The Holiday Season�

The Italian team Istituto Comprensivo ‘L. Montini’ – Campobasso

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‘Let’s Discover Europe’ 2012-2013

Christmas Eve�  

                                   We   celebrate     Christmas   Eve   with   all   the   family   gathered    together   for   a   big   dinner   called   the   ‘Cenone   della   Vigilia   di  Natale’.   It   is   a   kind   of   ritual   because   we   never   eat  meat   but  only  fish  and  shell  fish  of  all  kinds  cooked  in  different  ways.  Our  dinner     ends   with   the   typical   regional   cakes   and   sweets   and  also  with  pane2one,  pandoro  and  torrone.    

         

ABer  dinner  we  go  to    the  Midnight  Mass:  the  priest  puts  the  Baby  Jesus  into  the  manger  in  the   crib.     Saint   Francis   of   Assisi   introduced   the   first   NaJvity   scene  with   live   people   in   the  village  of  Greccio   in  1223  and  since   then   the  presepe  has  become  the   Italian  symbol  of   the  Christmas  season.    

Homes,  churches,  schools  and  outdoor  public  areas    have  a  presepe,   large  or  small,  more  or  less   elaborated   with     clay   or   plasJc   figurines.   They   represent   the   Infant   Jesus,   Mary   and  Joseph   in  a  stable  with  an  ox  and  a  donkey  behind  the  manger  which,  according   to   legend,  warmed  the  Child  with  their  breath.  The  Three  Kings,  shepherds,  bagpipe  players,  craBsmen,  villagers,  farmers  and  animals  are  also  displayed  all  around.  The  seSng  also  includes  groToes,  small  trees,  lakes,  rivers  and    fires.  

The  presepe  vivente  or  living  NaJvity  is  performed  in  the  oldest  part  of  many  towns  in  Molise.  Visitors   go  up  and  down   the  narrow  streets   to  watch   costumed  people  who   represent   the  Hole  Family    and      ancient  craBs  which  are  now  disappeared.  

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Every   year  on  December  24th,   the   ‘Ndocciata     takes  place   in  Agnone,   in   the  province  of  Isernia.   People  of   all   ages   light  up     the   ‘ndocce   or     torches     and  walk   towards   the  main  street  of  the  town.    This  torchlight  parade  seems  a  river  of  fire.    The  origin  of  this  tradiJon  is  uncertain,   but     surely     the     ‘ndoccia   was   a   tool   used   for   pagan   rituals   to   celebrate   the  solsJce   of   December   21st   and   then   for   ChrisJan   rites   to   represent   the   Light   of   God   and  celebrate  the  birth  of  Jesus  Christ.  

The     ‘ndocce   are   structures  made  of   silver  fir  pinewood  pallets  with   a   typical   fan   shape.  They    are  over    four  metres  high  and  they  may  be  only  one  torch  or  with  mulJple  torches  up   to   twenty   fires.   Each   of   them   is   transported   by   a   man   dressed   in   the   tradiJonal  costume:  a  round  black  cloth  cloak  which  protects  them  from  the  fire.  The  show  ends  with  a  big  bonfire  called  the  ‘bonfire  of  brotherhood’.  

 

Another   Christmas   bonfire   Jed   to   the   winter   solsJce     is   the   Faglia   of   OraJno   in   the  province  of  Campobasso.    

The  Faglia  is  an  enormous  torch  made  of  reeds.  It  is  12  metres  high  and  two  metres  wide.  Hundreds  of  people  carry  the  torch  along  the  roads  of  OraJno  up  to  the  church  square  where  it  is  liBed  by  a  crane  and  burnt.      

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C H R I S T M A S

DAY

Children   get   up   early  to   see   if   there   are  presents   brought   by  Babbo   Natale   during  the   night   though   the  real   giB-­‐giving   takes  place  on  January  6th.  

In   the  morning   people   go   to  Mass   or  watch   the   Pope's   Christmas  message  broadcast  live  at  noon.  Families  gather  around  the  table  to  celebrate  Christmas  with  a  big  dinner.  

