Christmas Anthology (3 dari 9)

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Santa Claus' FAQ

Who is Santa Claus?

Santa Claus has a variety of different names in different languages, but they all refer to the person of St Nicholas who was born many centuries ago in the 4th century (born c 245 AD, and died c 350 AD, various sources list various dates) in Lycia, Anatolia, a province on the southwest coast of Asia Minor (present day Turkey). He was born in Patara, a seaport. St Nicholas became a bishop of the church at Myra. Few documents exist which mention him, however legends of his generosity exist throughout most churches. Thousands of churches in the Middle Ages were dedicated to him.

St Nicholas performed a number of miracles, all associated with gift giving. His feast day was December 6, so think of St Nicholas on December 6th and December 25th.

In 1823, Clement C. Moore wrote "A Visit from St Nicholas", which showed Santa Claus driving a sleight drawn by 'eight tiny reindeer" and in doing so he created an image we all have today. Thomas Nast drew Santa Claus based on Moore's description cementing in this image.

The probable origins of various traditions which then spread around the world:
Gifts: St Nicholas (gift giver) and the Magi (the three wise men/Persian Priests from Orient bringing gifts for Jesus) and from pagan (Roman) Saturnalia custom.
Reindeer: reindeer are from the north (e.g.: Finland) and they are cute, Santa needed transportation
Chimney: St Nicholas legend (see below). Also, in England and the United states Santa comes secretly and so the entrance must be secret and easy to use without the help of adults. In Germany and Scandinavia often Santa comes through the door.
North Pole: America's Father Christmas dwells there, it is a winter festival, Santa Claus needed somewhere to live
Hat: bishop's mitre of St Nicholas, the headgear of the Magi, and perhaps the Phrygian headgear of the French Revolution.
Beard: St Nicholas, the Magi are bearded, white because of age.
Costume: cloak from St Nicholas, and perhaps the Magi. The fur probably added to fit the Northern legend.
Sock: hung by the chimney to dry and they make a good repository for presents.
Candles (and now lights) symbolize or were part of: paradise, end of the days getting shorter, warmth, summer, Jewish Hanukkah, festiveness, keeping the darkness at bay
Holly: Christ's crown of thorns and others
Gnomes: pagan (some celebrations)
Straw: stable and crib, readily available, pagan
Christmas Crib: Jesus' stable in Bethlehem. Legend says it was started by St Francis of Assisi.
Red, green, and white colors: green came from evergreen trees (e.g.: fir & holly), red from holly berries, red and white also from the bishop's mitre and cape worn in religious ceremonies by St Nicholas, white from the snow seen on evergreen's during the holiday season, white from St Nicholas's beard, and white from the light of the Star seen over the stable. Red may also have come from pagan ceremonies.
Cookies and milk being left out for Santa Claus: the modern Christmas tree tradition came from western Germany, from a medieval custom, as a paradise tree- a tree decorated with apples, wafers & cookies. When the paradise tree merged with Christianity and became part of the Christmas celebration cookies and wafers were still part of the decorations. As time passed Santa would often snack on a decoration (to keep in shape!). Children (and perhaps parents) noticed that there were decorations that had been snacked on (although in old times the snacking was done by mice too) and so began leaving them out on plates by the fire- partially to keep them close to Santa's entrance and partially to keep the mice away. Homes that did not use wafers or cookies thought it would be nice to leave out something for me to munch on too after hearing stories from other families about how much Santa enjoyed their cookies. Eventually fewer and fewer people decorated the tree with food but wanted to keep up the tradition of leaving something for Santa Claus. Eventually the origin was lost to common knowledge, but we have included it with the FAQ now. As for the milk, it was only natural that people would be considerate enough to leave milk with the cookies!
Why is Santa 'heavy'? Well, if you read the information about the cookies and milk above you'll see why [b]Santa used to be shown as thinner than he is now- not everyone used to leave out cookies for him!

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What is a legend of St Nicholas?

There are many legends of St Nicholas, but this is the most famous legend and it includes elements of today's Santa

A nobleman who lived with his three daughters had fallen on hard times. The daughters had no chance of marriage, since their father could not pay their dowries. He even thought of putting his daughters into prostitution.

