Milford chronicle., 1958-12-19
Christmas Observance Abroad

We find that in Holland children expect and
receive their Christmas gifts on the Feast of
st. Nicholas December 5. In Puerto Rico on
the other hand, the great day is Epiphany, the
Feast of the Three Kings. or Wise Men. which
is January 6.
Switzerland, we understand, follows the
Dutch custom. In between comes the Swedish
Luciafest. December IL, while the French do
not exchange presents at Christmas, but at
New Years, January /.
For the internationally minded there is
scope for whole months merrymaking The
children would love it.
BY the way, not everybody in the world
hangs up his stockings for Santa's visit. The
English Channel makes division here Gem
orally speaking, kids on the Continent put out
their shoes. and in Holland the wise child adds
bit OF hay carrot and pan of water.
These are for Santa's horse. If he comes in
sleigh, he must have horse, and the horse
will appreciate refreshments.
But what about the reindeer-Dancer and
Prancer and the rest of them? Not all coun-
tries agree on their actual existence, it seems
We find no mention of reindeer before Clement
Moores Visit of Saint Nicholas" and he wrote
in 1922, at New York City. Still, the Rev Mr.
Moore was respected clergyman, a Hebrew
scholar and professor in the divinity school.
We have just been looking at an article on
the traditions surrounding Christmas Eve. It
concentrates on small matters that forgetful
or careless person might well overlook
For instance, if you have a cat keep an
eye Oh ulIu. l. Is extremely DaQ luck TO let
cat meow on Christmas Eve. To prevent this,
he should be fed even before he looks hungry
All animals we find, supposed to be
pampered on Christmas Eve because of the
kindly role they played in the stable so long
ago. We find no mention of dogs in the ira
dition. but dogs that belong to somebody are
invariably pampered, anyway.
Reading further, we find that the first creche
or manger scene, the most touching reminder
of Christmas that we have was devised by a
notable friend of animals, st. Francis of ASST
81. That was in 1929 or 735 years ago. After
great hardship, Brother Francis had made a
trip to the Holy Land On his return, he chose
a grotto and reproduced, best he could, the
stable at Bethlehem. .s..sa
1t is now common everywhere, but it is the
special characteristic of an Italian Christmas,
rather than the Nordic Christmas Tree. Some
authorities trace the Presepio, or manger
scene, far back as Is centuries and the
church of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome
Personally, we lean toward the franciscan
tradition, for no learned reason, but because
one of the most impressive managers we ever
saw was in church at Lima Peru. Not that
the stable itself was large, but because of
the enormous troop of animals, making a kind
of pilgrimage across the floor of the chanceI.
There were, of course, in their usual places
of honor, the OK and the donkey but the great
crowd was composed of llamas An old Fran
ciscan monk his hands and knee was ar
ranging them meticulously, two by two, accord
ing to the ordinance of Noah.
OF course there were and are no llamas in
Judaea, but Peruvians are much attached to
those Ito us) singular animals, and it is rea-
sonable enough to suppose that given the
opportunity, the llamas would not have failed
to visit the Crib. The Franciscan made allow
ance for that.