EPIPHANY and LA BEFANA

Today is a Holiday which i have long wanted to find more about. So--I am sharing with you Interesting and FUN and Important things that I have learned as I have talked to others and used some Google resources. 

Here I just want to "calendar" some events in December.

It seems that the English like to celebrate the 12 days BEFORE CHRISTMAS--hence we have that traditional song we so love to sing and the gifts we love to surprise our neighbors and friends with starting about December 12 or 13.Then CHRISTMAS COMES ON DECEMBER 25.   THEN BOXING DAY ON DECEMBER 26. AND THEN 12 DAYS AFTER CHRISTMAS COMES JANUARY 6TH and it's special meaning.

The EPIPHANY (ALSO KNOWN AS THREE KING'S DAY

5 Facts About Epiphany

• The Epiphany is celebrated on January 6. ...
• It marks the day Jesus was revealed to the world. ...
• In some countries, Epiphany is as important as Christmas Day. ...
• Some believe it is the  Wise Men, not Santa, who bring gifts for the children.
• Eastern Orthodox Christians celebrate Christmas on Epiphany.

     So Every year on January 6^th, Italians, along with people across the world, celebrate EPIPHANY.  It is a national holiday, with banks, offices, and most stores closed.  Festivities take place all around the country.  On January 5, the eve of the Epiphany, many cities, especially in the northeast, celebrate with a bonfire in the town square, called falò del vecchione.  They might burn a pile of wood, but more often a large straw figure called il vecchio, the old one, is burned as a sort of out-with-the-old, in-with-the-new ritual.

 

The religious story of The Epiphany 

The Roman Catholic church began celebrating the Epiphany on January 6^th in the 4^th century AD. 

Epiphany is celebrated 12 days after Christmas on 6th January (or January 19th for some Orthodox Church who have Christmas on 7th January) and is the time when Christians remember the Wise Men (also sometimes called the Three Kings) who visited Jesus.

The arrival of the Three Kings on Nativity Scenes

The Epiphany celebrates the day the Three Kings got to Jesus’s crib (or creche or cradle), which is remembered in Nativity Scenes lacross the country.

This is an excellent day to go and visit churches: many of them add to their Nativity depictions, the Kings just on this day – this can be fun things to do with children or to tap into an important Italian artisan tradition, that of nativity figurines.

Epiphany means Hope and joyful revelation, just as it did then. The Magi had Hope in the Star that God placed before them. They followed that light of Hope until they found Jesus – realizing that this infant King would save the world. We too, today, need to follow the light of Hope that God has given us through Jesus. Christ

Epiphany commemorates three scriptural events: the visit of the Magi to the stable of Bethlehem following the nativity of Jesus, Christ's Baptism in the Jordan, and his first miracle at the wedding feast at Cana.

So there are some of the facts about Epiphany--January 6th.

NOW---This is what to expect on the 6th of January, the Epiphany, in Italy.

Italian epiphany traditions

NOW---This is what to expect on the 6th of January, the Epiphany, in Italy.

Italian epiphany traditions

La Befana, Italy’s Christmas Witch

Which of these "NICE" WITCHES" would you want to meet??

   Epiphany in Italy is synonymous with a magical character called La Befana, who makes its appearance on this day or, should I say, in the night between the 5th and 6th of January.

La Befana looks like a witch and, on the night of the Epiphany, travels around Italy on her broomstick to bring a stocking full of sweets to the nice kids and a bucket of coal to the naughty ones!

Unlike the stocking kids prepare for Italian Santa/ Babbo Natale, La Befana (a wonderfully charming character--a nice witch) comes on the scene with her own creation, usually much less refined than anything modern marketing has created for her male counterpart, and fills it with sweets exclusively.

However, modern times have kind of done away with this part of the story and only give stuff to children the kids will actually enjoy.

To maintain the tradition of the coal, the sweet coal invention has come to the rescue: now children still receive coal but if they taste it, they will see the black crystals are made of sugar!

Fun fact: coal originally wasn’t a bad present but rather and excellent one. As well as useful, it was a symbol of prosperity.

