Just a brief line today to say I arrived back in Rome yesterday afternoon after a splendid visit to the States to spend Christmas and New Year’s with family and friends. I was in Illinois and Wisconsin, spending quality time with a cousin in Glenview and then an action-packed visit to Milwaukee to stay with a niece Christie, her husband Bryan and their four beautiful children. Joining us were my sister-in-law and about 20 of Bryan’s family members who get together from around the States every two years.

What I especially cherish were the hours spent with the little children and their wonderful enthusiasm and awe at so many things, their innocence, their laughter – all of this made each day very special. And I have great new photos of all of them to grace my office and desk! As if I needed reminders.

My last days in the US were also special. I went to Miami for the BCS Bowl game with Notre Dame and Alabama, having received a ticket from a friend and radio colleague! Heartfelt thanks for this gift, my friend! What was a fun time in Miami could have been a fantastic time but I was rooting for the Fighting Irish (who by the way, outnumbered the Bama fans everywhere I went, including the stadium!) who, as millions saw, had a dismal game, not at all up to their previously undefeated season!

Since hope springs eternal inside each of us, ND fans can say, “there’s always next year.” However, the Irish of Notre Dame have an enviable record among college football teams: 13 national championships recognized by the NCAA; a record 7 Notre Dame players have won the Heisman trophy (Ohio State won 7 trophies with 6 players); an NCAA record 96 consensus All-Americans,and 32 unanimous All-Americans (more than any other university, as far as I know).

So, in 2013, GO IRISH!

I’ll leave the Christmas column up for the weekend and will in coming days to photograph the nativity scene in St. Peter’s Square and the one inside the basilica.

CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS IN ROME AND THE VATICAN

As a special treat during the time I am on Christmas vacation in the States with family and friends, I want to bring you to the Eternal City and together we will explore how Christmas is celebrated in this magnificent and magical city.

You will be enchanted by Rome and by the Vatican as millions have been before you. The magic is there - it pulsates, vibrates, and defies description. It is in the history, the art, the majestic basilicas, elegant bridges, splendid piazzas, cobblestone streets, bubbling fountains and symphony of church bells.

All of Rome’s magical beauty is magnified – or so it seems – at Christmas. The flower stands are awash in red as poinsettias flood the floral market. Hotels and stores put on their Christmas finery, of course, and hundreds of streets and piazzas in the center and on the periphery of Rome string miles of twinkling lights across them, welcoming the resident or visitor with “auguri” – best wishes – or “Buon Natale – Merry Christmas! If you are used to the Christmas lights and decorations found on homes and in stores and malls, etc in the United States, this is not quite as lavish but Italy has its own charm.

There are, as you can imagine, some very special occasions and very special places to visit during the Christmas season here in Rome and at the Vatican. Let’s start our visit at the Vatican.

In 1982 Pope John Paul decided that St. Peter’s Square should have a nativity scene flanked by a Christmas tree and ever since the Vatican’s engineers and technical services have created stunning “presepi” – Italian for nativity scene – changing the theme and the buildings every year. Work usually commences the first week of November.

The presepio this year was donated by the Italian region of Basilicata and will be unveiled Christmas Eve.

A past nativity scene:

The tree for Christmas 2012 is an 80-foot white fir that was donated by the region of Molise and is the most recent of the decades of donated trees that have graced St. Peter’s Square at Christmas since Pope John Paul started the tradition. Workers spent one week securing the tree in place and decorating it with 2,000 gold and silver balls, 1,500 yellow and white lights – the Vatican colors – and the giant star that glows on and off at the top. It beckons one and all to come to St. Peter’s Square and, on Christmas Eve, it will watch over the newly unveiled presepio.

Whatever country donates the tree for St. Peter’s Square usually also donates several dozen smaller trees - meaning 10 or more feet in height - for the papal apartment, the Paul VI Hall and other halls and offices of the Roman Curia. Unfortunately, few can be seen by outsiders and I am sorry for I have been privileged to see a number of them and they are wonderfully decorated!

You must, of course, go into St. Peter’s Basilica and see the nativity scene there – it will be just off the left aisle.

One sign of Christmas in Rome (and elsewhere in Italy) are the “zampognari,” the musicians who play an ancient musical instrument known as the zampogna, a form of bagpipe, that is very popular in central and southern Italy. I took this photo a few days ago in St. Peter’s Square.

Before we leave the Vatican I’d like to tell you about the blessing of the bambinelli, the statues of Baby Jesus, that takes place on the Third Sunday of Advent which is really quite lovely, if you think about it, as that is Gaudete Sunday – a Sunday for rejoicing that falls midway between the start of Advent, a liturgical season of anticipation, and the joy of Christmas Day when our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, is born. Children of all ages and from all over Rome – and sometimes other towns and cities in Italy - bring statues of the Baby Jesus to be blessed by the Pope at the end of the Angelus. These statues will be placed in the cribs of nativity scenes in homes and schools. Often you will see a child holding up two or even three statues for the papal blessing as they bring Baby Jesus for a friend who could not come that day.

The “presepe” or “presepio” is traditionally the main focus of Christmas decorations in Italy – in homes and schools, in work places and of course, in the tens of thousands of churches throughout the land. You can walk into any church in Rome at Christmas time and you will find a nativity scene, small or large, rustic or citified, simple or elegantly crafted by specialists.