One night, St Nicholas threw a sack of gold through a window of the nobleman's shabby castle, which was enough for one daughter's marriage. The next night, he tossed another sack of gold through the window for the second daughter.

But on the third night, the window was closed. So, St Nicholas climbed onto the roof and dropped the sack down the chimney. The next morning, the daughters found the gold in the stockings they had hung to dry by the fireplace.

Hence leaving the stockings out for Santa Claus.

What other names is Santa Claus or Father Christmas known by?

Weihnachtsmann in Germany for Christmas Man
Kris Kringle from the southern Germany Christkindle, meaning Christ child. This mutated in some areas of the world into a name for Santa Claus.
Pere Noel in France
Papa Noel in many Spanish speaking countries
Sinter Claus (or Sinterklaas, Sinte Klaas) in the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam (now New York City)
Other variations of his name range from Sant Nikolaas to Sante Klaas.
The Italian Befana is a similar figure as is Russia's grandmotherly Babouschka which actually means grandmother.
Denmark he's called Julemanden(Christmas Man)
Joulupukki (Yule Buck), evolved from the Christmas Goat used to frighten children in Finland. Korvatunturi (Mount Ear, near Polar Circle) is often portrayed as his home. The children see Santa and he asks if they have been good.
Nicholas of Bari.
Nicholas of Myra

Is St Nicholas patron saint of anyone?

Yes! St Nicholas is the patron saint of Russia, of children, and of sailors. He also has been patron saint of Moscow, Greece, prisoners, bakers, pawnbrokers, shopkeepers and wolves.

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Jolly Old St Nicholas

Jolly old Saint Nicholas,
Lean your ear this way!
Don't you tell a single soul
What I'm going to say;
Christmas Eve is coming soon;
Now, you dear old man,
Whisper what you'll bring to me;
Tell me if you can.

When the clock is striking twelve,
When I'm fast asleep,
Down the chimney broad and black,
With your pack you'll creep;
All the stockings you will find
Hanging in a row;
Mine will be the shortest one,
You'll be sure to know.

Johnny wants a pair of skates;
Susy wants a dolly;
Nellie wants a story book;
She thinks dolls are folly;
As for me, my little brain
Isn't very bright;
Choose for me, old Santa Claus,
What you think is right.

Wilfred Carter ??? (???)

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The Peasants and the Saints

St Nicholas, whose feast day is celebrated on 6 December, was famed for his kindness. He is the inspiration of Santa Claus. In this Russian folktalee collected from Yarosalvl province, his clemency contrasts with the punitive anger of the Prophet Elijah

There was once a peasant who loved St Nicholas but had no time for the Prophet Elijah.
He would devoutly light a candle before the icon of St Nicholas on his feast day, but when the Prophet's festival came around he went about his business as usual, going out into the fields when he should have been observing the holiday.
1 day the Prophet Elijah & St Nicholas were walking together & happened to cross the field farmed by the peasant. St Nicholas remarked on the tall crops that promised a bumper harvest but the Prophet Elijah muttered angrily that he had no intention of letting the peasant harvest the grain- he would send hailstorms & lightning blasts to flatten the field.
St Nicholas went to the peasant & advised him to sell the crops to the priest of the village church dedicated to the Prophet Elijah. The peasant did as he was told. Within a week, a hailstorm had devastated the peasant's field.
The next time the Saint & the Prophet were passing the field, Elijah boasted that he had taken revenge on the disrespectful peasant, but Nicholas pointed out that the blow had fallen not on the peasant but on Elijah's own priest. The Prophet immediately vowed to restore the field to its former glory.
On hearing this, St Nicholas visited the peasant again & told him to buy the field back; the priest was only too happy to sell it.
Over the next weeks a miracle occurred. The Prophet Elijah sent sunshine & gentle rains & the field sprouted a new crop of tall rye- as if a golden rug had been flung across it.
When Elijah proudly showed his handiwork to Nicholas, only to learn that he'd been tricked again, he flew into fury.
He promised that no matter how many sheaves the peasant put on the threshing floor, they wouldn't yield a single grain.
St Nicholas now told the peasant to thresh 1 sheaf at a time, & by doing this the man was able to amass a vast store of grain- so much that he had to bulid new barns.
When the Prophet Elijah saw this, he accused the Saint of helping the peasant & he didn't deny it. The Prophet laughed but he wouldn't tell the Saintwhat he would do next.
The Saint flew to the peasant & gave him 1 last piece of advice.
The very next day St Nicholas & the Prophet Elijah, disguissed as poor pilgrims, met the peasant on the road near his field. He was carrying 1 large & 1 small candle. When the Saint asked him where he was going, the man said he planned to light the large candle before an icon of the Prophet Elijah for having given him such a wonderful crops, while the small candle for St Nicholas. The Prophet Elijah was finally pacified & from that day onward the peasant honoured both the Prophet & the Saint & lived a fine & contented life.

