Poinsettias "Cuetlaxochitle." And between the 14th and 16th centuries the sap was used to control fevers and the red leaves were used to make dye.
Montezuma, the last of the Aztec kings was particularly fond of Poinsettias and had them brought especially to what is now Mexico City because the shrub could not be grown at high altitude.
Poinsett took some specimen plants with him on one of his trips back to America in 1828 and they flourished.
Despite an outstanding career as a United States Congressman and an ambassador he will always be remembered for introducing the Poinsettia into the United States.
the Mexicans believed the plants were symbolic of the Star of Bethlehem because of the star shapes created by the bright red leaves Thus the Poinsettia became associated with the Christmas season.
The Mexicans call the poinsettia "Flower of the Holy Night".
POISONOUS POINSETTIAS
Since the early part of the 20th century a rumor has persisted that Poinsettias are poisonous.
For over eighty years this rumor has continued to circulate because of an alleged incident in 1919 when the two year old child of an Army office allegedly died after eating a Poinsettia leaf.
It was never proved by medicine or science and no other incidents have been reported but the rumor persists.
Even if they are not poisonous don’t eat them anyway not at Christmas on any other time.
THE PEASANT GIRL AND THE POINSETTIA ANGEL
A Mexican legend tells of the reason for the Poinsettia becoming the Christmas flower.
There was a poor peasant girl really wanted to take a gift to honor the Virgin Mary at the Christmas Eve service but she had nothing to give.
Although she was very upset and disappointed she knew she still had to go to the service and she decided that she would have to go with nothing.
On the way to the church she was met by an angel, who asked her why she was sad.
The peasant girl told the angel it was because she had no gift for the virgin.
The angel told the girl to pick some weeds.
The girl was a little unconvinced that weeds would be suitable but she did it anyway.
She turned back towards the angle to show her the bunch of weeds she had picked as saw that they had been transformed into the bright scarlet 'flowers'.
Ever since that miracle poinsettias have graced churches and homes during the Christmas festival.
TURKEY
A stuffed turkey still occupies pride of place on many a traditional Christmas table.
The Turkey was first brought to Europe from Mexico by the Spanish in the 16th century.
It was very quickly domesticated in Spain, France and England and soon dislodged the goose as the traditional festive bird.
THE FESTIVAL OF SAN NICOLA
In Italy the big San Nicola festival commemorates the event of 1087 when the mortal remains of St. Nicholas where brought to Bari.
Many Christians were sufficiently concerned after the Turks occupied Myra they would no longer be permitted to visit the Saints tomb.
So a group of Italian sailors spirited them away to Bari where a huge was Cathedral was built in his honor.
At the festival every May, Nicola's statue is taken out to sea for a day and then Thousands welcome it back to Bari with a lighted procession winding from the harbor to a public square.
The mayor and other dignitaries greet the statue and address the crowds. The week-long celebration includes a solemn high mass in the basilica which is filled to over-flowing with devout worshipers.
FESTIVE FACT # 9
Rudolph, with the shiny red nose, was the ninth reindeer.
He was created in 1939 by an advertising writer for the Montgomery Ward agency.
The song of the classic children’s favorite wasn’t written until ten years later.
THE ROSE, THE CLOVE AND THE SAGE
As King Herod’s savage minions systematically scoured the countryside around Bethlehem, cutting the throats of any newborns they came across, Mary and Joseph fled across the mountains of Judea.
Seeing a village ahead, Joseph ran on to ask for hospitality but alas the people would not help.
While Mary was alone, seated by the roadside nursing the child Joseph took the donkey to drink from the well.
Then she heard shouts getting closer and the ground shook under the hooves of approaching horses. Then she realized it must be Herod’s soldiers.
She had to hide but she could see nowhere suitable no rocks or caves or even a tree.
The only thing Mary could see was a bush where a rose was beginning to bloom.
She walked to the bush and said "Rose, beautiful rose, please open out your petals and hide this child who they want to kill and his poor half-dead mother."
The rose replied, "Get on your way, young woman, and quickly in case the butchers brush by me and blemish my beautiful bloom. Go and see the clove over there. Tell her to shelter you. She has enough flowers to hide you."
She walked to the clove and said "Clove, pretty Clove, please open your branches and hide this child who they want to kill and his poor half-dead mother."
The clove replied,
"On your way, you wretched creature. I don’t have time to listen to you. I am too busy producing blooms all over. Go and see the sage plant over there. She has nothing better to do than dispense charity."
She walked to the bush and said "Sage, good Sage, please lift up your leaves and hide this child who they want to kill and his poor half-dead mother."
The sage plant then burst out in such abundant blossoms so as to cover all the earth and its velvety leaves made a canopy for the Christ child and His mother to shelter under
On the road, Herod's men passed by and saw nothing. At the sound of the soldiers passing, Mary shivered in terror but the baby smiled as he was caressed by the leaves. Then the soldiers were gone.
When Herod's men were gone, Mary and Jesus came out from their green refuge.
“Sage, holy sage, thank you. I bless you for your good deed which will always be remembered.”
Then Joseph found them, with the donkey which had been restored by a huge serving of barley which a kindly man had given him.
Mary remounted the donkey, and hugged her precious child.
When Michael, the Archangel of God, descended from the realms of Heaven to keep them company and show them the way to Egypt.
Since that time the rose has had thorns, the clove has foul smelling flowers and the sage plant is used to cure many ills.
FESTIVE FACT # 5
Many families in Finland visit cemeteries at Christmas time to place candles on the graves of friends and loved ones.
KRSNA SLAVA
The Orthodox Christian families in Serbia and Montenegro all have their own patron saint.
Each family then celebrates the Saints feast day with a unique Serbian Orthodox religious tradition in the form of Thanksgiving.
This is done on the anniversary of when their ancestors were baptized because when Serbians accepted Christianity whole families, villages or tribes where baptized at the same time.
The same saint is passed down through the generations.
Sveti Nikola or St. Nicholas is the patron saint for more than half of all the Serbian families and as a result many people celebrate on the 6th of December, either with their own family or as a guest elsewhere.
This is the Krsna Slava.
Krsna Slava is not just feasting, singing, and festival, but more importantly it’s a time of spiritual renewal and rededication to the Orthodox faith and church.
The Slava is also a family reunion usually held in the home of the family's oldest living member to commemorate the patron saint.
An Icon of the family's patron saint is on display and a candle, for Christ the Light of the World is lit.
A boiled wheat dish, representing Christ's death and resurrection is served with Slava bread decorated with cross and seal, for Jesus Christ the Bread of Life.
Red wine, for the blood of Christ's washing away sin.
A priest blesses the home and all within and all offer the prayer of Thanksgiving before the icon.
Serbian Orthodox observes Krsna Slava wherever they are live, not just in Serbia.
It is a very important day for the Serbian Orthodox church.
SANTA’S SOJOURN
Since the 1950s Santa Claus has, once the Christmas rush is over of course, happily sojourned at Napapiiri, near Rovaniemi in the Arctic Circle.
While there he has always been more than happy to meet children and the young at heart.
His visits to Napapiiri had become such a regular occurrence that in 1985 he established his own Santa Claus Office there.
He is available almost every day of the year to hear the children’s requests and to talk to children who have arrived from around the world.
A Village is now well established and it is now the location of Santa's main Post Office, which receives Christmas letters from children in every corner of the world.
THE LATVIAN WAY
The Latvians believe that the gift giver brings presents on each of the 12 days of Christmas starting on Christmas Eve and ending on epiphany, which is celebrated on January 6.
Usually the presents are put under the family Christmas tree.
What a lovely idea to spread Christmas magic out a little longer.
SANTA SCOOP
In 1925, a story was leaked to the international press claiming that due to a lack of grazing for the reindeer Santa Claus had to relocate from the North Pole.
The newspapers revelations when on to claim that Santa Claus had, in fact, moved his entire operation to Finnish Lapland.
There was a great deal of speculation about the validity of the claims until In 1927 "Uncle Markus" or Markus Rautio, who compared the popular "Children's hour" on Finnish public radio, revealed more information about the great secret for the first time.
He not only confirmed the newspaper reports of two years earlier that Santa Claus had moved to Lapland but even went on to name the place Korvatunturi translated as "Ear Fell" which is situated on Finland's eastern frontier.
MOLFETTA
On St. Nicholas Eve, The children in the Italian city of Molfetta, on the Adriatic coast, put a plate on the table with a letter asking for gifts and promising to be good in the coming year.
Austria
In Austria St. Nicholas, is honored throughout the land and It is said that as a reward for his generosity God allowed him to return to earth each year to bring gifts to all the good children of the world.
TORTUOUS TUNE
Christmas has inevitably become the time of year when every man and his dog decides to release a Christmas song.
Most of which would be instantly forgettable if it were not for the operators of supermarkets, department stores, shopping centers and hotels.
The insidious recordings of the Christmas wannaby’s are on a spooled tape which is played discriminately on shop floors, concourses, hotel lobbies and elevators inflicting customers and staff alike with the tortuous tones from October onwards.
CELTIC YULE
The Celts used to bring a large log indoors as a tribute to the sun god this was called the Yule log.
Celts in Cornwall, during the Christmas reveling would chalk a symbol of a man on the Yule log in a cheery reference to the human sacrifices who used to be thrown on the bonfire.
FESTIVE FACT # 14
In 1649 the first American Christmas carol was written by a minister named John de Brebeur and was called "Jesus is born".
JAPANESE MANDARINS
In Canada Japanese oranges have a special meaning to the people who live on the Canadian Prairies.
The arrival of a gift from the East, at the coldest time of the year has brightened many homes and Christmas feasts for over a hundred years.
It is believed by many that the festive season only really begins when Santa Claus welcomes the first shipment of Japanese mandarin oranges at the Port of Vancouver.
