ADVENT

December is the month of Advent, but what is Advent? Although in the Latin language the word "advent" means "coming", the most common meaning indicates waiting, that is, the liturgical season that is placed before Christmas. In addition to the fir with silver threads, the crib, the illuminated cave, the songs, the echo of the bagpipes and the gifts that are exchanged, Advent is also characterized by the presence of the calendar, where no girls are shown at the door next to it, but many boxes that begin to be opened by children from 1 December.
The first Advent calendar appeared in Germany in the nineteenth century, when the mother of little Gerhard Lang made one consisting of 24 sweets, some in the shape of stars, fixed on a sheet of cardboard. When Lang became an adult, he opened a printing office and produced what became the Advent calendar, with a colorful image for each day of Advent. In addition to knowing what Advent is, you need to know that curiosities are linked to it.

Not everyone is aware, for example, that during the Second World War, Advent calendars were not marketed because paper had to be saved. On the Sundays of Advent it is forbidden to celebrate funeral masses. As regards the beginning of the liturgical period, there are controversies. It is assumed that the Advent season starts from December 1st, in reality it should coincide with the Sunday closest to November 30th. The priests during the various celebrations change the color of the tunic from time to time. During the first two weeks it is purple and blue, on the third Sunday of Advent it is pink, up to white, in preparation for the birth of Christ.
Advent is therefore the period that precedes Christmas in the Christian liturgy and marks the beginning of a new liturgical year of the Western ecclesiastical year. But often for children it is only the period between them and the day when Santa Claus will arrive.


Two types of traditions are widespread: the Roman Advent and the Ambrosian Advent. Roman Advent, the most popular one, lasts 4 Sundays, the four Sundays preceding Christmas. Every Sunday the Gospel readings have precise characteristics and refer to the coming of the Lord at the end of time (I Sunday), to John the Baptist (II and III Sunday), to the immediate background of the birth of the Lord (IV Sunday).

First of all, therefore, if we want to make children understand the true meaning of Advent and wait for the arrival of Christmas with them, we must explain the religious meaning of this period. In order to teach children that waiting for Christmas is not just about waiting for Santa Claus to arrive. Also, if you are religious, you know that this period should be dedicated to prayer and not to shopping. In fact, in the past this period was very important in fact every Sunday of Advent has its own precise meaning:

First Sunday theme: Be careful, stay awake
symbol: an alarm clock
It is the moment of attention, of being awake. Of waking up from sleep: one cannot be found asleep when the lord arrives. The guiding symbol will be the "alarm clock", a sound, a reminder. During the week we need to have our eyes open, be able to notice the needs of the people around us in order to be ready to respond to them.

Second Sunday theme: Prepare the way, straighten the paths.
symbol: a stone
Our gaze, more attentive and aware, discovers that every day is a journey, studded with many opportunities to say "yes", to be sent, sent. But we can also answer with the stones of "no". The guiding symbol will be a stone.

Third Sunday theme: The earth produces vegetation
symbol: a bulb of narcissus
The journey is long and often tiring. In order not to lose courage, one must look at the goal, hope for it to be reached, and foretaste the joy of arrival.

Fourth Sunday theme: Mom awaits the baby
symbol: the heart
On the fourth Sunday of Advent, our attention is turned to the one who first waited for Jesus: his mother, Mary. In fact, Mary is the central figure of the season of Advent, because no one has ever waited and never will wait for Jesus with greater faith and love. A heart-shaped cookie can be eaten as a sign of fraternal communion or it can be hung on the Christmas tree!

The Advent season is a time of hope and humility. If we meditate on Sacred Scripture, we will see how humility is the indispensable requisite for disposing to welcome and listen to God.
Humility means seeing ourselves as we are, without filters, according to truth. Noting our littleness, we will open ourselves to the greatness of God. Mary is a simple and humble girl and she remains so even after becoming the mother of Jesus. Mary never puts herself in front of Jesus but lets her son spread the word of God to everyone. She falls behind because she understands the importance of her son's mission on earth. She does not cry out, she does not adorn herself with jewels, she does not allow herself to be served by anyone, she stays there like everyone else and listens to those precious words understanding the importance of those divine teachings.

NATIVITY

The nativity scene in my family was a ritual. My grandparents had handmade wax figurines, which are nowhere to be found. They were very ancient, delicate, fragile. It was beautiful to make the crib. My father went around looking for real moss and brought it home still damp. Then everything else, stones, branches, leaves, everything was gathered around in the countryside. There was a different magic when my father was alive. He took care of the lights, he had a lot of patience to illuminate the right spots. Now, on the other hand, everything is done quickly, in a hurry, with tiredness and stress. The best time of Christmas for me was when I was a child and my grandparents were all alive. Now I don't feel that magic anymore and I would love to feel it but I know it's impossible.

Etymologically, the word itself means "manger" which is actually the place where the baby Jesus is placed at his birth, with Joseph and Mary who look after him with the help of the ox's breath and the donkey that allowed him to give some warmth in the cold cave they were in.
And this is precisely what the nativity scene that many of us have at home at Christmas depicts: the reproduction of the sacred grotto with the baby Jesus and his family.

There are few and confused elements that foreshadow a precise origin and before 1200 it was depicted by unknown artists (The Virgin with Jesus at the Catacombs of Priscilla in Rome) or even by Giotto.

The first real exhibition of a nativity scene in Italy is obtained in 1220 in Greccio, thanks to Saint Francis of Assisi who, on a trip to Bethlehem, where he saw the nativity scene recalled, wanted to reproduce it in Italy.

So he celebrated a mass in a wood, in the presence of an ox and a donkey and the saint sang some verses of the Gospel over the manger.

Thus there was the first representation of a living nativity scene in Italy. From here on, the crib had a slow and inexorable diffusion and from a purely artistic element, it began to be popular.

From the fifteenth century it spread to central Italy, arrived in the Kingdom of Naples, began to spread in homes and be part of the popular sentiment.

In Naples, in the houses of the nobles, they even began to make sumptuous, large, refined versions, with precious materials and each house pursued its own spectacular version of it, as in a competition.

The Neapolitan nativity scene is still a great classic today, one of its characteristics is that of uniting the cave of Jesus with various other shepherds, intent on their daily life, each in its own occupation.

Via San Gregorio Armeno is very famous, where even today master craftsmen compose cribs, build shepherds also depicting current figures that can be politicians, cinema characters and various others.

An art that every year, during the Christmas holidays, attracts many people to visit and attend the birth of the shepherds in the Neapolitan city.

Obviously there are also other types of cribs in other areas of Italy, among these we remember the Genoese, the Bolognese (among the oldest), the Sicilian and others, each with its own differences in materials used, characters, among the many.

A type of craftsmanship that besides our country has also conquered other nations in Europe and in the world where everyone creates a version with their own characteristics.