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Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer

You know Dasher and Dancer
And Prancer and Vixen,
Comet and Cupid
And Donner and Blitzen.
But do you recall
The most famous reindeer of all?

Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer
(reindeer)
Had a very shiny nose
(like a light bulb)
And if you ever saw it
(saw it)
You would even say it glows
(like a flash light)
All of the other reindeer
(reindeer)
Used to laugh and call him names
(like bozzo)
They never let poor Rudolph
(Rudolph)
Join in any reindeer games
(like monopoly)

Then one foggy Christmas Eve
Santa came to say
(Ho Ho Ho)
Rudolph with your nose so bright
Won't you guide my sleigh tonight?
Then all the reindeer loved him
(loved him)
And they shouted out with glee
(yippee)
"Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer
(reindeer)
You'll go down in history!"
(like Columbus)

Johnny Marks (1949)

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"My Naughty Little Sister"

In this delightful My Naughty Little Sister series, Dorothy Edwards recalls her own mischievous and lively childhood in the 1950s English suburb as she herself takes the role of big sister, who is the narrator of this story. This charming particular episode tells her encounter with Father Christmas in a school Christmas party and how she behaved.

This is such a terrible story about my naughty little sister that I hardly know how to tell it to you. It is about one Christmas-time.
Now, my naughty little sister was very pleased when Christmas began to draw near, because she liked all the excitement of the plum-puddings and the turkeys, and the crackers and the holly, and all the Christmassy-looking shops, but there was one very awful thing about her- she didn't like to think about Father Christmas at all- she said he was a horrid old man!
There- I know you would be shocked at that. But she did. And she said she wouldn't put up her stocking for him.
My mother told my naughty little sister what a good old man Father Christmas was, and how he brought the toys along on Christmas Eve, but my naughty little sister said, "I don't care. And I don't want that nasty old man coming to our house."
Well now, that was enough, wasn't it? But the really dreadful thing happened later on.
This is the dreadful thing: one day, my school-teacher said that a Father Christmas would be coming to the school to bring presents for all the children, and my teacher said that the Father Christmas would have toys for all our little brothers and sisters as well, if they cared to come along for them. She said that there would be a real Christmas-tree with candles on it, and sweeties and cups of tea and biscuits for our mothers.
Wasn't that a nice thought? Well now, when I told my little sister about the Christmas-tree, she said, "Oh, nice!"
And when I told her about the sweeties she said, "very, very nice!" But when I told her about the Father Christmas, she said, "Don't want him, nasty old man."
Still, my mother said, "You can't go to the Christmas-tree without seeing him, so if you don't want to see him all that much, you wil have to stay at home."
But my naughty little sister did want to go, very much, so she said, "I will go, and when the horrid Father Christmas comes in, I will close my eyes."
So, we all went to the Christmas-tree together, my mother, and I, and my naughty little sister.
When we got to the school, my naughty little sister was very pleased to see all the pretty paperchains that we had mad ein school hanging all around the classrooms, and when she saw all the little lanterns, and the holly and all the robin-redbreast drawings pinned on the blackboards she smiled and smiled. She was very smily at first
All the mothers, and the little brothers and sisters who were too young for school, sat down in chairs and desks, and all the big school children acted a play for them.
My naughty little sister was very excited to see all the children dressed up as angels and robins and elves and Bo-peeps and things, and she clapped her hands very hard, like all the grown-ups did, to show that she was enjoying herself. And she still smiled.
Then, when some of the teachers came round with bags of sweets, tied up in pretty coloured paper, my naughty little sister smiled even more, and she sang too when all the children sang. She sang "Away in a Manger", because she knew the words very well. When she didn't know the words of some of the singing she 'la-la'd'.
After all the singing, the teachers put out the lights, and took away a big screen from a corner of the room, and there was the christmas-tree, all lit up with candles and shining with silvery stuff, and little shiny coloured balls. There were lots of toys on the tree, and all the children cheered and clapped.
Then the teachers put the lights on again, and blew out the candles so thatw e could all go and look at the tree. My little sister went too. She looked at the tree, and she looked at the toys, and she saw a specially nice doll with a blue dress on, she said, "For me."
My mother said, "You must wait and see what you are given."
Then the teachers called out, "Back to your seats everyone, we have a visitor coming." So all the children went back to their seats, and sat still and waited and listened.
And, as we waited and listened, we heard a tinkle-tinkle bell noise, and then the schoolroom door opened, and in walked the Father Christmas. My naughty little sister had forgotten all bout him, so she hadn't time to close her eyes before he walked in. However, when she saw him, my little sister stopped smiling and began to be stubborn.