The shipment of fruit is accompanied by young Japanese girls dressed in tradition kimonos.
On Christmas morning the wonderful fruit is found in many a child's Christmas stocking.
THE NORWEGIAN TREE
The Christmas tree that stands in Trafalgar square every is the traditional Christmas gift to the people of Britain
Every year since 1947 the city of Oslo in Norway has presented the city of Westminster, London with a Christmas tree.
The first tree was a token of Norwegian appreciation of British friendship and support during the Second World War.
After the German forces invaded Norway in 1940, king Haakon vii was helped to escape Britain and a Norwegian government in exile was set up in London.
To the Norwegian people, London came to represent the spirit of freedom as during the dark days of occupation.
It was from London that the latest news was broadcast in Norwegian.
Also there were concealed messages for resistance groups were also broadcast at the same time.
The radio transmissions became a life line for the Norwegian people.
The tree is a powerful symbol of the close and warm relationship between the peoples of Britain and Norway.
The Norwegians are as proud to present their token of friendship as are the people of Britain to receive it.
The tree is a Norwegian spruce and is chosen from the forests surrounding Oslo with great care.
A particular tree can be earmarked for Trafalgar square for anything from several months to a couple of years in advance.
The tree is usually 70 ft. tall and in the region of 50 years old.
The Norwegian foresters responsible for its care describe it fondly as 'the queen of the forest'.
The tree is felled one day in November in the presence of the British ambassador to Norway and the mayors of Oslo and Westminster they even take active part in the felling.
As part of the ceremony local schoolchildren sing Christmas carols and 'forest coffee' and sandwiches are served.
The tree is then shipped across the North Sea to England and then by special transport to Trafalgar square.
The operation to erect the tree takes several hours a scaffolding tower is erected so the tree can be winched upright.
The base of the trees trunk is pushed four feet into the ground and it is then secured with a dozen’s of wooden wedges.
With no other form of support the tree stands unsupported again as it did in the forest.
The lighting ceremony takes place in the dusky early evening of the first Thursday in December.
A band play’s loudly and a choir sings Christmas carols as the mayor of Westminster arrives with other officials in his party.
Then after due ceremony and a flick of a switch the Christmas tree comes alive, in line with Norwegian tradition all the lights are white; the tree turns into a twinkling mass of white lights.
Carols are sung by the choir of nearby St martin-in-the-fields, and carol concerts are held in the square.
A crib is provided by the vicar of St. Martin-in-the-fields and it is placed on the west side of the square.
The passing public may stop on their way home from work and join the carol singers every night until Christmas.
FESTIVE FACT # 15
Christkind is an angelic messenger from Jesus a beautiful fair haired girl with a shining crown of candles.
Showing posts with label Santa. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Santa. Show all posts
Wednesday 2 November 2016
Tied Up With Tinsel # 3
THE TINSEL WIDOW
The Christian legend of the origins of tinsel concerns a poor widow who was left alone to care for her large family.
It was the first Christmas since the death of her husband and she was determined to make Christmas as special as she could possibly could for her children.
The poor widow worked every hour god sent her washing, cleaning and baking for the town’s people.
She went to the nearby forest and cut a Christmas tree for the house but it was a struggle for them to survive on her meager income and they could afford no decorations for it.
Instead she and her children made decorations for the tree they made snowflakes from scraps of paper and garlands from strips of old cloth and for baubles they used pine cones.
Working together they trimmed it as beautifully as they could with what little they had.
Spiders invaded the tree as they slept and as they crawled from branch to branch they left their shimmering webs behind them.
A watching angel knowing the family would be devastated by what the spiders had done transformed the webs into shimmering strands of silver.
When they awoke next morning they could not believe their eyes and they did indeed have a very special Christmas.
CHRISTMAS GIFTS
People have different perceptions as to the custom of The exchanging of Christmas presents some say it can be traced back to an ancient Roman custom of gift-giving which was practiced at the festival of Saturnalia.
It would certainly appear easy to make the transition from making an offering to a pagan deity to giving a gift.
Others believe that when the custom was Christianized the reason for gift-giving was attributed to represent the gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh that the Magi brought from the East when they sought out the newborn Jesus Christ.
But the most popular belief by far is that the custom is derived from the greatest gift-giver of all St Nicholas.
THE TINSEL ANGELS
One Christmas legend tells that as a child Jesus Christ was decorating a tree helped by a chorus of angels.
One of the angels got their hair caught on the branches of the tree as they were leaving and it instantly transformed into fine strands of silver tinsel.
IRISH SUPERSTITION
A Christmas superstition In Ireland holds that the gates of Heaven open at midnight on Christmas Eve and all those who die on Christmas Day will go straight to Heaven.
THE HANGING OF GREENS - HOLLY
The hanging of greens, such as Holly, Ivy and Mistletoe is a British winter tradition with origins far before the Christian era.
Greenery was used to lift people’s spirits during the long winter and remind them that spring was not far away.
Although holly is the only traditional decorative green which remains of the once famous duo of Holly and Ivy both have an ancient association with the winter festivities.
The Romans used holly during their Solstice celebration, known as Saturnalia and it had a close association with the God Dionysus.
Holly boughs were given as gifts during Saturnalia as it was believed to protect against lightning strikes and ward off evil spirits.
The Druids also held holly in very high esteem as a plant of death and regeneration.
The ancient custom was to decorate the doorway with intertwined garlands of holly and ivy which represented unity between the dual halves of divinity the Holly with its red berries representing the color of life and life’s blood was the Goddess and female while Ivy was the eternal representation of consort to the goddess and therefore was masculine in nature.
The Tradition stands that the first in the household whether male or female to bring Holly into the house would rule the roost for the coming year.
When Christianity spread across Europe, holly became synonymous with the word "holy."
It invoked great symbolism, its prickly leaves represented the crown of thorns worn by Jesus and the bright red berries represent the drops of blood He shed on the cross.
Legend tells that the berries of the holly plant were once yellow in color but were stained red by the blood of Christ.
Holly as with all the evergreen’s holly symbolizes eternal life.
BORN ON CHRISTMAS DAY # 1
Princess Alexandra was born on Christmas day 1936 at 3, Belgrave Square in London.
Conrad Hilton the founder of the hotel chain was born 1887
Dorothy Wordsworth the English prose writer and younger sister of poet William Wordsworth was born in 1771 in Cockermouth Cumbria.
Sir Isaac Newton the renowned scientist was born near Grantham in Lincolnshire, on December 25, 1642
And Humphrey Deforest Bogart was born on Christmas day in 1899 in New York.
THE HANGING OF GREENS - GARLANDS
The hanging of greens, such as Holly, Ivy and Mistletoe is a British winter tradition with origins far before the Christian era.
Greenery was used to lift people’s spirits during the long winter and remind them that spring was not far away.
The original Garlands were made by intertwining Holly and Ivy into thick vines of greenery and used in the ancient custom to decorate doorways.
The Holly and Ivy represented the unity between the dual halves of divinity the Holly was the Goddess and was feminine while the Ivy was the eternal consort to the goddess and therefore was masculine in nature.
The modern Garlands are very colorful but they are artificial and have no other purpose than to look nice.
SILVER TINSEL
It was in Germany that tinsel was first invented and it was made from real silver.
A crude machine was used to shred the silver into thin strips which were then twisted onto a central wire.
This was indeed a luxury product although and obviously only available to the privileged classes.
However the silver tinsel did not last forever as Silver would tarnish and lose its shine in time.
Despite its lack of longevity however it remained in use by those who could afford it until a cheaper artificial alternative was invented.
BELLS
On Christmas morning since medieval times Church bells are rung on Christmas morning to announce to the world the birth of Jesus Christ.
A legend has it that the bells were rung for an hour before midnight on the first Christmas Eve to warm the forces of darkness of the imminent arrival of the Savior and at the stroke of midnight the pitch of the bells changed into a joyous peal.
The sounding of the bells had another purpose namely to announce the death of the Devil which would come to pass upon by the coming of Jesus Christ.
This is why the church bell is also known as 'the Old Lad's Passing bell', 'Old Lad' being a euphemism for Satan.
The pealing bells also chase away evil spirits which easy repelled by any joyous sound.
The bells also have more frivolous uses than announcing the Savior on Christmas morning.
The bells are often used as Christmas tree decorations and also they adorn Christmas cards.
Traditionally Wassailers would use bells to announce their presence by ringing them and Father Christmas has jingling bells accompanying the progress of his sleigh.
THE BOARS HEAD
Serving a roasted boar's head was for many years associated with Christmas feasting in England.
It probably harks back to the Norse custom of sacrificing a boar at Yuletide in honor of the Norse god Freyr.
A more amusing telling of the story relates to a student at Oxford's Queen’s College who was attacked one Christmas Day by a wild boar.
As the Boar charged the poor student was armed with nothing more lethal than a copy of Aristotle, so with all his strength he thrust the book down the boar's throat killing it in its tracks.
The student however wanted his book back so he cut off the animal's head which he took back to the college where it was served for Christmas dinner amidst much pomp and ceremony.
CAROL SINGING
The custom of singing carols at Christmas is of English origin which began in the middle ages.
In the beginning the singing of Christmas carols was known as 'wassailing'.
But this soon changed and the singers became known as carolers when groups of serenaders called "waits" would travel around from house to house singing ancient carols and spreading the holiday spirit.
The word "carol" means "song of joy."
The reason Christmas carols became so popular was that the angels sang when they appeared to the shepherds at Bethlehem to announce the birth of Jesus Christ's.
The original meaning of a carol is quite different to what we imagine it to be today for a carol was once a secular dance which was performed at any time of the year.
People danced around in a circle holding hands and singing songs.
