Thank you to Micheal Hall for the Czech Republic presentation.
We can see many replicas of the Christ child through this season, but in Prague, Czech Republic, the Christ child is celebrated all year long.
The city of Prague is dividing by a beautiful flowing river call the St. Charles, with the more modest neighborhoods on one side and the more affluent neighborhoods on the other. In the more modest area of Prague you will find a small cathedral called the Church of St. Mary the Victorious. Placed in this very small cathedral is a statue called the ‘Infant of Prague'. The statue is of Spanish origin, with several legends suggesting that it was created by monks. The statue made its way to the Czech Republic by the way of a wedding gift. A young Spanish woman was to be married to a Czech nobleman in 1556; the bride's mother gave her daughter, as a wedding gift, a wax figure of the Christ child, which followed a tradition of passing this precious statue to the next generation. At the death of the Czech nobleman, his wife gave the statue to a monastery led by the Carmelites in the city of Prague in 1628. The Carmelites are a Catholic religious order that believes and follows the Old Testament teachings of the prophets. Their origin begins as early as the 1200's on Mount Carmel in Palestine. Their lives are devoted to prayer and fraternal life with an emphasis on the Virgin Mary, the Mother of God; they provide manual labor and spiritual needs to others. The Carmelites placed the statue in novice for young monks to give prayers and thanks, believing they could learn the virtues of the Old World from the statue. In 1631, the Carmelites had to escape the area when the Saxons and then Swedes attacked the city of Prague. This was during the time of the Thirty Year War in the Bohemia region. In 1637, about six years later, a Carmelite priest returned to the ransacked Cathedral. The priest found the infant statue in a corner with both hands broken off. At this moment, it seemed to the priest the infant Jesus was saying to him: 'Have mercy on me and I will have mercy on you. Give me hands and I will give you peace. The more you honor me, the more I will bless you’. Without any monetary means the priest prayed for guidance. Hearing again the wishes of the statue, ‘Place Me near the entrance of the sacristy and you will receive aid.’ It so happened that within days a rich man came by and offered to repair the infant. The infant statue became known for its association with healings, protection of the church, the city, and the local people through many wars over the years.
The statue is around 18 ½ inches tall and made of wax, possibly with a wooden core. The Christ Child holds a globe surmounted by a cross symbolizing His Kingship. The right hand is raised as a blessing to all.
The Christ child statue was originally dressed and presented to the Carmelites in a linen baby gown. The Christ child statue was first crowned in 1651 and coroneted in 1655, and over the years 85 different robes have been given to dress the statue. In 1788 a gift of two gold rings was given by a noble family in gratitude for the cure of their daughter, the rings were placed on the fingers of the raised hand. With every season and religious event the statue is removed from the cathedral hall and redressed for that celebration. The statue has been replicated throughout the world but the original infant statue is in Prague, Czech Republic. During the Christmas season the red and white colored robes adorns the statue. This Christ Child statue sits high in a glass dome surrounded by gold ornate carvings and gold columns for all who which to view the infant.
Since the late 1600's the Infant of Prague has been credited with healings and protections throughout the Bohemian region. Each day individuals from around the world enter the cathedral to give thanks and prayers to the Christ child, the Infant of Prague.
Every year since 1655, on the second Sunday of May, the Infant of Prague is remembered in a celebration to honor the Christ child.
The monastery has a Missionary Friendship program to homeless children of the Central African Region providing support through food, shelter and schooling. Through donations from the Church of St. Mary the Victorious this mission fellowship is possible. The children of the region create pictures of potted flowers made from butterfly wings that are native to the African region as demonstration of their support and appreciation for these safe havens.
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Las Posadas is a nine-day celebration with origins in Spain, now celebrated chiefly in Mexico, Guatemala and parts of the Southwestern United States.
Posada is Spanish for "lodging", or "accommodation"; it is said in plural because it is celebrated more than one day in that period. The nine day novena represents the nine months of pregnancy. Typically, each family in a neighborhood will schedule a night for the Posada to be held at their home, starting on the 16th of December and finishing on the 24th. Every home has a nativity scene and the hosts of the Posada act as the innkeepers. The neighborhood children and adults are the pilgrims, who have to request lodging by going house to house singing a traditional song about the pilgrims. All the pilgrims carry small lit candles in their hands, and four people carry statuettes of Joseph leading a donkey, on which Mary is riding.
The head of the procession will have a candle inside a paper lampshade. At each house, the resident responds by refusing lodging (also in song), until the weary travelers reach the designated site for the party, where Mary and Joseph are finally recognized and allowed to enter. Once the "innkeepers" let them in, the group of guests come into the home and kneel around the Nativity scene to pray. At the end of each night's journey, there will be Christmas carols, children will break open star-shaped piñatas to obtain candy and fruit hidden inside, and there will be a feast.
St. Nic made an appearance at Wedgewood this morning as Wedgewood children continued to teach us about how Christmas is celebrated around the world. On December 5th in the Netherlands Dutch churches fill three wooden shoes with money and place them on the Church altar. The money is then distributed to the poor and those who have special needs in the name of St Nicholas.
St. Nic was played by Keith Dennis. St. Nic has never looked better.
St. Nicolas’ robe was constructed by William Kruger on a 15th century design. The robe was made of a burgundy fleece material with a white fake fur trim. The robe is held together at the top with an antique clasp. It is tied at the waist with a belt made from the same materials. In keeping with the 15th century, the robe had an attached hood and not a separate cap.
St. Nicolas also wore a boutonniere of fresh pine and holly, and carried a walking stick that through the magic of Christmas was sprouting new growth. At his side was a satchel full of assorted hard candies for all the good boys and girls of all ages.
Christmas in Serbia is very different from the Christmas we know in American culture. First, we celebrate it on a different day. Since Serbia is 85% Christian Orthodox they go by the Gregorian Calendar, which sets everything back two weeks. So they celebrate the holiday on January 7th.
Serbians don’t have a Santa Claus or a Saint Nicholas. The big guy is called Deda Mraz which translates to Old Man Winter. There are no reindeer or elves or anything of that sort. They also don’t have the typical Christmas tree that smells like pine with needles and green color. They use the Fig Tree, a dried out Fig Tree is incorporated in the ceremony of Christmas Eve. This is a big night where everyone goes to church in the evening. There is a long religious church ceremony where they walk the Fig Tree around the church three times in Holy Trinity, bless the tree, then use it to start a bon fire.
Serbians typically fast a week before Christmas as a sort of Lent. The focus, however, is not on fasting. Rather, thoughts are directed to what people ate during the days of Jesus’ birth. Serbians during this time do not eat anything from an animal: no meat, eggs, milk, cheese, etc. Fish is allowed since it is considered sacred. As a kid, I loathed this process because everything I liked was made from an animal.
On Christmas morning communion is served and then a huge meal to celebrate.
Most families in Serbia are very poor so the holiday is more about the day than the presents. They cook a large meal all day, which includes a roasted pig, and have their large families join in the evening for Christmas dinner.
I always got two gifts, one thing I needed like clothes and the other was a family heirloom. Typically for my family it was a gold coin from the monarchy days.
As you can imagine, I was quite confused and perplexed growing up in the United States. Such vast differences in American and Serbian Christmas traditions really threw me for a loop. I was really unable to relate to anyone during the holidays unless they were Serbian. As I got older, my parents wised up and realized that they must celebrate both Serbian and American Christmas traditions. So I got TWO Christmases!!
Christmas in Syria (download Powerpoint)
Chrismas in Syria (download PDF)
Thank you to Sam Yassine for this presentation!