Dorothy Edwards (1952)

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"My Naughty Little Sister"

The Father Christmas was very nice. He said he hoped we were having a good time, and we all said. "Yes," except my naughty little sister- she didn't say a thing.
Then he said, "Now, one at a time, children, and I will give each one of you a toy."
So, first of all each schoolchild went up for a toy, and my naughty litlle sister still didn't shut her eyes because she weanted to see who was going to have the specially nice doll in the blue dress. But none of the school children had it.
Then Father Christmas began to call the little brothers and sisters up for presents, and, as he didn't know their names, he just said, "Come along, sonny," if it were a boy, and "come along, girlie," if it were a girl. The Father Christmas let the little brothers and sisters choose their own toys off the tree.
When my naughty little sister saw this, she was so worried about the specially nice doll, that she thought that she would just go up and get it.
She said, "I don't like that horrid old beardy man, but I do like that nice doll."
So, my naughty little sister got up without being asked to, and she went right out to the front where the Father Christmas was standing, and she said, "That doll, please," and pointed to the doll she wanted.
The Father Christmas laughed and all the teachers laughed, and the other mothers and the schoolchildren, and all the little brothers and sisters. My mother did not laugh because she was so shocked to see my naughty little sister going out without being asked to.
The Father Christmas took the specially nice doll off the tree, and he ahnded it to my naughty little sister and he said, "Well now, I hear you don't like me very much, but won't you just shake hands?" And my naughty little sister said, "No." But she took the doll all the same.
The Father Christmas put out his nice old han for her to shake and be friends, and do you know what that naughty bad girl did? She bit his hands. She really and truly did Can you think of anything more dreadful and terrible? She bit Father Christmas' good old hand, and then she turned and ran and ran out of the school with all the children staring after her, and her doll held very tight in her arms.
The Father Christmas was very nice. He said it wasn't a hard bite, only a frightened one, and he made all teh children sing songs together.
When my naughty little sister was brought back by my mother, she said she was very sorry, and the Father Christmas said, "That's all right, old lady," and because he was so smily and nice to her, my funny little sister went right up to him, and gave him a big 'sorry' kiss which pleased him very much.
And she hung her stocking up after all, and that kind man remember to fill it for her.
My little sister kept the specially nice doll until she was quite grown-up. She called it Rosy-primrose, and although she was sometimes bad-tempered with it, she really loved it very much indeed.

Dorothy Edwards (1952)

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Menyambut St Lucy's Day

From the time immemorial the people of Sweden have kept 13 December- the day when the sun stands still- as a festival of light. They knew that after this darkest day of the year (winter solstice)* the sun would return & the days lengthen.
When monks brought the Christian faith to Sweden a story of St Lucy, a Christian girl in the Sicilian town of Syracuse who suffered martyrdom under the persecution of the Emperor Diocletian, was narrated to them. It was said that St Lucy, whose name meant light (Latin: lux), brought to her fellow Christians hiding in the catacombs, wearing lighted candles on her head to leave her hands free.
So the pagan festival of light was given a new meaning & transformed into the Feast of St Lucy, held also in 13 December.
Early in the morning the girl chosen as St Lucy, 1 of the daughters in the family, steals quietly from bed & dresses in a white gown with red sash.
She arranges a crown of green leaves on her head to which are attached 5 tall white candles.
With great care she carries a tray of coffee & saffron cakes to the rest of the family still snug in bed. She usually sings them a special song in honour of St Lucy.
Town & villages, schools, offices, & factories have their own St Lucy & there is also an official St Lucy who visits children in hospitals & children's hoems.
Swedish settlers have taken their customs to the USA.