The dance reminded onlookers of a coronet so they called it a 'carol'. The name was transferred later on from the dance to the song itself. Carols
By the 16th century carols were sung only at Christmas time and at one time only Bishops and clergy were permitted to sing carols in church.
But carols became too popular amongst the public to be confined to church and were soon sung in the streets.
A true Carol tells the story in song of the birth of Christ and is sung during period leading up to Christmas.
CHRISTMAS DATE
It was in the 4th century when The Catholic Church decided to celebrate Christmas on December 25th.
The idea behind it was a simple enough one in that they wanted to eclipse the festivities of a rival pagan religion that threatened Christianity's existence.
At that time of the year The Romans celebrated the birthday of their sun god, Mithras.
Church leaders decided that in order to compete with the pagan’s they needed a festival of their own at the same time so they chose to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.
And it worked.
THE HANGING OF GREENS - WREATHS
The hanging of greens, such as Holly, Ivy and Mistletoe is a British winter tradition with origins far before the Christian era.
Greenery was used to lift people’s spirits during the long winter and remind them that spring was not far away.
The holly wreath with its red berries and other decorations dates back to the 17th century.
The roundness of the Wreath and the sharpness of its pointed Holly leaves symbolized Christ's crown-of-thorns and its Red berries the drops of Christ's blood.
The wreath was intertwined with red ribbons to express the festive spirit and the evergreen leaves stood for everlasting life and promised faithfulness to the Lord.
The Wreath which is traditionally displayed on the front door of a home during the weeks of Advent and the Christmas season once was a multiple role.
Harking back to its pagan origins the wreath was believed to protect a home from evil spirits and during the Middle Ages the red Holly berries were thought to keep witches at bay.
A wreath on the door at Christmas signified a home that celebrated the birth of Christ.
SILENT NIGHT
On the morning of Christmas Eve in 1818, an Austrian priest called Joseph Mohr, was told that the church organ was broken and would not be repaired in time for the Christmas Eve service.
He was so saddened at the prospect of Christmas without music that he decided he would try to write a carol that could be sung by the choir and be accompanied by guitar music.
So Joseph sat down and wrote three stanzas and later that night the people in the little Austrian Church in Oberndorff sang "Stille Nacht" for the first time.
DIED ON CHRISTMAS DAY # 1
W.C. Fields (William Claude Dukenfield) died December 25, 1946 aged 66 in Pasadena.
Paul Bourget the French novelist and critic died 1935.
The comic film star Charles Spencer Chaplin died at his home in Switzerland in 1977 aged 88.
And in 1995 entertainer Dean Martin died at his Beverly Hills home at the age of 78.
FESTIVE FACT # 19
The first commercial Christmas card caused something of a controversy when they first appeared in 1846.
The cards featured a drawing depicting a group of family members happily toasting each other with glasses of wine.
This was considered to be a shockingly decadent portrait and was immediately condemned by temperance advocates.
FESTIVE FACT # 17
On Christmas day 1066 William the Conqueror was crowned King of England.
DEVON SUPERSTITION
If, on Christmas Eve, in the county of Devon, a girl knocks on the henhouse door and a rooster crows, she will be married within the year.
ARTIFICIAL TREES
As so many Christmas innovations artificial trees originated in Germany towards the end of the 1800’s.
The trees were formed from Metal wire and covered with feathers Goose, Turkey, Ostrich or Swan and the feathers would be died green to imitate pine needles.
Then In the 1930's, the Addis Brush Company in America created the first artificial-brush trees.
They used the same machinery as that used to make their toilet brushes.
It was in 1950 that The Addis 'Silver Pine' tree was patented.
The tree was designed to have a revolving light source under it which would shine through colored gels casting different shades of light as it revolved beneath the tree.
Not a million miles away from the fiber optic trees we have today.
WASSAIL
Wassail, which was much liked by the English, accompanied hearty Christmas meals.
The word 'wassail' dates back to the pre-Christian times and practices and is derived from the Anglo Saxon phrase waes hael which meant "be thou well" or "good health.
Originally, wassail was a beverage made of mulled ale, curdled cream, roasted apples, nuts, eggs, and spices and it was served for the purpose of enhancing the general merriment of the season.
A toast was traditionally offered with a drink at regular intervals and normally with little or no reason.
It was important that after well-wishers had shared in the spirit of the toast and taken a sip that they top up the bowl.
The wassail bowl had to remain full from Christmas Eve to Twelfth Night
And much care was taken to ensure that it did in order to ensure the continuity of good cheer throughout this festive season.
The wassail bowl would be carried from room to room often accompanied by the singing of festive songs which is perhaps why the early practice of carol singing was referred to as 'wassailing’.
Part of the Wassailing ritual was more concerned in seeing nature renew itself in the spring and the belief in its ability to magically bestow fertility on one and all.
THE HANGING OF GREENS – IVY
The hanging of greens, such as holly, ivy and Mistletoe is a British winter tradition with origins far before the Christian era.
Greenery was used to lift people’s spirits during the long winter and remind them that spring was not far away.
Ivy, the accepted symbol of friendship, like Holly and Mistletoe, has since pagan times been used as a decoration at festivals.
The ancient custom was to decorate the doorway with intertwined garlands of Holly and Ivy which represented unity between the dual halves of divinity the Holly was the Goddess and female while Ivy was the eternal representation of consort to the goddess and therefore was masculine in nature.
In pagan religions Ivy had been a symbol of eternal life while the Christians believe it stands for the new promise of eternal life.
The Romans used Ivy as part of celebrations related to the god Bacchus, whose worshippers were thought to have worn Ivy crowns.
We rarely decorate our houses with ivy anymore at Christmas but many homes have potted ivy plants in the home all year round.
THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER
- THE BISHOPS WIFE
The 1947 film “The Bishop's Wife” Tells the tale of An Episcopal Bishop, Henry Brougham played by David Niven, who has been working for months on the plans for a new cathedral paid for by a selfish and stubborn widow Mrs. Hamilton, Gladys Cooper.
As a result he begins to lose sight of his wife, Julia, Loretta Young and family and of why he joined the church in the first place.
So Dudley, an angel, Cary Grant, is sent to help him.
Dudley help’s everyone he meets, but not always in the way they would have chosen.
None the less everyone liked Dudley except Henry.
As Christmas approaches Henry begins to believe that Dudley is there to replace him, at work, and in his family’s affections.
A gem of a movie.
FESTIVE FACT # 21
The biggest selling Christmas single of all time is Irving Berlin’s White Christmas sung by Bing Crosby's.
FESTIVE FACT # 23
During the Reformation in Switzerland, all instrumental and choral music was banned from churches.
THE CANDY CANE
The humble candy cane has been around for nearly four hundred years.
It was during the seventeenth century when European Christians began the use of Christmas trees as part of their Christmas celebrations and they began making special edible decorations for their trees.
The first of these decorations were cookies and sugar-sticks.
It was very soon after the all-white candy canes were given out to children after a nativity service that sweet makers both professional and amateur began making the straight hard white sugar-sticks.
The custom of clergymen handing out candy canes after Christmas services spread throughout Europe and then later to America.
There is an historical reference that a choirmaster at cologne cathedral bent a candy stick into the shape of a shepherds crook as early as 1670.
The canes remained all white and straight but sometimes the confectioners would add sugar-roses to embellish the canes.
It was at the start of the 20th century that the canes acquired their familiar red stripes.
Great religious significance has been bestowed upon the humble candy cane for example the white indicates the purity of our lord, the three stripes represent the holy trinity the red is for the blood of Christ and the crook on its top is for the shepherds.
The hardness of the candy represents the church's foundation on solid rock and the peppermint flavor the use of hyssop, an herb referred to in the Old Testament.
And last but by no means least if you turn the cane upside down you have a letter “j” which, yes you’ve guessed it is for Jesus.
There is no historical evidence to support these claims, quite the contrary, but they are lovely thoughts.
Around the same time as the stripe arrived so did the flavorings, Peppermint and wintergreen and they have remained unchanged ever since.
During the 1950’s a catholic priest called Gregory Keller is credited with invented a machine which automated candy cane production.
The Christian legend of the origins of tinsel concerns a poor widow who was left alone to care for her large family.
It was the first Christmas since the death of her husband and she was determined to make Christmas as special as she could possibly could for her children.
The poor widow worked every hour god sent her washing, cleaning and baking for the town’s people.
She went to the nearby forest and cut a Christmas tree for the house but it was a struggle for them to survive on her meager income and they could afford no decorations for it.
Instead she and her children made decorations for the tree they made snowflakes from scraps of paper and garlands from strips of old cloth and for baubles they used pine cones.
Working together they trimmed it as beautifully as they could with what little they had.
Spiders invaded the tree as they slept and as they crawled from branch to branch they left their shimmering webs behind them.
A watching angel knowing the family would be devastated by what the spiders had done transformed the webs into shimmering strands of silver.
When they awoke next morning they could not believe their eyes and they did indeed have a very special Christmas.
CHRISTMAS GIFTS
People have different perceptions as to the custom of The exchanging of Christmas presents some say it can be traced back to an ancient Roman custom of gift-giving which was practiced at the festival of Saturnalia.
It would certainly appear easy to make the transition from making an offering to a pagan deity to giving a gift.
Others believe that when the custom was Christianized the reason for gift-giving was attributed to represent the gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh that the Magi brought from the East when they sought out the newborn Jesus Christ.
But the most popular belief by far is that the custom is derived from the greatest gift-giver of all St Nicholas.
THE TINSEL ANGELS
One Christmas legend tells that as a child Jesus Christ was decorating a tree helped by a chorus of angels.
One of the angels got their hair caught on the branches of the tree as they were leaving and it instantly transformed into fine strands of silver tinsel.
IRISH SUPERSTITION
A Christmas superstition In Ireland holds that the gates of Heaven open at midnight on Christmas Eve and all those who die on Christmas Day will go straight to Heaven.
