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Italian Christmas Traditions: La Befana

12/30/2013

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Whew! It's all over. Christmas 2013 is an event of the past...unless you partake of old Italian Christmas traditions. In that case, there is one more round of gift-giving.

SANTA CLAUS IS COMING
When I lived in Rome in the 1960s, Santa Claus was almost non-existent. Oh, Babbo Natale (Father Christmas) had been visiting Italy since WWII—he wasn’t completely unknown—but Italian children didn’t leap out of bed at the crack of dawn Christmas day and run to see what Santa had brought them. Instead, in Italy, the day children received gifts was January 6, La Befana (The Epiphany).

The Befana is a big part of the Italian Christmas tradition—I don't know if Italian-Americans celebrate it; we never did—and, like many holidays, mixes legend, tradition and a little religion.

IT'S A BIRD, IT'S A PLANE, IT'S...LA BEFANA?
[I'm dating myself; but if you're old enough, you know how the phrase really ends.]

The Befana is a good witch [a nice but ugly old woman with a long, hooked nose] who, on the night between January 5th and 6th (which is the eve of the Feast of the Epiphany) flies on a broomstick to visit all the children of Italy. She enters the houses through the chimneys and, from the sack she carries, she fills the children's stockings with sweets and small presents if they have been good or a lump of coal or dark candy if they have been bad. Sounds a tad familiar, right?

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Although she wears an old, long skirt filled with colorful patches and a black shawl, she is a good housekeeper and will sweep the floor before she leaves. The child's family typically leaves a small glass of wine and a plate with a few morsels of food, often regional or local, for the Befana.

In most regions of Italy, even adults give little presents to each other, and so do lovers, along with stockings full of chocolates.

THE EPIPHANY

 According to Wikipedia, Epiphany "is a Christian feast day that celebrates the revelation of God the Son as a human being in Jesus Christ." Martha Bakerjian, on Goitaly.about.com describes the Epiphany as the 12th day of Christmas when the three Wise Men arrived at the manger bearing gifts for the Baby Jesus. Without going into the details, the celebration has been around since at least 380 AD.

It is celebrated by most on January 6 and officially ends the Christmas holiday. In Italy, everyone takes down the decorations on that day. There is an Italian saying that "The Epiphany takes away all festivity."

THE LEGEND OF THE BEFANA
Like everything else, there are a number of theories about origins of the "good witch" including the celebration of the Epiphany and the idea that she's an heir descendent of the Sabine/Roman goddess named Strina, who presided over the new-year's gifts of figs, dates, and honey. It's also suggested she's the Christian substitute for the old crone who read the augers at the pagan festival of Saturnalia.

"According to the legend, the night before the Wise Men arrived at the manger, they stopped as the shack of an old woman to ask directions. They invited her to come along, but she replied that she was too busy. Then a shepherd asked her to join him, but again she refused. Later that night, she saw a great light in the sky and decided to join the Wise Men and the shepherd bearing gifts that had belonged to her child who had died. She got lost and never found the manger. Now, la Befana flied around on her broomstick each year on the 11th  night of Christmas in hopes that she might find the Baby Jesus.

Although she has been unsuccessful in her search, she still leaves gifts for good young children because the Christ Child can be found in all children. "http://www.goitaly.about.com

Another variation of the Three Wise Men legend is the same up to the point where the old woman has regrets about not going with the Wise Men.

"So she made lots of cakes and walked around outside her home, offering cakes to all the children she met on her way, hoping one of them were Jesus. Since then, Befana brings gifts to all the children." http://www.mybefana.it/

In still another version, found on Wikipedia, La Befana was an ordinary woman with a child she greatly loved.

"However, her child died, and her resulting grief maddened her. Upon hearing the news of Jesus being born, she set out to see him, delusional that he was her son. She eventually met Jesus and presented him with gifts to make him happy. The infant Jesus was delighted, and he gave La Befana a gift in return; she would be the mother of every child in Italy."


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ANOTHER WAY TO CELEBRATE THE EPIPHANY

And by the way, if you're running out of ideas for an Epiphany celebration, remember last February's blog about the Russian Orthodox version. In Russia, thousands plunge themselves into icy rivers and lakes to cleanse themselves of sins with water deemed holy. The overnight temperature there at this time of year often drops to about 14° F.


Reprinted from RB4U Blog 12-10-2013

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Blog Resources (click for link)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epiphany_%28holiday%29
http://goitaly.about.com/od/festivalsandevents/a/epiphany.htm
https://seethesea.wikispaces.com/La+Befana%2C+an+Italian+tradition
http://www.historyandwomen.com/2009/12/legend-of-la-befana.html
http://www.italian-link.com/pages/labefana.shtml


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URGENT MESSAGE FROM SANTA CLAUS

12/23/2013

8 Comments

 
Dear Friends

I'm writing this note to inform you

That taxes have taken away

The things that I found most essential:

My workshop, my reindeer, my sleigh.

