Befana is usually described as an elderly woman with a wart upon her nose, but many believers will get upset if you envision her so. Some modern drawings make her a perky elderly lady with her ever-present broom.
The tale goes that when the Three Wise Men stopped at her home, she fed them but decided not to accompany them on their journey to the manger because she had too much housework to do. (That sounds like an Italian woman, all right!) Afterwards she felt badly about refusing and hurried after them, but has never caught up with them. She leaves gifts to children in the hope that one of them may be the Christ Child.
About La Befana at Italiansrus.com.
(They also have a great section about Italian Christmas traditions, including an account by a man who spent his 11th Christmas on Ischia, which is where my mother's parents came from.)
A scholarly look at La Befana.
Just a general page about Christmas in Italy.
And a very good page on Epiphany with over a dozen links.
"We Three Kings"
We three kings of Orient are;
Bearing gifts we traverse afar,
Field and fountain, moor and mountain,
Following yonder star.
Refrain
O star of wonder, star of light,
Star with royal beauty bright,
Westward leading, still proceeding,
Guide us to thy perfect light.
Born a King on Bethlehem’s plain
Gold I bring to crown Him again,
King forever, ceasing never,
Over us all to reign.
Refrain
Frankincense to offer have I;
Incense owns a Deity nigh;
Prayer and praising, voices raising,
Worshipping God on high.
Refrain
Myrrh is mine, its bitter perfume
Breathes a life of gathering gloom;
Sorrowing, sighing, bleeding, dying,
Sealed in the stone cold tomb.
Refrain
Glorious now behold Him arise;
King and God and sacrifice;
Alleluia, Alleluia,
Sounds through the earth and skies.
Refrain
1 comment:
Yes, I do know about Befana. I love reading about Christmas traditions from around the world and other December holidays; have ever since I was a kid. Cape May had quite a few Jewish families in the 80s and my elementary school celebrated Hannukah and Christmas. One year, the whole school even did a special event in which each class studied Christmas in a different land. (My class had Hannukah, as we had the most Jewish and part-Jewish kids; my sister's did Poland. I think Mom still has the "Polish angel" she made.) :)
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