THE HANGING OF GREENS - HOLLY
The hanging of greens, such as Holly, Ivy and Mistletoe is a British winter tradition with origins far before the Christian era.
Greenery was used to lift people’s spirits during the long winter and remind them that spring was not far away.
Although holly is the only traditional decorative green which remains of the once famous duo of Holly and Ivy both have an ancient association with the winter festivities.
The Romans used holly during their Solstice celebration, known as Saturnalia and it had a close association with the God Dionysus.
Holly boughs were given as gifts during Saturnalia as it was believed to protect against lightning strikes and ward off evil spirits.
The Druids also held holly in very high esteem as a plant of death and regeneration.
The ancient custom was to decorate the doorway with intertwined garlands of holly and ivy which represented unity between the dual halves of divinity the Holly with its red berries representing the color of life and life’s blood was the Goddess and female while Ivy was the eternal representation of consort to the goddess and therefore was masculine in nature.
The Tradition stands that the first in the household whether male or female to bring Holly into the house would rule the roost for the coming year.
When Christianity spread across Europe, holly became synonymous with the word "holy."
It invoked great symbolism, its prickly leaves represented the crown of thorns worn by Jesus and the bright red berries represent the drops of blood He shed on the cross.
Legend tells that the berries of the holly plant were once yellow in color but were stained red by the blood of Christ.
Holly as with all the evergreen’s holly symbolizes eternal life.
BORN ON CHRISTMAS DAY # 1
Princess Alexandra was born on Christmas day 1936 at 3, Belgrave Square in London.
Conrad Hilton the founder of the hotel chain was born 1887
Dorothy Wordsworth the English prose writer and younger sister of poet William Wordsworth was born in 1771 in Cockermouth Cumbria.
Sir Isaac Newton the renowned scientist was born near Grantham in Lincolnshire, on December 25, 1642
And Humphrey Deforest Bogart was born on Christmas day in 1899 in New York.
THE HANGING OF GREENS - GARLANDS
The hanging of greens, such as Holly, Ivy and Mistletoe is a British winter tradition with origins far before the Christian era.
Greenery was used to lift people’s spirits during the long winter and remind them that spring was not far away.
The original Garlands were made by intertwining Holly and Ivy into thick vines of greenery and used in the ancient custom to decorate doorways.
The Holly and Ivy represented the unity between the dual halves of divinity the Holly was the Goddess and was feminine while the Ivy was the eternal consort to the goddess and therefore was masculine in nature.
The modern Garlands are very colorful but they are artificial and have no other purpose than to look nice.
SILVER TINSEL
It was in Germany that tinsel was first invented and it was made from real silver.
A crude machine was used to shred the silver into thin strips which were then twisted onto a central wire.
This was indeed a luxury product although and obviously only available to the privileged classes.
However the silver tinsel did not last forever as Silver would tarnish and lose its shine in time.
Despite its lack of longevity however it remained in use by those who could afford it until a cheaper artificial alternative was invented.
BELLS
On Christmas morning since medieval times Church bells are rung on Christmas morning to announce to the world the birth of Jesus Christ.
A legend has it that the bells were rung for an hour before midnight on the first Christmas Eve to warm the forces of darkness of the imminent arrival of the Savior and at the stroke of midnight the pitch of the bells changed into a joyous peal.
The sounding of the bells had another purpose namely to announce the death of the Devil which would come to pass upon by the coming of Jesus Christ.
This is why the church bell is also known as 'the Old Lad's Passing bell', 'Old Lad' being a euphemism for Satan.
The pealing bells also chase away evil spirits which easy repelled by any joyous sound.
The bells also have more frivolous uses than announcing the Savior on Christmas morning.
The bells are often used as Christmas tree decorations and also they adorn Christmas cards.
Traditionally Wassailers would use bells to announce their presence by ringing them and Father Christmas has jingling bells accompanying the progress of his sleigh.
THE BOARS HEAD
Serving a roasted boar's head was for many years associated with Christmas feasting in England.
It probably harks back to the Norse custom of sacrificing a boar at Yuletide in honor of the Norse god Freyr.
A more amusing telling of the story relates to a student at Oxford's Queen’s College who was attacked one Christmas Day by a wild boar.
As the Boar charged the poor student was armed with nothing more lethal than a copy of Aristotle, so with all his strength he thrust the book down the boar's throat killing it in its tracks.
The student however wanted his book back so he cut off the animal's head which he took back to the college where it was served for Christmas dinner amidst much pomp and ceremony.
CAROL SINGING
The custom of singing carols at Christmas is of English origin which began in the middle ages.
In the beginning the singing of Christmas carols was known as 'wassailing'.
But this soon changed and the singers became known as carolers when groups of serenaders called "waits" would travel around from house to house singing ancient carols and spreading the holiday spirit.
The word "carol" means "song of joy."
The reason Christmas carols became so popular was that the angels sang when they appeared to the shepherds at Bethlehem to announce the birth of Jesus Christ's.
The original meaning of a carol is quite different to what we imagine it to be today for a carol was once a secular dance which was performed at any time of the year.
People danced around in a circle holding hands and singing songs.
The dance reminded onlookers of a coronet so they called it a 'carol'. The name was transferred later on from the dance to the song itself. Carols
By the 16th century carols were sung only at Christmas time and at one time only Bishops and clergy were permitted to sing carols in church.
But carols became too popular amongst the public to be confined to church and were soon sung in the streets.
A true Carol tells the story in song of the birth of Christ and is sung during period leading up to Christmas.
CHRISTMAS DATE
It was in the 4th century when The Catholic Church decided to celebrate Christmas on December 25th.
The idea behind it was a simple enough one in that they wanted to eclipse the festivities of a rival pagan religion that threatened Christianity's existence.
At that time of the year The Romans celebrated the birthday of their sun god, Mithras.
Church leaders decided that in order to compete with the pagan’s they needed a festival of their own at the same time so they chose to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.
And it worked.
THE HANGING OF GREENS - WREATHS
The hanging of greens, such as Holly, Ivy and Mistletoe is a British winter tradition with origins far before the Christian era.
Greenery was used to lift people’s spirits during the long winter and remind them that spring was not far away.
The holly wreath with its red berries and other decorations dates back to the 17th century.
The roundness of the Wreath and the sharpness of its pointed Holly leaves symbolized Christ's crown-of-thorns and its Red berries the drops of Christ's blood.
The wreath was intertwined with red ribbons to express the festive spirit and the evergreen leaves stood for everlasting life and promised faithfulness to the Lord.
The Wreath which is traditionally displayed on the front door of a home during the weeks of Advent and the Christmas season once was a multiple role.
Harking back to its pagan origins the wreath was believed to protect a home from evil spirits and during the Middle Ages the red Holly berries were thought to keep witches at bay.
A wreath on the door at Christmas signified a home that celebrated the birth of Christ.
SILENT NIGHT
On the morning of Christmas Eve in 1818, an Austrian priest called Joseph Mohr, was told that the church organ was broken and would not be repaired in time for the Christmas Eve service.
He was so saddened at the prospect of Christmas without music that he decided he would try to write a carol that could be sung by the choir and be accompanied by guitar music.
So Joseph sat down and wrote three stanzas and later that night the people in the little Austrian Church in Oberndorff sang "Stille Nacht" for the first time.
DIED ON CHRISTMAS DAY # 1
W.C. Fields (William Claude Dukenfield) died December 25, 1946 aged 66 in Pasadena.
Paul Bourget the French novelist and critic died 1935.
The comic film star Charles Spencer Chaplin died at his home in Switzerland in 1977 aged 88.
And in 1995 entertainer Dean Martin died at his Beverly Hills home at the age of 78.
FESTIVE FACT # 19
The first commercial Christmas card caused something of a controversy when they first appeared in 1846.
The cards featured a drawing depicting a group of family members happily toasting each other with glasses of wine.
This was considered to be a shockingly decadent portrait and was immediately condemned by temperance advocates.
FESTIVE FACT # 17
On Christmas day 1066 William the Conqueror was crowned King of England.
DEVON SUPERSTITION
If, on Christmas Eve, in the county of Devon, a girl knocks on the henhouse door and a rooster crows, she will be married within the year.
ARTIFICIAL TREES
As so many Christmas innovations artificial trees originated in Germany towards the end of the 1800’s.
The trees were formed from Metal wire and covered with feathers Goose, Turkey, Ostrich or Swan and the feathers would be died green to imitate pine needles.
Then In the 1930's, the Addis Brush Company in America created the first artificial-brush trees.
They used the same machinery as that used to make their toilet brushes.
It was in 1950 that The Addis 'Silver Pine' tree was patented.
The tree was designed to have a revolving light source under it which would shine through colored gels casting different shades of light as it revolved beneath the tree.
Not a million miles away from the fiber optic trees we have today.
WASSAIL
Wassail, which was much liked by the English, accompanied hearty Christmas meals.
The word 'wassail' dates back to the pre-Christian times and practices and is derived from the Anglo Saxon phrase waes hael which meant "be thou well" or "good health.
Originally, wassail was a beverage made of mulled ale, curdled cream, roasted apples, nuts, eggs, and spices and it was served for the purpose of enhancing the general merriment of the season.
A toast was traditionally offered with a drink at regular intervals and normally with little or no reason.
It was important that after well-wishers had shared in the spirit of the toast and taken a sip that they top up the bowl.
The wassail bowl had to remain full from Christmas Eve to Twelfth Night
And much care was taken to ensure that it did in order to ensure the continuity of good cheer throughout this festive season.
The wassail bowl would be carried from room to room often accompanied by the singing of festive songs which is perhaps why the early practice of carol singing was referred to as 'wassailing’.