Now I was confused--asking myself-- what is the connection between a nice witch and the Three Wise Men?
 According to legend, the Magi asked La Befana for directions to Bethlehem in order to find the Christ Child to bring him their gifts of gold, myrrh and frankincense.  Being a cranky old lady,(I guess she wasn't a "Nice witch" all the time) she refused to help. But soon after they left, she regretted her harshness and set off to find the infant herself, bringing with her an assortment of sweets she had been baking.  
Sadly, La Befana couldn’t find the baby, but being the sort who never gives up, still to this day she flies around at Christmastime looking through windows and down chimneys leaving gifts for all children, just in case one of them happens to be that special infant.Despite possible ancient roots, La Befana only became popular in Italy in the early 1900s.

USEFUL ITALIAN WORDS TO REMEMBER ABOUT THE EPIPHANY:

La Befana = Italy’s Christmas witch

Scopa = broom (la Befana’s mode of transportation!)

Carbone = coal

Epifania = epiphany

Re Magi = The Three Kings / The Three Wise Men

Oro, incenso e mirra = gold, frankincense and myrrh

Presepe = nativity scene

The question has been asked (and I was kind of surprised by this answer) Is Epiphany more important than Christmas?

Technically it is more important than Christmas, ranking after Easter and Pentecost. It is a day of gifts in many countries. In the Eastern Church the waters are blessed on this day. The word epiphany means a manifestation, usually of divine power.

So there you have two of the Traditions celebrated by the Italians at this most wonderful time of the year..

We were serving in the Temple the afternoon and evening of January 6th--so we did not get to see just how much this Traditional Holiday was celebrated in Rome--bu we do know that some of our favorite stops and shops were closed. So this is definitely observed here.
ONE MORE THING IN CONNECTION WITH JANUARY 6TH--It is the last day of festivities and the saying goes ‘l’epifania, tutte le feste porta via’ = epiphany takes away all the festivities. It's the day people take the Christmas tree down, undecorate their yards, porches, houses, etc. AND SO WE DID.

One more thing to share with you in this email. We love it when we meet people who know people we do or that we have a connection with ourselves. It has happened a few times just in the 2+ months we have been here. BUT WHEN PEOPLE ARE IN ROME AND WANT TO SPEND SOME OF THEIR "PRECIOUS" SIGHTSEEING TIME WITH US--EXTRA SPECIAL FOR SURE. And such was the case last week--Wednesday night (Jan 4th) as I was checking my phone after leaving the Temple that night--a message from one of my dear nieces--Mary Ellen Goff Mason.  She told us her son, Caleb and Tess were in Rome, right now--would we have time to meet them? Visitors from "home" are like "Manna from Heaven"--we absolutely needed to see them!! So we were able to contact Caleb and set up a time the following evening to meet them downtown.  We were able to work our schedules so we could leave just a tad early and then we CALLED A CAB (something we almost never do--expense!) but when it's dark and you don't know your way around Rome--and parking is horrible- and your time is TIGHT---it seemed the best thing to do! So glad we did! He got us to the Ristorante Dilla (well almost) it was down a one-way street--so he let us off on the corner curb and we used Ron's "exceptional navigational skills"--and then asked someone where this Ristorante was located.  He took us right to it!! And what a fun delightful time we had with this young couple who had just 2 days earlier gotten engaged in Paris, France with the Eiffel Tower as their backdrop!! MAMA MIA--THAT'S INCREDIBLE!!

AT THE PIAZZA DI SPAGNA (SPANISH STEPS (behind us)--THERE ARE 138 STEPS--WE CLIMBED THEM ALL!!)

L-R. Anziano Ron and Sorella Mumford, Caleb Mason and Tess Carlson 

Trevi Fountain

L-R. Caleb Mason, Tess Carlson, Anziano Ron and Carol Mumford

JUST A Cool Monument I wanted a picture of

AT THE TOP OF THE SPANISH STEPS WITH ROME AS OUR BACKDROP

This was their last night in Rome--only having been here 2 days--and they spent it with us!! WOW!! We were so happy! We ate a great meal at Dilla's and then walked to the Spanish Steps and ended our short but fun memorable evening at Trevi Fountain, having picked up a delicious GELATO on the way. (I think it might have been their 2nd or 3rd gelato treat for the day)--but HEY--you gotta have more than one just FOR THE SHEER JOY OF BEING IN ITALY!!  

SO I STARTED THIS POST ON JANUARY 6, 2023 AND I CLOSE IT NOW ON THIS 9TH DAY OF JANUARY 2023. (Will Herr Mumford's B-day--Happy Birthday, Will!!)

We are well and doing our best at our Temple Duties (and Carol is really trying to learn this language that is so beautiful but DIFFICILE!!!)

LOVE TO YOU ALL!!

