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.
The EPIPHANY (ALSO KNOWN AS THREE KING'S DAY5 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 6th, 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 6th in the 4th 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 sceneThe 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
AT THE TOP OF THE SPANISH STEPS WITH ROME AS OUR BACKDROPTrevi FountainL-R. Caleb Mason, Tess Carlson, Anziano Ron and Carol Mumford
JUST A Cool Monument I wanted a picture of
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 MUMFORDHURRAH FOR ISRAEL! HURRAH!!
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