Part of the Wassailing ritual was more concerned in seeing nature renew itself in the spring and the belief in its ability to magically bestow fertility on one and all.
THE HANGING OF GREENS – IVY
The hanging of greens, such as holly, ivy and Mistletoe is a British winter tradition with origins far before the Christian era.
Greenery was used to lift people’s spirits during the long winter and remind them that spring was not far away.
Ivy, the accepted symbol of friendship, like Holly and Mistletoe, has since pagan times been used as a decoration at festivals.
The ancient custom was to decorate the doorway with intertwined garlands of Holly and Ivy which represented unity between the dual halves of divinity the Holly was the Goddess and female while Ivy was the eternal representation of consort to the goddess and therefore was masculine in nature.
In pagan religions Ivy had been a symbol of eternal life while the Christians believe it stands for the new promise of eternal life.
The Romans used Ivy as part of celebrations related to the god Bacchus, whose worshippers were thought to have worn Ivy crowns.
We rarely decorate our houses with ivy anymore at Christmas but many homes have potted ivy plants in the home all year round.
THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER
- THE BISHOPS WIFE
The 1947 film “The Bishop's Wife” Tells the tale of An Episcopal Bishop, Henry Brougham played by David Niven, who has been working for months on the plans for a new cathedral paid for by a selfish and stubborn widow Mrs. Hamilton, Gladys Cooper.
As a result he begins to lose sight of his wife, Julia, Loretta Young and family and of why he joined the church in the first place.
So Dudley, an angel, Cary Grant, is sent to help him.
Dudley help’s everyone he meets, but not always in the way they would have chosen.
None the less everyone liked Dudley except Henry.
As Christmas approaches Henry begins to believe that Dudley is there to replace him, at work, and in his family’s affections.
A gem of a movie.
FESTIVE FACT # 21
The biggest selling Christmas single of all time is Irving Berlin’s White Christmas sung by Bing Crosby's.
FESTIVE FACT # 23
During the Reformation in Switzerland, all instrumental and choral music was banned from churches.
THE CANDY CANE
The humble candy cane has been around for nearly four hundred years.
It was during the seventeenth century when European Christians began the use of Christmas trees as part of their Christmas celebrations and they began making special edible decorations for their trees.
The first of these decorations were cookies and sugar-sticks.
It was very soon after the all-white candy canes were given out to children after a nativity service that sweet makers both professional and amateur began making the straight hard white sugar-sticks.
The custom of clergymen handing out candy canes after Christmas services spread throughout Europe and then later to America.
There is an historical reference that a choirmaster at cologne cathedral bent a candy stick into the shape of a shepherds crook as early as 1670.
The canes remained all white and straight but sometimes the confectioners would add sugar-roses to embellish the canes.
It was at the start of the 20th century that the canes acquired their familiar red stripes.
Great religious significance has been bestowed upon the humble candy cane for example the white indicates the purity of our lord, the three stripes represent the holy trinity the red is for the blood of Christ and the crook on its top is for the shepherds.
The hardness of the candy represents the church's foundation on solid rock and the peppermint flavor the use of hyssop, an herb referred to in the Old Testament.
And last but by no means least if you turn the cane upside down you have a letter “j” which, yes you’ve guessed it is for Jesus.
There is no historical evidence to support these claims, quite the contrary, but they are lovely thoughts.
Around the same time as the stripe arrived so did the flavorings, Peppermint and wintergreen and they have remained unchanged ever since.
During the 1950’s a catholic priest called Gregory Keller is credited with invented a machine which automated candy cane production.
Tied Up With Tinsel # 2
THE ORIGINS OF THE CHRISTMAS TREE
– THE VICTORIAN WAY
For the Victorians, the ideal Christmas tree had to be six branches tall and it was placed on a table covered with a white damask tablecloth. The tree was then decorated with garlands, assorted candies and delicate paper flowers.
PLUM PUDDING
Plum pudding is a famous and almost typically English dessert.
It got its name of plum pudding in the 17th century because plum was one of the ingredients.
But quite why they settled on plum pudding as the plum was only one of more than two dozen of the finely chopped ingredients folded into the dough.
The finished steamed pudding adorned with a sprig of holly would be brought flaming to the table and served with great ceremony.
THE YULE LOG
The Yule log custom existed in most Europeans countries and dates back as far as the 12th century.
The custom happened on Christmas Eve when an enormous log of freshly cut wood predictably called the Yule log would be carried to the house amidst great ceremony.
It would be placed on the hearth On Christmas Eve, by the master of the house would make a traditional libation by sprinkling the trunk with a combination of oil, salt and mulled wine and say an appropriate prayer.
If possible the young girls of the household would light the log with splinters from the previous year’s log which would have been kept safely stored away. If no young girls were available the honor and privilege fell to the mother of the house.
Superstition says that the cinders of the burnt log should be kept to protect the house from a variety of mishaps including lightning strikes and even protect against the malevolent attentions of the devil.
The tradition had all but died out by the end of the 19th century mainly due to changes in the way houses were heated the magnificent hearths of the great house began to be replaced by boilers of stoves and then in the 20th century houses began to be built with no fireplace at all.
The great Yule log has now been replaced by a small log decorated with candles, holly and other Christmas embellishments to be placed in the center of the Christmas table as a festive decoration.
Also today we have the marvelous Yule log cake which is a firm favorite it our house made from a delicious Swiss roll cake covered in chocolate icing and sugared decorations.
THE CHRISTMAS CAKE
Christmas fruit cake is derived from the famous English Christmas or plum pudding.
The recipe was much simpler with fewer ingredients although it included large quantities of candied fruit, raisins, dates and nuts and is generally prepared long in advance of Christmas and is liberally laced with Brandy.
Like plum pudding it would originally have been flaming when served but in time this changed and soon the cakes were being decorated with marzipan and icing instead.
THE HUMBLE MINCE PIE
The mince pie was originally oblong in shape which was supposed to symbolize the cradle of Christ.
The pie was covered with a thick crusty pastry cover which had an indentation in the center in which a small doll also made from pastry supposed to be the Christ child was placed.
The original mince pie was filled with minced lamb's tongue and mutton.
It wasn’t until returning medieval Crusaders brought back spices from the East which replaced the meat filling.
It was also at this time the pies became the familiar round shape.
Even though few people are aware of their origins the mince pie remains one of the most popular Christmas treats.
CHRISTMAS CANDLES – A DIVINE LIGHT
The lighting of candles during religious festivals precedes Christianity by many centuries originally part of pagan ritual practiced by early sun worshippers. When Christianity was well established the church tried in vain to eradicate the ritual use of candles.
Then in the spirit of “if you can’t beat them join them” they gradually incorporated the lighting of candles into Christian services.
The candles were invested with a new meaning and they came to symbolize the divine light that illuminated the world, Christ.
CHRISTMAS CANDLES – A SIGN
There is a popular belief that candles are used at Christmas as a remembrance of people at the time of Jesus Christ's birth.
These people are said to have put lighted candles in their windows as a signal to Mary and Joseph that they would be welcome in their homes.
BRIGHT AND MORNING STAR
The star is eternally linked to Christmas and takes pride of place at the very top of the Christmas tree.
When we look at the star we should recall the star seen 'in the East' by the three wise men.
On Christmas Eve In ceremonies all over the world the Christmas celebration begins with the arrival of the first star.
In various traditional ceremonies from Poland to Alaska the Festival of the Star is celebrated in various forms.
The Christmas star is a powerful symbol to Christians in the Bible it is called "the bright and morning star."
AN IRISH BOXING DAY
St. Stephen's Day in Ireland is celebrated in a different way, but is similar to Boxing Day in other places in so much as it also has to do with the solicitation of money.
The Young men is extravagant dress with some of them wearing masks parade through the streets noisily in what is known as the Wren Boys' Procession.
The young men carry a long pole on top of which is attached a holly bush and the bush is supposed to contain a captured wren, and it’s for the wren sake the young men beg for money.
OLD YEARS NIGHT IN SCOTLAND
In Scotland Christmas has been celebrated with considerably less exuberance than elsewhere in the British Isles although that has changed latterly.
The Scots have always reserved their merriment for New Year's Eve, which they call Hogmanay.
The word Hogmanay is believed to derive from a kind of oatcake that was given to children on New Year's Eve as part of the tradition.
The “first footer” is the first person to set foot across the threshold in a house after midnight on New Year’s Eve.
The superstition is thought to profoundly affect the fortunes of the inhabitants it should if possible be a stranger preferably dark-haired but fair-haired is ok if that’s all you can get.
This tradition is generally known as "first footing."
BOXING DAY
Over the Christmas season alms boxes are placed in churches to collect for the poor and these are what are opened on Boxing Day the day after Christmas day.
The contents of the boxes are then handed out to the poor of the parish on December 26th, Boxing Day, also known as the Feast of St Stephen.
Stephen was a Christian martyr who was stoned to death for being a follower of Christ's shortly after his crucifixion.
Boxing Day is celebrated in Britain, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada and it has become a public holiday in the last century.
This has been a godsend to many families by having Christmas Day and Boxing Day as holidays this allowed them the time to travel to visit family members and celebrate with them.
It made it much easier for people to get together with those who were important to them.
It is perhaps better known today as a day of outdoor sports and horse racing and hunting rather than for any religious significance.
CHRISTMAS ROSE
The Legend of the Christmas Rose links this winter blooming flower with the birth of the Christ Child.
The legend says that the three wise men accompanied by the shepherds were traveling to the east when they met with a shepherdess named Madelon who was tending to her sheep.
She began to weep when she saw the gifts for the Christ child because she had had nothing to give.
An angel saw her crying and brushed the snow away where her tears had fallen and revealed a beautiful white flower tipped with pink, the Christmas Rose.