ABer   dinner   we   visit   our  relaJons,     go   out   with  friends,   watch   a   film   at   the  cinema   and   play   cards   or  tombola.    Tombola     is   the   Italian  version   of   Bingo   but     you  can   make   Tombola   only    horizontally.    

New Year’s Eve

La  Festa  di   San  Silvestro  celebrated  on  December  31st   and   Il  Capodanno   celebrated  on  January     1st   are     sJll   a  Jme     for   family   and   friends  who  gather   to  have   together     the  Cenone  di  Capodanno,    the  big  dinner  with  tradiJonal  dishes:  •  lenJls  that  symbolize  wealth  and  good  fortune;  •  cotechino  ,  a  pork  sausage  boiled  over  low  heat  for  hours  before  serving;  •  zampone  that  is  a  type  of  sausage;    •  raisins  for  good  luck.    It   is   a   ritual   to   celebrate   the   arrival   of   the   New   Year   with   the   midnight   toast   with    spumante,   Italian   sparkling   wine,   fireworks,   firecrackers   and   sparklers,   music     and  dancing.    

Men  and  women  wear  red  lingerie  as  the  colour  red  represents  ferJlity.    

In   some  villages  of  Molise  groups  of  people   sing   the  Maitunate   in  the  roads.  They  are  typical    dialectal  songs  which  wish  everyone  a  happy  new  year  and  ask  for  giBs.  They  make  fun  of  the  local  famous  people  with  allusions  and  wiTy  remarks  but  nobody  has  the  right  to  get  angry  at  the  jokes.    Each   group   is   accompanied   by   different   musical   instruments:   the  accordion,  the  guitar,  the  drum  and    the  tambourine.    

A   parJcular   instrument     is    the    bufù     or     fricJon  drum  made   of   a   wooden   barrel  covered   with   goat   or   lamb  skin.   The   player   makes   it  vibrate  with  a  sJck  so  that  it  gives  a  deep  sound.  

Epiphany or la Befana

January  6th  is  a  NaJonal  holiday  in  Italy.  It  is  the  Epifania  (Epiphany),  a  ChrisJan  holiday  celebrated  precisely  12  days  aBer  Christmas.    ABer  Jesus  was  born,  the  Three  Wise  Men  or  the  Three  Kings  went  to  adore  Him  and  to  offer  their  giBs  of  gold  (symbol  of  royalty),  frankincense  (symbol  of  divinity)  and  myrrh  (symbol   of   the   future   redempJve   suffering).   They   followed   the   direcJon   of   the   star-­‐  East  -­‐  and  found  the  place  where  Mary,  Joseph  and  Jesus  were  staying.    

Children  hang  their  stockings  on  the  evening  of  January  5th    awaiJng  the  visit  of  the  Befana.  She  is  an  old  good  witch  who   rides  around  on  a  broom  during   that  night.   She   stops  at   the  houses  of   children  climbing   down   the   chimneys   and   fills   the   stockings  with   toys   and   sweets   for   the   good   children   and  lumps  of  coal  for  the  bad  ones.    Many  children  leave  notes  or  le2erine  to  her  and  food  and  milk  or  wine  to  sustain  her  in  her  journey.  

According   to   the   legend,   the   Three  Wise  Men   or   Re  Magi   stopped   at   the   hut   of   an   old  woman  to  ask  direcJons  on  their  way  to  Bethlehem.  They  invited  her  to  go  with  them  but  she   refused  because  she  was   too  busy.  Then  a   shepherd  asked   the  same  thing   to  her  but  again  she  said  no.  Later  that  night,  she  saw  a  great  light  in  the  sky  and  she  decided  to  join  the  Wise  Men  and  the  shepherd.  

She  gathered  some  toys  that  had  belonged  to  her  own  child,  who  had  died,  and  ran  to  find  the  kings  and  the  shepherd.  But...she    could  not  find  them  or  the  stable.  Now,  La  Befana  flies  around  on  her  broomsJck  each  year  on  the  11th  night,  bringing  giBs  to  children  in  hopes  that  she  might  find  the  Baby  Jesus.