SORELLA AND ANZIANO MUMFORD

HURRAH FOR ISRAEL!  HURRAH!! 

Ring Out 2022 and Ring in 2023

I have so much "floating" in my head that I want to share with all of you!! These past 2 weeks have been jam-packed with lots of Service and Rome trips. I really wanted to share some of the lovely Nativities that have been displayed at the Visitors Center throughout the month. There was also a collection of Nativities (100 of them) on display around the "porticos" or edges of the Square that we made the long-anticipated trip to go and see this past Saturday. (They are supposed to be on display until Jan 6th--which is the official end of the Italian Christmas celebration with what is called "The Epiphany" (That is a whole new topic for another email.). We waited in several lines --one to enter the Square, one for the New Year's Eve Mass--going into the Basilica--which we, Ron and I, with our Missionary Badges caught a few surprised looks from those in charge of Crowd Control. It ended up that we didn"t have time to spend there if we were going to see these NATIVITIES. So we got in another line and, after talking to a few Carabinieri and Polizia,(both certain types of Police or Security in Rome) we found the entrance--but it was CHIUSO (closed). We were well within the time advertised--so we asked why? We got the non grata reason that with it being New Year's Eve and the "riff-raff" already starting to challenge security--it was decided to close early. NOT SO! We learned this morning that the Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI, had died earlier on Saturday morning and possibly out of respect for this man, the displays and Museums closed early. So WE DID NOT GET TO SEE THE 100 NATIVITIES  from all around the world! And now with the funeral (which has to happen within 6 days of the death according to Catholic policy for members of the Papacy) it is doubtful that these exhibits will open again before Friday, January 6th (Epiphany). My Bad!!
     Let me tell you a little about St. Peter's Square. Yes, it is right down in Vatican City, the smallest country in the world, where the Pope resides and which is its own city/country consisting of just over 100 acres, making it 1/8th the size of Central Park and located within the City of Rome. This Square, as many refer to it, is within the Walls of the Basilica, particularly where the large crowds of  people gather to see the Pope when he comes out onto the Basilica balcony to address the people on some special Sundays, most Wednesdays and other Catholic holy or holidays. Besides the "Square" there is the Basilica,(which is a very large, ornate and beautiful Church) the Vatican Museums,(about 54 total), the Sistine Chapel, the gardens and residence of the Pope. As we were standing in one of our lines to enter the Basilica, there were these men dressed in very colorful attire and looked like Spanish conquistadors. Well--we found out that they are part of the Swiss Guard that have been "protecting" the Pope since 1506..There are about 109 members of this Guard, whose role in Vatican City is strictly to protect the safety of the Pope (and they are extensively trained and very skilled marksmen). And they are all Swiss citizens and they live in Vatican City.                   

The Guards will not talk to you--but they did let Ron take their pictures.                                                                                                                                                                

  

Above picture is the entrance side of St Peter's Basilica, facing into St. Peter's Square. There are 5 windows centered over the 5 doors below them. The larger window in the middle is where the Pope comes out onto the Balcony to address His audience. 

This is the one picture that Ron quickly snapped of the inside of St Peter's Basilica--but hopefully it shows how ornate and lovely it is.  There is so--o--o much more to this magnificent building but we had to save looking around for another "ordinary day".

We did see A Nativity in the square--but we couldn't get close enough to get that big camera "out of the way"!

St. Peter's Basilica's vast space is filled with statues and monuments of intricate designs. Some of the greatest artists of the 15th and 16th centuries contributed towards making the Basilica the artistic haven that it is today.   

Many of the statues inside and outside St. Peter’s Basilica were inspired by Renaissance architecture. A majority of the statues are portraits of Saints, Popes, and other important figures from Christian history through the ages.

St. Peter’s Square forms a beautiful enclosure in front of the Basilica. One of its most distinguished features is its many statues. Placed at a height of 64 feet are 140 statues that are built on the top of the colonnades. These statues are portrait depictions of various Saints and Martyrs, which were commissioned to be built by Pope Alexander VII. The credit goes to architect Lorenzo Morelli, who created most of these statues over a decade.

The Pieta (Pity)

Considered to be one of most famous statues in the world—Michelangelo's only signed sculpture from the late 15th century is the Pieta, which roughly translates to "Pity." 

If not familiar with this piece of art—

This Carrara marble structure shows Jesus after his crucifixion, on the lap of Mother Mary. It stands nearly 6 feet tall and exudes a monumental aura that captures the moment's sanctity.  It is located inside St Peter's Basilica and so worth seeing.

