In Search of a More Meaningful Christmas
Last month in Guides and Recipes to celebrate the Twelve Days of Christmas, a guest post I wrote for the Inkslinger blog belonging to inspirational author, Shannon Taylor Vannatter, I described my desire to celebrate the feasts that occur during the twelve days after Christmas leading up to the feast of Epiphany on January 6th. Since then, I’ve discovered more feasts.
In many European countries Saint Nicholas Eve on December 5th is when children hang stockings or put shoes by the fire in hopes of waking to a treat. This year, for the first time ever, I and my family borrowed a few traditions and celebrated the life of Nicholas, the 4th-century bishop who inspired the legends of Santas Claus, Father Christmas, and Kris Kringle. The commercialization surrounding the memory of this man is a shame, because his was a noteworthy life worth celebrating. Here’s a snippet from The Real Saint Nicholas, my guest post for Christian Fiction Historical Society:
One of the most famous tales of Nicholas is that on three occasions he secretly dropped bags of gold through an open window to help provide dowries for the three daughters of a poor man. They are said to have fallen into stockings or shoes drying by the fireside, thus starting the Christmas tradition of leaving stockings or shoes by the fireplace. The father of the daughters caught Nicholas throwing the last bag of gold through the window and afterwards told everyone what he had done. Whenever anyone received a secret gift, it would be thought to have come from Nicholas.
Our Christmas morning has always included stockings but as more of an afterthought. This year we used the hanging of stockings as an opportunity to discuss living a life of compassion and generosity.
On Saint Nicholas Eve (December 5th), we mulled apple cider and baked traditional spaculaas (Dutch windmill cookies). The spice mixture used in these cookies dates from the 15th-Century. When I bit into one of these cookies, I was delighted to discover that they have the same flavor as the Christmas cookies my mother made for her children to cut out every Christmas.
When we woke in the morning on Saint Nicholas Day, the stockings we had hung from the fireplace mantel were filled with nuts, fruits, cookies, and candies. This was a fun, inexpensive way to celebrate. Next year I will make sure to get some molds for the windmill cookies. They are supposed to be imprinted, but regular cookie cutters worked okay.
Saint Lucy Day, or the feasts of lights, occurs each year on December 13th, and we also observed it. Unfortunately, we had to take our ailing cat, Guinevere to the vet, and then run some errands, so I was not able to prepare to the extent I would have liked.
Lucy of Syracuse (283-304) was said to have devised a crown of laurel leaves to hold candles for her head so that she could carry food and drink to Christians hiding from persecution in the catacombs. Lucy was martyred for her faith. In memory of her kindness, many traditions exist, some in which the oldest daughter, wearing a crown set with lighted candles on her head, gets up early to serve her family special buns baked with saffron.
Next year I’ll mail order saffron threads so I can make the buns, but I did manage to make a Santa Lucia braided bread that is pictured above. (Click the image to see it larger.) Mine didn’t come out as delicate as the one pictured, but it tasted wonderfully and looked beautiful with the candles lit.
I’ll post more about the feasts of Christmas as we celebrate them. If you’d like to observe them, too, click to learn more about the different feasts that happen during the Twelve Days of Christmas. Be sure to follow the links in the post for suggestions and recipes to create your own more meaningful Christmas.
Need a good adventure?
DawnSinger, Tales of Faeraven #1 by Janalyn Voigt
A headstrong young princess and the guardian sworn to protect her fly on winged horses to the Gate of Life above the Well of Light in a desperate bid to release the DawnKing, and the salvation he offers, into a divided land. Will they each learn in time that sometimes victory comes only through surrender?
Purchase DawnSinger today!
©2013 by Janalyn Voigt
Subscribe to the Creative Worlds of Janalyn Voigt
The post In Search of a More Meaningful Christmas appeared first on Janalyn Voigt.