 

I'm now making my rounds on a donkey.

He's tired and crippled and slow,

So if you don't see me on Christmas

I'm out on my ass in the snow.

Picture
MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A WONDERFUL NEW YEAR
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ITALIAN CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS: The Feast of Seven Fishes

12/16/2013

1 Comment

 
By R. Ann Siracusa

The Feast of The Seven Fishes
For many of you, the Feast of the Seven Fishes may not ring a bell…particularly as a Christmas tradition…but for some of Italian heritage, it may bring back fond memories of Christmas Eves Past.  Before I lived in Italy, I’d never heard of this Christmas Eve tradition (even though my mother was a quarter Italian).  Only after I married a Sicilian did I learn the term.

The Feast of the Seven Fishes (Festa Dei Sette Pesci), also known as The Vigil (La Vigilia or Il Cenone di Vigilia), is a tradition believed by most to have originated in Southern Italy and was not celebrated in other parts of Italy.  It is a feast to commemorate the wait for the midnight birth of the baby Jesus.  In my husband’s home town of Messina, Sicily, after the feast (which lasts for hours) everyone plays cards until it is time for midnight mass.  Then there is a long procession and everyone walks to the local church following a status of the Madonna.  After mass, some people would play cards for the rest of the night.  Not me.

Symbolism
Eating seafood on Christmas Eve originates from the Roman VCatholic tradition of not eating meat or milk products on Fridays and specific holy days.  Because no meat or butter could be used on such days, observant Catholics would eat fish, typically fried in oil.

The number seven stands for the seven sacraments of the Catholic Church and the seven days of creation.  In Biblical numerology, seven is a number of perfection.  Another explanation is the traditional Biblical number for divinity is three, and for Earth is four, and the combination of these numbers, seven, represents God on Earth, or Jesus Christ.  Finally, if could refer to Mary and Joseph's seven days of travel to reach Bethlehem.

Today, it is a feast that typically consists of seven different seafood dishes (mostly shell fish) and pasta.  Some Italian American families celebrate with 9, 11 or 13 different seafood dishes, but the tradition is seven.

Typical Menus

The fish southern Italians are known for is baccalà (salted cod fish), a simple fish used extensively by the impoverished regions of Southern Italy.  Fried smelts, calamari, and other types of seafood have been incorporated into the Christmas Eve dinner over the years.  The menu varies depending on the family, but here are some typical examples.

First example – Typical seven fishes:

● Calamari (squid)
● Scungilli [skuhn-GEE-lee] (conch)
● Baccalá [bah-kah-LAH] (dry, salt cod)
● Scampi (shrimp)
● Clams served with pasta
● Mussels
● Some type of big fish, usually a snapper, sea trout, tuna, or salmon.
Second example – A more simple feast

● Stuffed Calamari in Tomato Sauce – Squid stuffed with breadcrumbs, garlic, oil/milk, and 3 eggs. The stuffed squid is baked with a white sauce, cheddar and olive oil.

●Deep Fried Fish/Shrimp – Fish/Shrimp dipped into batter and placed into deep fryer. Dish is typically served with lemon and/or cocktail sauce.

●Linguine with Clam Sauce – A mildly spicy dish that combines Linguine pasta served with tomato sauce and cooked clams.

●Marinated Eel (Anguilla Marinata) - Bite-size cut eel deep fried and seasoned with salt and pepper marinated, after being fried, in a garlic, balsamic vinegar, and sugar sauce.

●Baccalà – De-salted, by soaking water, cod cut into bite-sized portions, pan fried until brown; and served with tomato sauce and pasta.

●Tiramisù – Layered dessert that incorporates layers of coffee soaked ladyfingers, marscapone crème with Marsala and cocoa powder.

Third Example – An elaborate celebration meal

Appetizers (Antipasti)
● Fried Calamari
● Clams and Mussels Posillipo
● Shrimp (Scampi)
● Clams Oreganato
● Seafood salad
(Insalata Frutta di Mare)

First Course (Primi)
● Linguini in White Clam Sauce
● Linguini with Blue Crab Sauce
● Spaghetti Alla Rosinella

Second Course (Secondi)
● Red Snapper Livornesa
● Stuffed Lobster
● Seafood Risotto


Tanti Auguri per un Buon Natale!

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    Author R. Ann Siracusa

    Novelist, retired architect and urban planner, world traveler, quilter, owl collector, devoted wife-mother-grandmother, great-grandmother, and, according to some, wild-assed liberal.

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