Forget the Magi; Italian kids await gifts from the good witch, La Befana
My Canadian father would have nothing to do with it and reprimanded my mother in front of me that she was confusing me with this witch, La Befana when Santa Claus was who I should love, admire and wait for, which I did, but La Befana was after Christmas. I was scared for life and now this article from CRUX just brings it all back.
But in the 1990's and 2000's my beautician who was from Italy started the La Befena custom for me on January 6th. But she died about four years ago, God rest her soul, and that ended too. So sad!
I want to cry that I was deprived of La Befana's gifts during my precious childhood years, now just a waning memory!
FROM CRUX:
ROME — Pope Francis and Catholics around the world celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany on Wednesday, marking the date the three kings are believed to have visited the baby Jesus.
But across Italy on Tuesday, children searched their shoes for gifts from the good witch.
While the Western church focuses on the gospel story of the three kings or Magi bringing gold, frankincense, and myrrh to the baby Jesus, and Orthodox churches celebrate his baptism in the River Jordan, a different tradition is marked outside the Vatican walls.
Italian children will rush to see if “La Befana,” the good witch, has visited and filled their shoes with candy and presents. According to the Italian tradition, the benevolent old woman, riding a broomstick, leaves gifts for well-behaved children on the night of Jan. 5.
Naughty children can expect a lump of coal, though “these days it’s a sweet,” said Mario Ramelli, a flower seller in Rome, describing the dark-colored candies.
Perhaps due to a corruption investigation of its traditional stalls, La Befana was nowhere to be seen Tuesday in the city’s famous Piazza Navona market.
Across Europe, Epiphany traditions vary. In Spain, “El Dia de los Reyes” (“Three Kings’ Day”) is marked by parades across the country and — in a custom akin to the one in Italy — children leave shoes out for gifts from the Magi.
In Poland, parades led by the three kings also see the appearance of Herod and the devil, while Poles bless a piece of chalk and mark the year and “K+M+B” over their door. The letters are based on Latin and stand for “May Christ bless this house.”
Comparable traditions are enjoyed across the Catholic world, with Epiphany festivities as far and wide as Latin America and the Philippines.
The tradition of La Befana may predate Christianity, though it has adapted to Christian culture. The name may be a derivative of Bastrina, after the Sabine/Roman goddess named Strina. But others maintain it derives from the word “epiphany,” and they hold that the Magi stopped by La Befana’s home on their way to visit Jesus.
According to legend, the Magi invited her to come along on their journey, but she declined, saying she had too much housework to do. After they left, she changed her mind. But it was too late. She couldn’t find them, and she never found her way to the baby Jesus.
Rosie Scammell covers the Vatican for RNS.
1 comment:
Dear Father, you really should have a barber, rather than a beautician.
As for the witch, I think some parts of Germany have/had a similar custom, except that it's a scary man of some folky sort.
My childhood terror was Phyllis Diller.
Post a Comment