A NOBLE BOXING DAY
There has long been a rather fanciful notion that Boxing Day dates from the middle Ages with the noble lords and ladies of England presenting Christmas gifts in boxes to their servants on December 26th there is no evidence to support this but it is a nice idea though unlikely.
CAROLING IN WALES
The welsh are a very musical nation so Caroling is particularly popular in Wales where it is called eisteddfodde and is amongst other things often accompanied by a harp.
One custom in some rural areas a person is chosen to travel around the town draped in white and carrying a horse's skull on a long pole.
If anyone is given a "bite" by the horse's jaws they must pay a fine.
FESTIVE FACT # 10
The first postage stamp to commemorate Christmas was issued in Austria in 1937.
BAUBLES
The Baubles we use to decorate our Christmas trees are representative of the Apples found on the Tree of Life in Paradise.
This is the popular belief even though the Bible doesn’t actually state that the tree of life was an apple tree.
To most people modern Baubles are not replicas of the fruit but are just colorful ornaments which reflect the light of candles and fairy lights and contribute to the festive spirit.
LAUREL
The early Christians in Ancient Rome were the first to decorate their homes with laurel.
They adopted the idea from the Pagan Romans who used laurel during the Saturnalia festival and who believed laurel was sacred to the sun god Apollo.
When the Romans Empire became Christian laurel became a great symbol of Christmas.
THE TINSEL SYMBOL
Tinsel like many things about Christmas is symbolic and what glittering tinsel symbolizes is light and light in all forms was held to have magic qualities in both the pagan and Christian faiths.
Light was the magic against the darkness of winter and was the power of Christ against the forces of darkness.
XMAS
I have always hated the use of Xmas instead of Christmas and in fact I always believed it to be a vulgar Americanism.
Well I was wrong The Xmas abbreviation for Christmas is in fact of Greek origin as The Greek word for Christ is Xristos.
It was sometime during the 16th century that Europeans began abbreviating Christ’s name with and "X" in Christmas as a form of shorthand for the word.
The 16th century Christians at that time would have understood that X stood for Christ's name.
Unlike 21st century Christians who don’t understand Greek and think using the word "Xmas" is disrespectful or just one more vulgar Americanism.
THE COLOR OF CHRISTMAS
We automatically associate colors with Christmas festivities such as the red of the berries on the holly bush or in Santa’s outfit.
Red in its many uses is definitely the color of December and as a religious symbol it stands for fire, blood and charity.
We also have the green of Christmas trees and holly and Green is the universal symbol for nature and for youth.
Christmas is a feast of hope, with a newborn child as its central symbol.
It is for this reason that green is the color of new beginnings and the hope of eternal life.
Symbolically, white stands for light and purity as seen in the white robes of the Christmas angels and in the white snowy Christmas landscapes.
Gold is the color of the Christmas stars and candles and stands for sunlight and radiance.
The Golden radiance is Christ’s love for the world.
THE STOLLEN
The Stollen is a type of German Christmas cake which is a kind of sweet bread, enriched with a various dried fruits and nuts and covered with icing sugar.
German Families and bakeries alike treasured the own secret recipes for the Stollen and all claimed to have a secret ingredient, details of which would be handed down through the generations.
The shape of the Stollen is like a loaf of bread and is supposed to symbolize the baby Jesus Christ wrapped in swaddling clothes.
FESTIVE FACT # 13
Franklin Pierce was the fourteenth President of the United States (1853-1857) and in 1856 he was the first President to decorate the first White House Christmas tree.
GOOD KING WENCESLAS
According to the legend the first of the Premysl was a plowman who married a Bohemian princess named Libussa during the 8th century and it was their descendants who in time united the warring tribes of Bohemia into one duchy.
Duke Borivoy I married a Slav princess named Ludmila and they both became Christians and they tried their hardest to convert all of Bohemia to
Christianity, but were unable to do so.
Upon the death of Borivoy his sons, Ratislav and Spythinev succeeded him it was Ratislav who was the father of Wenceslas.
Wenceslas was born around 907 in a castle near Prague and when he was only thirteen years old his father died Wenceslas succeeded him as duke.
Because of his age he was too young to rule so his mother, Drahomira, became the regent she was vehemently opposed to Christianity and used her new found power to persecute Christians.
She also refused to let Wenceslas see his grandmother Ludmila because she was afraid that they would plot to overthrow her but it wasn’t long before Drahomira had her murdered.
After Ludmila’s death she was revered by Christians as a saint.
At the age of 18 Wenceslas overthrew his mother's regency and he began to rule for himself.
He was a stern but fair monarch, he stopped the persecution of Christians and he managed to tame the rebellious nobility.
He was known across bohemia for his kindness to the poor and he was especially charitable to children.
However Many of the Bohemian nobles resented Wenceslas's attempts to spread Christianity and when he swore allegiance to the king of Germany, Henry I they were greatly displeased.
But in the end his greatest enemy proved to be his own brother, Boleslav, who joined the nobles to plot his brother's assassination.
Boleslav invited Wenceslas to a religious festival and then attacked and killed him on his way to mass.
"Good King" Wenceslas died on September 20, 929. He was still in his early twenties and had ruled Bohemia for only five years.
Today he is remembered as the patron saint of the Czech Republic.
ROSEMARY
Rosemary has long been associated with Christmas and was often used during the middle Ages by the women folk who spread it on the floor and as people walked on it crushing it under foot a pleasant aroma was released.
Tradition tells us that Rosemary is so fragrant because Mary laid on its branches the garments of the Christ Child on the night he was born.
The legend also says that suddenly flowers blossomed on the trees and they bore abundant fruit even though they were out of season.
THE HANGING OF GREENS - MISTLETOE
The hanging of greens, such as Holly, Ivy and Mistletoe is a British winter tradition with origins far before the Christian era.
Greenery was used to lift people’s spirits during the long winter and remind them that spring was not far away.
For hundreds of years before the birth of Christ the ancient Druids used mistletoe to celebrate the winter solstice.
The Druids gathered the parasitic evergreen plant and used it to decorate their homes.
They had an affinity with nature and believed the plant to have special healing powers for a variety of ills from female infertility to poison ingestion.
The Scandinavians thought of mistletoe as a plant of peace and harmony and associated it with their goddess of love, Frigga which is why the Norse folk believe the custom of kissing under the mistletoe is believed to have derived from this belief.
The druids regarded the mistletoe as sacred and they made certain that it never touched the ground and it was dedicated to the Goddess of Love which is the Druid explanation of kissing under it.
Originally, when a boy kissed a girl, he plucked a berry from the cluster and presented it to her. When there were no more berries, there were no more kisses.
The custom of kissing under the mistletoe originally was a belief that the evergreen plant increases your sexual power or promotes fertility.
In a small number of places in the world its potency was so highly regarded that it could improve the productivity of the soil, it could make cattle more fertile and curer impotence in men and any girl who had not been kissed under the mistletoe would be barren.
The Druids believed mistletoe's magic extended far beyond fertility and they thought it could cure almost any disease and was therefore known as 'all healer'.
A Sprigs fixed above your doorway would protect from lightning and ward of evil from your home.
As the plant was a parasite and grey on other trees it had no roots and so it was believed that it grew from heaven.
Even the gathering of the mistletoe is steeped in ritual.
A Druid priest using a sacred sickle had to cut the mistletoe from an oak tree
On the sixth day of the new moon when he had done so a virgin girl had to catch the falling plant before it touched the ground.
If it touched the ground it was spoiled.
The early Christian church banned the use of mistletoe in Christmas celebrations because of its pagan origins and they favored the use of Holly as an appropriate substitute for the Christmas greenery conveniently forgetting pagan origins of Holly.
Nowadays mistletoe is used merely as an excuse for taking liberties at the office Christmas party.
REINDEER NAMES
According to Clement Clarke Moore’s 1823 poem the names of Santa's Reindeers are Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner and Blitzen.
– THE VICTORIAN WAY
For the Victorians, the ideal Christmas tree had to be six branches tall and it was placed on a table covered with a white damask tablecloth. The tree was then decorated with garlands, assorted candies and delicate paper flowers.
PLUM PUDDING
Plum pudding is a famous and almost typically English dessert.
It got its name of plum pudding in the 17th century because plum was one of the ingredients.
But quite why they settled on plum pudding as the plum was only one of more than two dozen of the finely chopped ingredients folded into the dough.
The finished steamed pudding adorned with a sprig of holly would be brought flaming to the table and served with great ceremony.
THE YULE LOG
The Yule log custom existed in most Europeans countries and dates back as far as the 12th century.
The custom happened on Christmas Eve when an enormous log of freshly cut wood predictably called the Yule log would be carried to the house amidst great ceremony.
It would be placed on the hearth On Christmas Eve, by the master of the house would make a traditional libation by sprinkling the trunk with a combination of oil, salt and mulled wine and say an appropriate prayer.
If possible the young girls of the household would light the log with splinters from the previous year’s log which would have been kept safely stored away. If no young girls were available the honor and privilege fell to the mother of the house.
Superstition says that the cinders of the burnt log should be kept to protect the house from a variety of mishaps including lightning strikes and even protect against the malevolent attentions of the devil.
The tradition had all but died out by the end of the 19th century mainly due to changes in the way houses were heated the magnificent hearths of the great house began to be replaced by boilers of stoves and then in the 20th century houses began to be built with no fireplace at all.
The great Yule log has now been replaced by a small log decorated with candles, holly and other Christmas embellishments to be placed in the center of the Christmas table as a festive decoration.
Also today we have the marvelous Yule log cake which is a firm favorite it our house made from a delicious Swiss roll cake covered in chocolate icing and sugared decorations.
THE CHRISTMAS CAKE
Christmas fruit cake is derived from the famous English Christmas or plum pudding.