.The facade of St. Peter's Basilica is crowned by thirteen colossal statues. Between 1612 and 1614, a number of sculptors worked on these statues. (These represent the original !2 Apostles and very similar to the Thorvaldsen statues that are found inside the Visitor's Center by the Roma Temple)

 .

I have included this map of Vatican City so as to help anyone who is wondering just what this "sovereign state" includes in this 'city' within the city of Rome. You can see that St Peter's Square is just a small portion of all things found within the boundaries of this very important historical  place.

MORE NATIVITIES

I mentioned early on in this email that there were some fun Nativities on display in the Visitors Center on our "Temple

Piazza". I'll include just a few of those.

.

LOOK CLOSELY AT THESE NATIVITIES. In the picture above,(on the right), the Nativity one up from the bottom, is made entirely of Legos. So cute! Really caught many children's attention.

.  .

I think that this Nativity or Nativita was also made by a local artisan. It is handcarved out of a plaster-type of material and air-brushed with paint.

This Nativity was one of my favorites. Everything made by hand by a local artisan--the detail is just so amazing. One of the missionaries who serve in the Center felt like it was a bit "too busy" but I think it is a gem!!

The Visitor's Center is such a wonderful place to visit. We have loved helping out over there before we go to our Temple shift. There is this stained glass mural--captures you immediately if you come into the Center from the parking lot!! 

No picture will ever do it justice--but hopefully you can see the exquisite detail. 

This is the mural in 3 pieces.The little circles with numbers--they identify something from the many miracles and teachings of Jesus during His earthly ministry.  There is a book that details what everything is and includes the artist's "journey" while doing this extremely difficult piece of artistic expression. His name is Tom Holdman and his book is entitled "Come Unto Me". It really is incredible. Here is the link to his story about this wonderful creation.

20 Stunning Behind-the-Scenes Images of the Rome Temple Visitors' Center Stained Glass Window https://www.ldsliving.com/20-stunning-behind-the-scenes-images-of-the-rome-temple-visitors-center-stained-glass-window/s/90140 As the open house for the Rome Italy Temple begins, we wanted to share a few behind-the-scenes pictures of the creation of the "Come unto Me" window now on display in the Rome Italy Temple Visitors' Center.  

Well, think that's about all I'll try to pack into this Post I hope you like reading about some of the things that we are involved with here. This has been a great month.

Love to all!!!  And Buon Capodanno!!

Sorella and Anziano Mumford

Hurrah for Israel! Hurrah!

The History Lesson

We really filled up our P-Day (Monday Dec 19, 2022) with another trip to Central Rome. The area we wanted to get to was Piazza Venezia. Our hope for this trip was to find 🎵🎵🎵🎶"Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire" 🎵🎵 and to find the Vittorio Emmanuel monument. Success!! We got them both!!

This is the Street Vendor in the Piazza who was roasting the chestnuts over the very hot flame! I thought they were delicious!!

The Statue of Vittorio Emmanuel II is very hard to MISS! It is large and quite prominent there in the Piazza Venezia.  For those who don't know--the Mumford family has quite an interest in this man and what he did for Italy as Ron's Grandfather's name is Victor Emanuel Mumford.  We are not sure as to why Victor's father-- Gideon Moore Mumford ---chose that name for his 6th son (in the year of 1885) in a family of 12 children--7 of which are boys. Ron says he does remember that Gideon Moore Mumford loved reading and keeping abreast of things going on in the world at this time. His job as an Educator and Administrator might have propelled him to seek knowledge of world events. Let me share with you a little insight into Vittorio Emanuele II and help lay the back drop for interesting correlations within the Mumford family.
 

Vittorio Emmanuel II (1820-1878) was king of Sardinia from 1849 to 1861 and then the first king of Italy until 1878. He worked to free Italy from foreign control and became a central figure of the movement for Italian unification.

Next to the Piazza Venezia square there is the remarkable white monument honouring Italy's first king Vittorio Emanuele II. Italians also call the Monument of Victor Emanuel II ‘Il Vittoriano’ and ‘Altara della Patria’, or altar of the fatherland. The monument commemorates the unification of Italy in 1861 and the first king of Italy, Victtorio Emmanuel II. Although this monument was built in his honour, he is not buried there. Instead, he is buried in the Pantheon.