From the Latin word praesepium, “presepe” loosely means ‘stall’, and refers to the scene of the newborn Jesus Christ, sleeping in a simple country manger and attended by his parents and later, kings who came from afar. Christians have long incorporated visual presentations of this “nativity scene” or “crèche” into their seasonal customs. In the 4th and 5th centuries, the nativity and the adoration of the magi were common themes for church decoration. In 1223, presepi gained fame with St. Francis of Assisi, who arranged his own living presepe, a straw-filled, animal-laden stall set in a grotto in the town of Greccio. This has been replicated every year since then.

In the 18th century, Neapolitan fashion dictated the transformation of presepi from assemblies of rustic miniatures to grand spreads of intricately sculpted figurines in elaborately conceived architectural plans. Entire towns and villages were recreated with hundreds of figures placed on hills, in field, in homes and piazzas, There are aqueducts, trees, running water, fireplaces, people at work and children at play. Such presepe can be seen throughout Italy today. They are often breathtaking in size and scope, in their beauty and their incredible attention to the smallest detail.

Churches in Rome known for their spectacular presepi include Santa Maria in Via, on Largo Chigi, Sts. Cosmas and Damien, St. Mary Major, the Gesu, and Santa Maria in Aracoeli with its sixteenth century presepio and the famous wooden statue of a rather plump baby Jesus known as il Santo Bambino. Today one can see only a copy of this statue as the original 15th century statue, made from wood from the garden of Gethsemane in Jerusalem, was stolen in 1994 and sadly never recovered. Baby Jesus was not even offered for ransom!

Watching over an altar strewn with letters written and mailed to him, the Santo Bambino resides in a secluded chapel at the back of the church, with his rosy-cheeked face poking out of swaddling clothes rich with gold and pearls. Come midnight on Christmas Eve, however, he is lifted from his bejeweled case to join the ceremony on the Capitoline Hill in his honor. Romans and tourists alike climb the 124 candlelit steps leading up to Santa Maria in Aracoeli to view the baby in his manger in the church’s presepe and bestow upon him the traditional Epiphany kiss. The church gets many letters addressed to the Holy Child, and these are placed before the statue unopened - they're for Baby Jesus, not for the priests.

Piazza Navona, one of Rome's most beautiful and popular squares, becomes a huge Christmas market in December with stands selling nativity figures, Christmas trees, ornaments, lights, sweets, toys and few surprises as well.

The smell of chestnuts roasting on an open fire – literally - and cotton candy and nougat sweets is irresistible here. This piazza is a not-to-be-missed treat in Rome! For the kids there's a merry-go-round and Babbo Natale, Father Christmas – or Santa Claus, as we call him.

Piazza Navona has forever been a favorite destination for children for another reason It is tradition that each year each family or child will pick out one new figurine for the family nativity scene) that is built at home and Navona in December has always been a great place to find these terracotta figurines.

The last few years, Santa on a rope ladder has also become fashionable. Since there are very few if any chimneys in Italian cities, this means no roof for Santa and his sleigh – thus, these cloth Santas on a ladder get hung from window sills.

Another popular Christmas figure is the Befana – a witch-like figure who rides a broomstick and brings coal to bad children and candy to good children (seen here).

Befana is a breakdown of the word “epiphany” and many, in fact call her the epiphany witch because she arrives in the night of the epiphany to fill children's stockings with her gifts. Epiphany is, of course, the 12th day of Christmas, when the three Wise Men gave Baby Jesus their gifts. In some families epiphany - January 6 – is a bigger celebration that Christmas. Epiphany, in any case, does signal the end of the Christmas season – except for the Vatican. The tree and nativity scene remain in St. Peter’s Square until February 2nd, the feast of the Presentation of the Child Jesus in the Temple.

Yet another tradition is to buy a small, ornament size broom with Christmas ribbons on it – this is called a scacciaguai - and symbolizes the sweeping away of one’s troubles.

On Christmas Eve, a meatless dinner is traditionally eaten with one’s family, followed by a visit to a nativity scene and midnight Mass. Bonfires are often held on Christmas Eve in the main square of many towns, especially in mountain areas. Dinner on Christmas day is usually meat-based and, again, brings the family together. December 26, the feast of St. Stephen, is also a big holiday in Italy and is the best day for winding down and recovering from gastronomic overindulgence.

Of course, it is all geared towards the children, who flock here in the evenings dragging their parents from candy stand to merry-go-round to presepe stall, but one can't help but feel the holiday spirit ! Perhaps it's the children or the smell of chestnuts, or maybe it's simply the decorated square or all of these - regardless, traditions are traditions and this one continues putting smiles on everyone's faces.

A must-visit nativity scene is that built by Rome’s Netturbini or street cleaners of AMA, the municipal waste management company. Located just minutes from St. Peter’s Square on a small side street, Via dei Cavalleggeri 5, this is actually open all year around. Pope John Paul visited this presepe all but the last two years of his 26-year pontificate. Other visitors have included Pope Benedict XVI, Mother Teresa of Calcutta and a succession of Rome’s mayors and Italian politicians. I’ll do a special column on this when I return to Rome.

Write to Joan at:
joansrome@ewtn.com 

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