PROTECTOR OF THE WEAK
In Russia Nicholas is greatly revered as the protector of the weak from the strong, the oppressed from the oppressor, and the poor from the rich.
He is regarded as the Christian champion of the disadvantaged and In the Orthodox tradition he is the known as the Wonder or Miracle Worker.
TREE SKIRTS
Skirts or Rugs for the base of the Christmas tree have become an indispensable addition to the festive décor but originally they had a more practical use and were meant to protect floors against the dripping of candle wax. The first commercial rugs depicted Santa Claus driving a sleigh drawn by eight reindeer.
PICTURE WINDOW
The Germans love to decorate their homes at Christmas and one of the favorite forms of German decoration is for the window.
The decoration consists of a small wooden frames holding a picture made from colored glass or plastic with an electric candle light behind it.
These lights look very beautiful when viewed from out side at night.
ADVENTSKRANZ
A popular German Christmas decoration is an Adventskranz which consists of a wreath of leaves with four candles.
Advent which means 'coming' is the 4 week period before Christmas and on each Sunday of Advent, another candle is lit.
DER WEIHNACHTSMANN
In Germany Der Weihnachtsmann or Father Christmas brings presents in the late afternoon on Christmas Eve after people return home from church they find the presents under the Christmas tree.
One person in the family will ring a bell and call everyone to come to the room.
THE SPECIAL CHILDREN'S SAINT
In Austria St. Nicholas is the special children's saint and he is honored throughout Austria because It is said that God rewarded Nicholas for his generosity by allowing him to return to earth each year to bring gifts to all the good children.
SANS DAY CAROL
The "Sans Day Carol," is a traditional carol from Cornwall.
The carol focuses on the aspects of the holly's symbolism in the form of the different colored berries.
Red berries represent the blood of Jesus and white berries symbolize his purity.
Green berries represent the cross upon which Christ was crucified and black symbolize his death.
TREE WORSHIP
Many of our modern Christmas customs are carried over from pre-Christian celebrations.
Hanging gifts on trees is purported to stem from the ancient Druids tree worship, and the belief that the tree was the giver of all things good.
AFTER THE REVOLUTION
After the French Revolution and the Monarchy was overthrown the new republican government banned Midnight Mass and as a result the people were denied access to the Church crèches.
Though I support of the revolution The people of Marseilles were not best please with this decision as they were particularly fond of the church Crèche and as the revolutionaries had denied them access to the church they created "public crèches" these were produced by individuals but displayed for all to see.
FAMILY CRÈCHES
The original Crèches in Provence date back to the 17th century, when the few bas-reliefs evolved into carved wooden figures.
They were mainly restricted to aristocratic and middle class homes.
The family crèche became even more widespread and some of them contained up to 40 different characters.
Even before decorated Christmas trees became the custom, the crèche already had pride of place in French people's homes.
SANTONS
Santons are clay figurines that depict the characters of the nativity and were used in church crèches and later in family crèches.
The name Santon comes from the Provencal word "santoùn" or little saint.
The first Santons were modeled in wax by religious orders.
Then later they were made of clay found in the region of Marseilles and Aubagne.
When the French settled on the American continent they took Santons with them and they are an integral part of Christmas in Canada and Louisiana.
CHRISTMAS CACTUS
The Christmas cactus, native to Brazil, is a popular winter-flowering houseplant.
It has no symbolic or religious connection to Christmas.
The come in a wide variety of colors from red and purple to pink and cream.
Its only reason for being called the Christmas cactus is that it is in flower over the Christmas period.
BRUMALIA
In the Roman Empire on the great day of December 25th, came the Brumalia or festival of the shortest day. A day of great religious significance for the sun-worshipers.
This day was also known as Natalis Solus Invicti or the "Birth of the Unconquerable Sun"
This was the time when the day began again to lengthen.
in the fifth century the Western Church ordered Christmas to be celebrated forever on the day of the old Roman feast of the birth of Sol.
PANTOMIME # 1
Many of the Pantomime plots we see today were based on traditional folk tales such as Puss in Boots, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and Red Riding Hood.
These stories were collected and retold by the French writer Charles Perrault and they were published in 1697 in a book called 'Mother Goose's Fairy Tales'.
EPIPHANY
January 5th or twelfth night marks the climax of the Christmas season.
The twelve days of Christmas are counted from December 25th until twelfth night.
The season of Christmas begins with the first Sunday of Advent and concludes with Epiphany.
The period between christmas day and epiphany is referred to as Christmastide.
Epiphany usually shares the white and gold, colors of Christmas denoting celebration, newness, and hope.
but epiphany has a much more significant meaning to the Christian as it marks the time when the magi were the first gentiles to acknowledge Jesus as "king" and this act of worship by the magi,
Was a message to the world that Jesus came for all people, of all nations, of all races, and of all faiths.
