Catholic Christmas
Description:
For many centuries, the Romans have adhered to the custom of mutual gifts on Christmas and New Year, believing that receiving numerous gifts on these days will make them happier and richer.
It is a funny custom to celebrate the new year, freed from all the old, bad and sad. Therefore, at midnight on December 31, useless dishes, broken furniture and unnecessary items fly from the windows. And all who thirst for spectacles, go to the square in front of St. Peter’s Cathedral in the Vatican, where closer to midnight begins a solemn mass, which serves the Pope himself. Everyone can enter the Cathedral, and those who remain in the square, catch the moment when a “holy baby” will be laid in the Christmas nursery built here. This mission is not performed by a clergyman, but by a representative of the municipality accompanied by a policeman - such is the tradition. As soon as the baby doll is in its cradle, you can raise a glass in honor of Christmas.
By the way, gifts to children in Italy are not brought by Santa Claus, but by Babbo Natale. Interestingly, on January 6, the feast of Epiphania, Italian children have a chance to receive gifts once again - from an unsympathetic old woman named Befana, who descends the chimney on a broomstick.
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