*)In the ancient time the winter solstice in the northern hemisphere didn't fall on 22 December as it does now but on 24 December, just as the summer solstice fell on 24 June, not on 21 June as it does now. When the Gregorian calendar reforms were instituted in the 17th century, St Lucy's Day shifted backward by 11 days to 13 Decembe.r

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"A Nocturnall upon St Lucies Day"

'Tis the yeares midnight, and it is the dayes,
Lucies, who scarce seaven houres herself unmaskes,
The Sunne is spent, and now his flasks
Send forth light squibs, no constant rayes;
The worlds whole sap is sunke:
The generall balme th'hydroptique earth hath drunk,
Whither, as to the beds-feet, life is shrunke,
Dead and enterr'd; yet all these seeme to laugh,
Compar'd with mee, who am their Epitaph.

Study me then, you who shall lovers bee
At the next world, that is, at the next Spring:
For I am every dead thing,
In whom love wrought new Alchimie.
For his art did expresse
A quintessence even from nothingnesse,
From dull privations, and leane emptinesse:
He ruin'd mee, and I am re-begot
Of absence, darknesse, death; things which are not.

All others, from all things, draw all that's good,
Life, soule, forme, spirit, whence they beeing have;
I, by loves limbecke, am the grave
Of all, that's nothing. Oft a flood
Have wee two wept, and so
Drownd the whole world, us two; oft did we grow
To be two Chaosses, when we did show
Care to ought else; and often absences
Withdrew our soules, and made us carcasses.

But I am by her death, (which word wrongs her)
Of the first nothing, the Elixer grown;
Were I a man, that I were one,
I needs must know; I should preferre,
If I were any beast,
Some ends, some means; Yea plants, yea stones detest,
And love; All, all some properties invest;
If I an ordinary nothing were,
As shadow, a light, and body must be here.

But I am None; nor will my Sunne renew.
You lovers, for whose sake, the lesser Sunne
At this time to the Goat is runne
To fetch new lust, and give it you,
Enjoy your summer all;
Since shee enjoyes her long nights festivall,
Let mee prepare towards her, and let mee call
This houre her Vigill, and her Eve, since this
Both the yeares, and the dayes deep midnight is.

By John Donne (1572-1631)

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post by hansel @ WG

berikutnya http://renunganpagi.blogspot.com/2003/12/christmas-anthology-4-dari-9.html

Christmas Anthology (2 dari 9)

sebelumnya : http://renunganpagi.blogspot.com/2011/09/christmas-anthology-1-dari-9.html

"The Children of Noisy Village"