The impressive building was built between 1895 and 1911 on top of Palatine Hill. The Altare della Patria or "Altar of the Fatherland" contains a lot of white marble from the region of Brescia. It is a large statue and building(135 metres wide and 70 metres high) and some Italians have given it several nicknames, ranging from the wedding cake, the dentures, to the typewriter.

Vittorio Emmanuel retained the constitution, or Statuto, granted by his father in January 1848. Vittorio Emmanuel successfully met various crises in the early years of his reign. There were many obstacles, wars, uprisings in the task to unify Italy--which was a collection of smaller states or regions and different types of governing bodies. At the young age of 29--Vittorio Emmanuel II succeeded his Father, Charles Albert to the throne in one of the larger states of-the area that is now Italy-- the Piedmont-Sardinia region. In the 1850s Piedmont-Sardinia remained the only constitutional state in Italy, a haven for persecuted Italian nationalists and liberals who had been involved in the 1848-49 revolutions. On March 17, 1861, the kingdom of united Italy was proclaimed at Turin, capital of Piedmont-Sardinia, in a national parliament composed of deputies elected from all over the peninsula and the 1848 Statuto extended to all of Italy. Vittorio Emmanuel became the new country's first king-- First king (1861-1878) of united Italy .

Now these are the interesting "facts" that kind of point to why there might be some "unfinished business" in Italy--at least in regards to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and missions.  

Ronald Eugene Mumford received a call to serve in Italy in 1969-1971--the mission --The Great Italian Mission-- included the entire country.  Then in 1992--Marcus Ronald Mumford was called to serve in the Italy Rome Mission. (He served from 1992-1994). At this same time, Troy Victor Mumford  (son of Ron's cousin Lee Mumford) and (boyhood chum of Marcus) was called to the Italy Padova Mission and served from 1992-1994. Then just a few years later, Blake Cameron Mumford (Troy's younger brother) received a call to serve in the Italy Rome Mission.  There it is folks--within a span of about 27 years--1 Grandson and 3 Great-Grandsons of Victor Emanuel Mumford were called to serve the Lord in the Fatherland of Vittorio Emmanuel II. And now some 26 or 27 years later again--this same Grandson has returned to Italy to serve in the historic and amazing Italy Rome Temple. Does it make you just sort of wonder what work there is that the Lord is trying to get us to complete???  Interesting food for thought. I hope you hung in there through all of that!! So I'll just share with you a few of our pics from this wonderful spot deep in the heart of Rome.

Well--Someone has to "read the map"--even if She has no navigational skills. 

NOPE  0  NONE  NADA

A view of the Piazza with the Monument in the background
Map just to show how close famous places are in the  of Rome

Vittorio Emmanuel II monument

A view of the Piazza from the mid-platform of the Vittorio Emmanuel Monument

t. 

When we realized that we were just a short walk--down a cobblestone alley--from Trevi Fountain--we grabbed a delicious gelato and headed that way. 

The Trevi Fountain is one of Rome's greatest attractions, standing 26 meters tall, and 49 meters wide, it is an unmissable sight in the city. Famous for its intricate artwork decorated in the Baroque style, the Trevi Fountain has plenty of history and detail attached to it.

The Trevi Fountain (“Fontana di Trevi” in Italian) has a history that predates the 1600s, and it’s the most well-known fountain in the world. “Trevi” is a mashup of the Italian words “tre,” meaning “three” and “vie,” meaning “roads,” because the fountain was constructed at the intersection of Rome’s then three most important thoroughfares. 

Trevi is also one of those places that movies have helped make famous--Like Roman Holiday (1953), Three Coins in the Fountain (1954) and The Lizzie McGuire Movie (2003). 

The 85-foot-tall, 65-foot-wide Trevi was Bernini’s largest undertaking ever, and as such a monumental attraction to tourists and natives alike, the world-renowned Italian fountain takes in approximately 1,250,000 euros annually (about $1.5 million U.S. dollars). While these large sums have attracted the eye of thieves throughout the ages, attempts at stealing from the Trevi have almost always been thwarted.

As travelers pray for a promise to return to Rome someday, the city of Rome uses the money gathered at the Trevi to pay for the food and upkeep of a market for the area’s poorest inhabitants.    

Well that about wraps up this email. I've been wanting to explore this topic for quite awhile. Hope I didn't lose "readership" over it. 

Love to you all. 

Hurrah for Israel!  Hurrah!!

Anziano e Sorella Mumford