The recipe was much simpler with fewer ingredients although it included large quantities of candied fruit, raisins, dates and nuts and is generally prepared long in advance of Christmas and is liberally laced with Brandy.
Like plum pudding it would originally have been flaming when served but in time this changed and soon the cakes were being decorated with marzipan and icing instead.
THE HUMBLE MINCE PIE
The mince pie was originally oblong in shape which was supposed to symbolize the cradle of Christ.
The pie was covered with a thick crusty pastry cover which had an indentation in the center in which a small doll also made from pastry supposed to be the Christ child was placed.
The original mince pie was filled with minced lamb's tongue and mutton.
It wasn’t until returning medieval Crusaders brought back spices from the East which replaced the meat filling.
It was also at this time the pies became the familiar round shape.
Even though few people are aware of their origins the mince pie remains one of the most popular Christmas treats.
CHRISTMAS CANDLES – A DIVINE LIGHT
The lighting of candles during religious festivals precedes Christianity by many centuries originally part of pagan ritual practiced by early sun worshippers. When Christianity was well established the church tried in vain to eradicate the ritual use of candles.
Then in the spirit of “if you can’t beat them join them” they gradually incorporated the lighting of candles into Christian services.
The candles were invested with a new meaning and they came to symbolize the divine light that illuminated the world, Christ.
CHRISTMAS CANDLES – A SIGN
There is a popular belief that candles are used at Christmas as a remembrance of people at the time of Jesus Christ's birth.
These people are said to have put lighted candles in their windows as a signal to Mary and Joseph that they would be welcome in their homes.
BRIGHT AND MORNING STAR
The star is eternally linked to Christmas and takes pride of place at the very top of the Christmas tree.
When we look at the star we should recall the star seen 'in the East' by the three wise men.
On Christmas Eve In ceremonies all over the world the Christmas celebration begins with the arrival of the first star.
In various traditional ceremonies from Poland to Alaska the Festival of the Star is celebrated in various forms.
The Christmas star is a powerful symbol to Christians in the Bible it is called "the bright and morning star."
AN IRISH BOXING DAY
St. Stephen's Day in Ireland is celebrated in a different way, but is similar to Boxing Day in other places in so much as it also has to do with the solicitation of money.
The Young men is extravagant dress with some of them wearing masks parade through the streets noisily in what is known as the Wren Boys' Procession.
The young men carry a long pole on top of which is attached a holly bush and the bush is supposed to contain a captured wren, and it’s for the wren sake the young men beg for money.
OLD YEARS NIGHT IN SCOTLAND
In Scotland Christmas has been celebrated with considerably less exuberance than elsewhere in the British Isles although that has changed latterly.
The Scots have always reserved their merriment for New Year's Eve, which they call Hogmanay.
The word Hogmanay is believed to derive from a kind of oatcake that was given to children on New Year's Eve as part of the tradition.
The “first footer” is the first person to set foot across the threshold in a house after midnight on New Year’s Eve.
The superstition is thought to profoundly affect the fortunes of the inhabitants it should if possible be a stranger preferably dark-haired but fair-haired is ok if that’s all you can get.
This tradition is generally known as "first footing."
BOXING DAY
Over the Christmas season alms boxes are placed in churches to collect for the poor and these are what are opened on Boxing Day the day after Christmas day.
The contents of the boxes are then handed out to the poor of the parish on December 26th, Boxing Day, also known as the Feast of St Stephen.
Stephen was a Christian martyr who was stoned to death for being a follower of Christ's shortly after his crucifixion.
Boxing Day is celebrated in Britain, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada and it has become a public holiday in the last century.
This has been a godsend to many families by having Christmas Day and Boxing Day as holidays this allowed them the time to travel to visit family members and celebrate with them.
It made it much easier for people to get together with those who were important to them.
It is perhaps better known today as a day of outdoor sports and horse racing and hunting rather than for any religious significance.
CHRISTMAS ROSE
The Legend of the Christmas Rose links this winter blooming flower with the birth of the Christ Child.
The legend says that the three wise men accompanied by the shepherds were traveling to the east when they met with a shepherdess named Madelon who was tending to her sheep.
She began to weep when she saw the gifts for the Christ child because she had had nothing to give.
An angel saw her crying and brushed the snow away where her tears had fallen and revealed a beautiful white flower tipped with pink, the Christmas Rose.
A NOBLE BOXING DAY
There has long been a rather fanciful notion that Boxing Day dates from the middle Ages with the noble lords and ladies of England presenting Christmas gifts in boxes to their servants on December 26th there is no evidence to support this but it is a nice idea though unlikely.
CAROLING IN WALES
The welsh are a very musical nation so Caroling is particularly popular in Wales where it is called eisteddfodde and is amongst other things often accompanied by a harp.
One custom in some rural areas a person is chosen to travel around the town draped in white and carrying a horse's skull on a long pole.
If anyone is given a "bite" by the horse's jaws they must pay a fine.
FESTIVE FACT # 10
The first postage stamp to commemorate Christmas was issued in Austria in 1937.
BAUBLES
The Baubles we use to decorate our Christmas trees are representative of the Apples found on the Tree of Life in Paradise.
This is the popular belief even though the Bible doesn’t actually state that the tree of life was an apple tree.
To most people modern Baubles are not replicas of the fruit but are just colorful ornaments which reflect the light of candles and fairy lights and contribute to the festive spirit.
LAUREL
The early Christians in Ancient Rome were the first to decorate their homes with laurel.
They adopted the idea from the Pagan Romans who used laurel during the Saturnalia festival and who believed laurel was sacred to the sun god Apollo.
When the Romans Empire became Christian laurel became a great symbol of Christmas.
THE TINSEL SYMBOL
Tinsel like many things about Christmas is symbolic and what glittering tinsel symbolizes is light and light in all forms was held to have magic qualities in both the pagan and Christian faiths.
Light was the magic against the darkness of winter and was the power of Christ against the forces of darkness.
XMAS
I have always hated the use of Xmas instead of Christmas and in fact I always believed it to be a vulgar Americanism.
Well I was wrong The Xmas abbreviation for Christmas is in fact of Greek origin as The Greek word for Christ is Xristos.
It was sometime during the 16th century that Europeans began abbreviating Christ’s name with and "X" in Christmas as a form of shorthand for the word.
The 16th century Christians at that time would have understood that X stood for Christ's name.
Unlike 21st century Christians who don’t understand Greek and think using the word "Xmas" is disrespectful or just one more vulgar Americanism.
THE COLOR OF CHRISTMAS
We automatically associate colors with Christmas festivities such as the red of the berries on the holly bush or in Santa’s outfit.
Red in its many uses is definitely the color of December and as a religious symbol it stands for fire, blood and charity.
We also have the green of Christmas trees and holly and Green is the universal symbol for nature and for youth.
Christmas is a feast of hope, with a newborn child as its central symbol.
It is for this reason that green is the color of new beginnings and the hope of eternal life.
Symbolically, white stands for light and purity as seen in the white robes of the Christmas angels and in the white snowy Christmas landscapes.
Gold is the color of the Christmas stars and candles and stands for sunlight and radiance.
The Golden radiance is Christ’s love for the world.
THE STOLLEN
The Stollen is a type of German Christmas cake which is a kind of sweet bread, enriched with a various dried fruits and nuts and covered with icing sugar.
German Families and bakeries alike treasured the own secret recipes for the Stollen and all claimed to have a secret ingredient, details of which would be handed down through the generations.
The shape of the Stollen is like a loaf of bread and is supposed to symbolize the baby Jesus Christ wrapped in swaddling clothes.
FESTIVE FACT # 13
Franklin Pierce was the fourteenth President of the United States (1853-1857) and in 1856 he was the first President to decorate the first White House Christmas tree.
GOOD KING WENCESLAS
According to the legend the first of the Premysl was a plowman who married a Bohemian princess named Libussa during the 8th century and it was their descendants who in time united the warring tribes of Bohemia into one duchy.
Duke Borivoy I married a Slav princess named Ludmila and they both became Christians and they tried their hardest to convert all of Bohemia to
Christianity, but were unable to do so.
Upon the death of Borivoy his sons, Ratislav and Spythinev succeeded him it was Ratislav who was the father of Wenceslas.
Wenceslas was born around 907 in a castle near Prague and when he was only thirteen years old his father died Wenceslas succeeded him as duke.
Because of his age he was too young to rule so his mother, Drahomira, became the regent she was vehemently opposed to Christianity and used her new found power to persecute Christians.
She also refused to let Wenceslas see his grandmother Ludmila because she was afraid that they would plot to overthrow her but it wasn’t long before Drahomira had her murdered.
After Ludmila’s death she was revered by Christians as a saint.
At the age of 18 Wenceslas overthrew his mother's regency and he began to rule for himself.
He was a stern but fair monarch, he stopped the persecution of Christians and he managed to tame the rebellious nobility.
He was known across bohemia for his kindness to the poor and he was especially charitable to children.
However Many of the Bohemian nobles resented Wenceslas's attempts to spread Christianity and when he swore allegiance to the king of Germany, Henry I they were greatly displeased.
But in the end his greatest enemy proved to be his own brother, Boleslav, who joined the nobles to plot his brother's assassination.
Boleslav invited Wenceslas to a religious festival and then attacked and killed him on his way to mass.
"Good King" Wenceslas died on September 20, 929. He was still in his early twenties and had ruled Bohemia for only five years.
Today he is remembered as the patron saint of the Czech Republic.
ROSEMARY
Rosemary has long been associated with Christmas and was often used during the middle Ages by the women folk who spread it on the floor and as people walked on it crushing it under foot a pleasant aroma was released.
Tradition tells us that Rosemary is so fragrant because Mary laid on its branches the garments of the Christ Child on the night he was born.
The legend also says that suddenly flowers blossomed on the trees and they bore abundant fruit even though they were out of season.