The next day the sun shone and the trees were all white with snow. Miss Johnson said she hadn't slept a wink all night. She had laid awake, wondering how we had managed in the snow.
Since it was the last day of school before Christmas, Miss Johnson read us a Christmas story. Everything felt wonderful that day, but just before we were going to leave came the best thing of all. Miss Johnson had written to Stockholm and ordered story books for all of us. A few weeks before, she had shown us a large sheet of paper with many pretty pictures of the covers of different books so we could choose which ones we wanted to buy. I had ordered two, and Karl and Bill also had ordered two each. Mine had pictures of princes and princesses on the covers. Now, on the very last day of school before Christmas, Miss Johnson had received the books. She walked around and gave them out to us. I could hardly wait to get mine, but Mommy had said that we were not to read them until Christmas Eve.
Before we left school that day, we sang all the Christmas songs we knew, and Miss Johnson said she hoped we would have a merry Christmas. I was sure that I would.
Britta and Anna and I ran to the store and bought red, yellow, green, white, and blue shiny paper, because we were going to make baskets to hang on the Christmas tree. Then we walked home. It was light and pretty outside.
As we were walking along, Britta took her book out of her schoolbag and smelled it. She let all of us smell it. New books smell so good that you can tell how much fun it's going to be to read them. Then Britta started to read. Her mother, too, had said that she should save her books until Christmas Eve, but Britta said she was only going to read a tiny little bit. After she had read the tiny bit we all thought it was so terribly exciting that we begged her to read just a tiny little bit more. So she read a little bit more. But that didn't help, because when she had finished that part it was still just as exciting and we wanted to know what would happen next.
"I have to know if the prince got bewitched or not, " said Karl.
So Britta read a little bit more. That's the way we kept on, and by the time we got home to Noisy Village she had read the whole book. Britta said it didn't matter because she was going to read it over again on Christmas Eve anyway.
When we got to our house Mommy and Agda were making the Christmas sausage, and the kichen was a mess. As soon as we had eaten supper went out and made a big snow lantern in our yard. Britta and Anna and Olaf came over and helped us. When we finished the lantern we put a candle inside.
In the linden tree there were lots of sparrows and bullfinches, and they looked so hungry that I ran and asked Daddy if we could put up the Christmas sheaves a little bit early. Daddy said we could, so we all ran down to the loft and got five oat of sheaves that had been saved out for Christmas when they were thresing. We put them in the apple trees in our orchard, and it was long before the birds were sitting in the trees eating the oats. they probably thought it was already Christmas Eve. The Christmas sheaves and the snow and everything were awfully pretty.
In the evening Britta and Anna and I sat in Grandfather's room and made Christmas-tree baskets. The boys were there too. First they said they weren't going to make any Christmas-tree baskets, but after a while they couldn't keep from doing it. We all sat around Grandfather's table to work. We made fifty-four baskets, which we divided evenly so that there were eighteen baskets for North Farm and eighteen for Middle Fram and eighteen for South Farm. Grandfather treated us to apples and barley-sugar when we finished. The whole time we sat there I kept thinking that the next day we were going to bake the ginger snaps It was almost as much fun as Christmas Eve.
Right in the middle of it all Karl ran out to the yard and lighted the candle that we had put in the snow lantern. My, how pretty it looked in the dark! When I saw it shining so brightly out there, I couldn't help thinking about the Christmas song: "Christmas Stands Before the Door, Gives a knock, and Smiles"
I could almost see Christmas standing there, smiling, just like the snow lantern.
"I feel so sorry about you, Grandfather, because you can't see teh snow lantern," said Anna. "Do you want us to sing to you instead?" Grandfather loves it when we sing. So wer sang the very song I had been thinking about: "Christmas Stands Before the Door"
"Don't you think Christmas is fun?" Anna whispered to me afterward I said I did. It's more fun than anything else I know.

Astrid Lindgren (1907-2002)

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In the Bleak Midwinter

In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan,
Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone;
Snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow,
In the bleak midwinter, long ago.

Our God, heaven cannot hold Him, nor earth sustain;
Heaven and earth shall flee away when He comes to reign.
In the bleak midwinter a stable place sufficed
The Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ.

Enough for Him, Whom cherubim, worship night and day,
Breastful of milk, and a mangerful of hay;
Enough for Him, Whom angels fall before,
The ox and ass and camel which adore.

Angels and archangels may have gathered there,
Cherubim and seraphim thronged the air;
But His mother only, in her maiden bliss,
Worshipped the beloved with a kiss.

What can I give Him, poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb;
If I were a Wise Man, I would do my part;
Yet what I can give Him: give my heart.

Words by Christina Rosetti (1872), music by Gustave Theodore Holst (1906)

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Away in a Manger

Away in a manger, no crib for a bed,
The little Lord Jesus laid down His sweet head.
The stars in the sky looked down where He lay,
The little Lord Jesus, asleep on the hay.

The cattle are lowing, the Baby awakes,
But little Lord Jesus, no crying He makes;
I love Thee, Lord Jesus, look down from the sky
And stay by my cradle til morning is nigh.

Be near me, Lord Jesus, I ask Thee to stay
Close by me forever, and love me, I pray;
Bless all the dear children in Thy tender care,
And fit us for heaven to live with Thee there.

