Christmas celebrations vary around world

Christmas 2005! It is almost here and the young children of Christendom can hardly wait as these final days and hours tick down to the special night, Christmas Eve, and the arrival of their gift giver. And the gift givers of the world are ready for their big night. I can remember, at a tender age, having a terrible time going to sleep on Christmas Eve.

Gifts have probably been given among families and friends for centuries before the birth of Jesus Christ, for whom we celebrate Christmas. But the mythical gift givers of the world, such as our own Santa Claus can look back upon a real live human as the time of their beginning.

Certainly one of the most famous gift givers in the world was a man named St. Nicholas who was born some 270 years after Christ on the shores of the Mediterranean in Lycia, now a part of Turkey. As I recall he was consecrated Archbishop of Myra while still a young man. He lived a difficult, hard life that was also filled with grace, Worship and giving.

He was imprisoned and tortured during the reign of one Roman Emperor at a time when many Christians were persecuted. One of the less known facts about St. Nicholas is that he was a gift giver to children and the poor during his lifetime and many, many stories abound to this day about his giving of gifts. In some European countries, children “know” he still exists and travels on the eve of his day, December 6, to deliver his gifts.

He was arguably the foremost Saint in Christendom from the thirteenth century until the Reformation. With many he still remains so.

Down through the year’s gift givers such as Santa Claus, Old Father Christmas and Kris Kringle have probably all stemmed from the many stories, truth and fables, of this famous St. Nicholas of the Mediterranean.

Other countries have their gift givers as well. They visit children on a special night during the year. Some are men, some women.

In Italy for example there is the famous good witch, La Befana, who can be seen on the Eve of Epiphany, January 6, flying across the dark winter skies of Italy swooping down the chimneys of homes of children with her gifts. Her beginning dates back to the birth of Christ when the three kings, Melchoir, Gaspar and Balthazar who, as the legend goes, journeyed through Italy on their quest to find the Christ Child. They stopped, asked La Befana for directions and invited her to accompany them. She refused. After they left she changed her mind and tried to find them, became lost and never made the trip.

We really don’t know how many kings sought that Christ Child but the three—Melchoir, Gaspar and Balthazar—are often pictured as three who made the journey. Perhaps their gifts of gold, frankinsense and myrrh are perhaps the best-known gifts ever given.

Russia has several known mythical gift givers, one another woman known as Babouschka who suffered the same fate as La Befana. Another that is known to frequent this vast land in Europe and Asia is Kolyaka. She also walks about the towns and villages of certain parts of Russia on Christmas Eve.

In Germany there is the Christ Child, a representative of the greatest gift giver of all, Jesus Christ, the giver of life itself. The Christ Child is the gift giver who grew out of the Reformation. Sometimes this gift giver appears as a young boy, sometimes a young girl and other times in the abstract. The Christ Child leaves apples, nuts, sweets and other gifts for young German children.

Holland has perhaps the most unique mythical gift giver. Here St. Nicholas has a partner named Pete. They arrive by boat from Spain in mid-November. Once there they begin the task of checking behaviors of the young. St. Nicholas travels on a magnificent white horse and Pete follows, dressed as a Moorish servant carrying switches and a large bag on his back. For the “bad” little boys and girls he leaves a switch or a lump of coal. For those with the worst behaviors he loads them in his bag and takes them back to Spain. Why Spain? I have no idea.

Whatever the legends and truths of a nation or region, Christmas is a special time. It is a time of gift giving (hopefully more than receiving) and Worship. The churches of the Crosby-Huffman area invite you to Worship within their walls as part of your giving this Christmas season.

Merry Christmas!