THE HANGING OF GREENS - MISTLETOE
The hanging of greens, such as Holly, Ivy and Mistletoe is a British winter tradition with origins far before the Christian era.
Greenery was used to lift people’s spirits during the long winter and remind them that spring was not far away.
For hundreds of years before the birth of Christ the ancient Druids used mistletoe to celebrate the winter solstice.
The Druids gathered the parasitic evergreen plant and used it to decorate their homes.
They had an affinity with nature and believed the plant to have special healing powers for a variety of ills from female infertility to poison ingestion.
The Scandinavians thought of mistletoe as a plant of peace and harmony and associated it with their goddess of love, Frigga which is why the Norse folk believe the custom of kissing under the mistletoe is believed to have derived from this belief.
The druids regarded the mistletoe as sacred and they made certain that it never touched the ground and it was dedicated to the Goddess of Love which is the Druid explanation of kissing under it.
Originally, when a boy kissed a girl, he plucked a berry from the cluster and presented it to her. When there were no more berries, there were no more kisses.
The custom of kissing under the mistletoe originally was a belief that the evergreen plant increases your sexual power or promotes fertility.
In a small number of places in the world its potency was so highly regarded that it could improve the productivity of the soil, it could make cattle more fertile and curer impotence in men and any girl who had not been kissed under the mistletoe would be barren.
The Druids believed mistletoe's magic extended far beyond fertility and they thought it could cure almost any disease and was therefore known as 'all healer'.
A Sprigs fixed above your doorway would protect from lightning and ward of evil from your home.
As the plant was a parasite and grey on other trees it had no roots and so it was believed that it grew from heaven.
Even the gathering of the mistletoe is steeped in ritual.
A Druid priest using a sacred sickle had to cut the mistletoe from an oak tree
On the sixth day of the new moon when he had done so a virgin girl had to catch the falling plant before it touched the ground.
If it touched the ground it was spoiled.
The early Christian church banned the use of mistletoe in Christmas celebrations because of its pagan origins and they favored the use of Holly as an appropriate substitute for the Christmas greenery conveniently forgetting pagan origins of Holly.
Nowadays mistletoe is used merely as an excuse for taking liberties at the office Christmas party.
REINDEER NAMES
According to Clement Clarke Moore’s 1823 poem the names of Santa's Reindeers are Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner and Blitzen.
Tied Up With Tinsel # 1
THREE SAINTS FOR THE PRICE OF ONE - SWITZERLAND
Switzerland is another country with several traditions and languages.
So it is not surprising there are several different St. Nicholas traditions.
In German-speaking areas Saint Nicholas is known as Samichlaus and he rides upon a white horse and is followed by the wicked Ruprecht.
In the French-speaking area Saint Nicolas is known as Père noel and he leads a donkey carrying baskets full of gifts and he is followed by the sound of Père Fouettard's chains.
In the Italian quarter the tradition is much more reverent when they celebrate the arrival of St Nicholas’s relics in the Italian city of Bari in the year 1087.
But all the celebrations have in common the great color music and excitement generated by the enthusiastic revelers.
WHAT WOULD SANTA LIKE FOR CHRISTMAS?
The Hollywood child star Shirley Temple stopped believing in Santa Claus when she was six because the Department store Santa asked for her autograph in a shopping center.
CHRISTMAS FOLKLORE – LA BEFANA
The three wise men stopped at La Befana’s house on route to Bethlehem.
After dining with her, she was invited to travel with them on their search for the Christ child but she declined on some flimsy presence.
After a while she regretted her action and gathering up some things from her home to give to the Christ child she set off after them.
But alas, she was unable to find either the wise men or the baby Jesus.
La Befana has been searching ever since and every January 5th the kindly witch rides her broomstick down the chimneys of Italian homes to fill the stockings of lucky children with sweets and candy.
CHRISTMAS FOLKLORE - BLACK PETER
In Holland, sinter Klaas has a faithful servant called black peter who rides on the sleigh and its Peter’s job to throw the children’s presents down the chimney.
In addition it is black peter that doles out the punishment to the naughty children by wrapping the offenders in bags and delivering them to Spain.
CHRISTMAS FOLKLORE – THE JOLLY ELF
In Finland Santa is a kind and jolly elf called Joulupukki and he doesn’t drive a sleigh but He rides a straw goat called Ukko.
The Scandinavians call the jolly elf Jultomten who is thought to deliver gifts in a sleigh drawn by goats.
CHRISTMAS IN RUSSIA
During the days of the Soviet Union, the people were not free to practice their religion or to celebrate Christmas so it was the New Year which was the most important time when 'Father Frost' brought presents to children.
With the breakup of the Soviet Union the Communist regime fell and religious freedom abounded and Christmas was once again openly celebrated but not on December 25th but on January 7th which is Christmas Day for the Russian Orthodox church, who use the old 'Julian' calendar for all holy days.
CHRISTMAS FOLKLORE – CHRISTKIND
Christ kind or Christ Child is an angel-like figure who often accompanied St. Nicholas on his holiday missions and Kris Kringle is believed to deliver presents to well-behaved Swiss and German children.
CHRISTMAS FOLKLORE – FILLING THE SHOE’S
In France Père Noel is responsible for filling the shoes of French children with gifts.
While in Spain the children place their shoes under the tree on the night of January 5th and the next morning they find they have been filled with gifts by the three kings.
The luckiest children of Spain receive small presents from papa noel on Christmas Eve as well.
A NATIVITY FACT
Traditionally in the nativity scene there is almost always a donkey or an ass depicted.
However in the gospels telling of Christ’s birth they are not mentioned.
But as Jesus was born in a stable and lain in a manger it would seem logical to conclude that some animals where present.
OUR GOOSE IS COOKED
By all accounts the eating of Goose at Christmas as part of the festivities came about because on Christmas Eve 1588 queen Elizabeth I was dining on Goose at Greenwich palace when the long awaited news reached her that the Spanish Armada had been defeated.
Relieved and delighted she decreed that roast goose should be served at Christmas to mark the historic event.
It was her father Henry VIII who is widely regarded to be the first person known to eat Turkey on Christmas day.
Switzerland is another country with several traditions and languages.
So it is not surprising there are several different St. Nicholas traditions.
In German-speaking areas Saint Nicholas is known as Samichlaus and he rides upon a white horse and is followed by the wicked Ruprecht.
In the French-speaking area Saint Nicolas is known as Père noel and he leads a donkey carrying baskets full of gifts and he is followed by the sound of Père Fouettard's chains.
In the Italian quarter the tradition is much more reverent when they celebrate the arrival of St Nicholas’s relics in the Italian city of Bari in the year 1087.
But all the celebrations have in common the great color music and excitement generated by the enthusiastic revelers.
WHAT WOULD SANTA LIKE FOR CHRISTMAS?
The Hollywood child star Shirley Temple stopped believing in Santa Claus when she was six because the Department store Santa asked for her autograph in a shopping center.
CHRISTMAS FOLKLORE – LA BEFANA
The three wise men stopped at La Befana’s house on route to Bethlehem.
After dining with her, she was invited to travel with them on their search for the Christ child but she declined on some flimsy presence.
After a while she regretted her action and gathering up some things from her home to give to the Christ child she set off after them.
But alas, she was unable to find either the wise men or the baby Jesus.
La Befana has been searching ever since and every January 5th the kindly witch rides her broomstick down the chimneys of Italian homes to fill the stockings of lucky children with sweets and candy.
CHRISTMAS FOLKLORE - BLACK PETER
In Holland, sinter Klaas has a faithful servant called black peter who rides on the sleigh and its Peter’s job to throw the children’s presents down the chimney.
In addition it is black peter that doles out the punishment to the naughty children by wrapping the offenders in bags and delivering them to Spain.
CHRISTMAS FOLKLORE – THE JOLLY ELF
In Finland Santa is a kind and jolly elf called Joulupukki and he doesn’t drive a sleigh but He rides a straw goat called Ukko.
The Scandinavians call the jolly elf Jultomten who is thought to deliver gifts in a sleigh drawn by goats.
CHRISTMAS IN RUSSIA
During the days of the Soviet Union, the people were not free to practice their religion or to celebrate Christmas so it was the New Year which was the most important time when 'Father Frost' brought presents to children.
With the breakup of the Soviet Union the Communist regime fell and religious freedom abounded and Christmas was once again openly celebrated but not on December 25th but on January 7th which is Christmas Day for the Russian Orthodox church, who use the old 'Julian' calendar for all holy days.
CHRISTMAS FOLKLORE – CHRISTKIND
Christ kind or Christ Child is an angel-like figure who often accompanied St. Nicholas on his holiday missions and Kris Kringle is believed to deliver presents to well-behaved Swiss and German children.
CHRISTMAS FOLKLORE – FILLING THE SHOE’S
In France Père Noel is responsible for filling the shoes of French children with gifts.
While in Spain the children place their shoes under the tree on the night of January 5th and the next morning they find they have been filled with gifts by the three kings.
The luckiest children of Spain receive small presents from papa noel on Christmas Eve as well.
A NATIVITY FACT
Traditionally in the nativity scene there is almost always a donkey or an ass depicted.
However in the gospels telling of Christ’s birth they are not mentioned.
But as Jesus was born in a stable and lain in a manger it would seem logical to conclude that some animals where present.
OUR GOOSE IS COOKED
By all accounts the eating of Goose at Christmas as part of the festivities came about because on Christmas Eve 1588 queen Elizabeth I was dining on Goose at Greenwich palace when the long awaited news reached her that the Spanish Armada had been defeated.
Relieved and delighted she decreed that roast goose should be served at Christmas to mark the historic event.
It was her father Henry VIII who is widely regarded to be the first person known to eat Turkey on Christmas day.
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