Words by Martin Luther (15??), music by William Kirkpatrick (1895)
Known in Indonesian as [color=icy blue]"Dalam Gua Dingin"[/color] (Madah Bakti)

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"The Glastonbury Thorn"

The legend of Glastonbury thorn has its origin in Christ's death as well as in the celebration of His birth.
The legend goes that soon after the death of christ, Joseph of Arimathea travelled from the Holy Land to Britain to spread the message of Christianity. Tired out from his journey, he lay down to rest, pushing his staff into the ground beside him. When he awoke, he found the staff had taken root & had had begun to grow & blossom. It is said he left it there & it has flowered every Christmas & every spring.
Legend has it say that a Puritan who was trying to cut down the tree was prevented from doing so by being blinded by a splinter of the wood as he hacked at it. The original thorn did eventually die but not before many cuttings had been taken It is 1 of these very cuttings, they say, which is in the grounds of Glastonbury Abbey today.

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"The Children of Noisy Village

I don't know when Christmas starts in other places, but in Noisy Village it starts the day we bake ginger snaps. We have almost as much fun that day as on Christmas Eve. Karl and Bill and I each get a chunk of ginger snap dough, we can bake it in the shape of anything we want. The last time we were to bake ginger snaps, Karl forgot all about it and went to the forest with Daddy to get wood. Right in the middle of the forest he remembered what day it was and rushed home so fast that the snow whirled around him, Daddy said.
Bill and I had already started to bake. It was just as well that Karl came a little late because the best ginger-snap mold we have is a pig, and when Karl is there it's almost impossible for Bill and me to get it. But this time we had baked ten pigs each before Karl came puffing home from the forest. How he hurried to catch up with us!
When we had almost finished baking we put all our last little pieces of dough together and made a big prize cooky. We always do this. Then in the afternoon, when all the ginger snaps had come out of the oven, we put 332 dried peas in a bottle and went around all over Noisy Village to let evryone gues how many peas there were. The one who made the closest guess would get the big cooky for a prize.
Karl carried the bottle, Bill carried the prize cooky, and I carried a notebook where I wrote down everyone's guess. Grandfather was the one who won the the prize, and I was so glad. He guessed that there were 320 peas in the bottle which was very close. Anna guessed that there were three thousand peas. Wasn't that crazy?
The day after we baked the ginger snaps was fun too, for then we went to the forest to cut the Christmas trees. All the fathers go along when we cut the Christmas trees- and all the children too, of course. The mothers have to stay at home and cook, poor things! We took our big sleigh, which we use for carryingmilk from Noisy Village to the dairy in the big village. Karl and Bill and I and Britta and Anna and Olaf rode in the sleigh. My Daddy walked beside it and drove the horse. Olaf's and Britta and Anna's daddies walked behind it and laughed and talked. All of us in the sleigh laughed and talked too.
There was so much snow in the forest that we had to shake it out the fir trees to see if they were pretty or not. We cut three big fir trees, one for each farm. And then we cut a tiny little tree for Grandfather to have in his room, and another little one to give to Karen, because she lives all alone in her red cottage in the woods.
The night before Christmas Eve I felt sad because I didn't think Mommy and Agda could ever get everything ready for Christmas. It looked so messy all over the house,a nd especially in the kitchen. I cried a little after I had gone to bed
Christmas Eve morning I woke up early and ran down to the kitchen in my nightie to see if it was still messy. But oh, my! How beautiful it was! There were new rag carpets on the floor; there was red and green and white curled tissue paper around the iron pole by the stove; there was a Christmas cloth on the big folding table; and all the copper kettles were polished. i was so happy that I gave Mommy a big hug. Karl and Bill came rushing in right after me, and Karl said that even his stomach felt Christmassy when he saw the rag carpets.
On Christmas Eve morning all of us Noisy Village children always go over to Karen's with a basket full of goodies from our mothers. But first we go to Grandfather to wish him a merry Christmas and watch Britta and Anna decorate his little tree. We help a little too, although Britta and Anna prefer to do it by themselves. Of course Grandfather can't see what we hang on the tree, but when we tell him about it he says that he can see it inside his head.
When we walked over to Karen's cottage the weather was very beautiful, just the way it should be on Christmas Eve. The road that goes to Karen's cottage is so narrow that we could hardly see it under all the snow. