Catholic Christmas
Description:
Whatever the religion, no one remains indifferent to this holiday. It is especially important for children who find their gifts at a dressed, sparkling Christmas tree. Originally based on the winter solstice cycle lasting 12 days, the celebration of Christmas in modern France stretches for an entire month. Starting on December 6, the day of St. Nicholas, it comes to an end only on January 6 - the day of the King (or the day of Epiphany). This period is the most joyful and pleasant of the year for both adults and children. Foreigners visiting France during this period, see the most intimate, the most real of the life of the French. The atmosphere of celebration, warmth and kindness reigns, as well as sincere hospitality.
Shopping streets brightly illuminated by huge snowflakes from light bulbs, shining lights festive trees in huge quantities are not only in apartments and on the streets, but also in the entrances of houses, crowds of people feverishly grab everything that fits as a gift, especially children. According to the old custom, they put their shoes to the hearth, so that Santa (Per Noel) will give them a reward for good behavior at night.
Christmas dinner "reveillion" (reveillion) under a decorated Christmas tree - it is purely intimate, family, with a consecrated tradition of the menu, where seven dishes should certainly appear: soup with sage and garlic, spinach or cod, green and black olives, fried fish, cauliflower, celery in anchovy oil, snails, a traditional delicacy - goose liver ... Before the coming holidays, geese and turkeys are fattened in advance, pigs are cut, sausages are harvested. The process of exchanging cards with wishes for a merry Christmas and happiness in the New Year is mandatory.
A special tradition of the French is the preparation of a Christmas log. This was done to improve and improve the quality of the crop. For the log, the tree was chosen, the fruit of which was preferable. It was believed that the sawed tree trunk has magical properties and can affect the harvest. Oak and beech, for example, were used mainly to secure the harvest of their fruits, which until the end of the Middle Ages constituted peasant food, and then for livestock. In some provinces, it is customary to hide gifts for children in a Christmas log, especially sweets and fruits.
A few days before Christmas, evening concert programs begin in all cathedrals. The main Christmas service is held at Notre Dame de Paris. On the Champs Elysees there is a mass festivities. It is as bright as daylight from the many colored light bulbs hanging from the trees.
Spruce is the symbol of Christmas in France.
Spruce tree, equally beautiful regardless of the solstice periods, has long been a subject of worship. Being a symbol of eternal life, spruce was an integral element of jewelry during the Saturnalia. However, in France, the use of this tree for the celebration of Christmas began later. This tradition came to France from Germany, first spreading to Alsace, presumably in the 16th century, and then to Lorraine. In other French regions, the Christmas tree came with residents of the above-mentioned regions who fled after the German annexation of 1871. That fascination has not faded since then. Today, Christmas trees are an entire industry. Millions of trees are planted each year to meet the growing demand.
There was a real resurrection of the ancient cult of the tree: spruce decorated, decorated with garlands of lights and glass balls. It is impossible to imagine a French house without a Christmas tree, or a city without a festive tree in the central square.
Once spruce was decorated only with fruits, most often apples. In 1858 there was a very bad apple harvest. Then the glass blowers of Lorraine created glass balls to replace apples. This is where the tradition of Christmas decorations came from.
An integral tradition of celebrating Christmas is the “Christmas nursery” (vertep) that depicts the scene of Christ’s birth. They are installed in churches and in private homes. In Marseille, in Aix-en-Provence, Oban, many masters make and paint by hand figures of saints (santons). This tradition is pan-European. According to legend, its founder was Saint Francis of Assisi (Saint Francois d'Assise). The nursery, established in Prague in 1562, is known as the first in the world. As for France, the first nursery, surrounded by twenty wooden gilded statues, can still be seen in the church of Chaource, in the department of Aube.
For a long time, Christmas nurseries were established only in churches, until aristocratic families began to install them in their homes, and then the rich bourgeois adopted this custom. In the 19th century, miniature figures of saints began to be produced in series. Having them in the house became more and more popular, and today such a figure can be found in almost every family, they are acquired not necessarily in connection with religion.
The scene of the nursery is as follows: the baby in the cradle is surrounded by parents, legendary ox and donkey, shepherds, magi, crowded simple people in costumes of the 19th century. In this production, characters from the people play an important role, especially in Provence, where they depict an enthusiastic fisherman, a fish saleswoman, a woman with a clay jug, a splint with a spindle, a herald with a drum ...
During the month preceding Christmas, there are numerous fairs selling figures of saints. Such fairs are arranged in the region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, for example, in the city of Marseille since 1803, in Arles, in Aix-en-Provence, in Oban, in Chamtersier, Cisteron, Carpentra, in Draginian, in Moins-Sarto, as well as in the region of Langdoc-Rusillon, in the city of Garon near Nimes or in Vandargure.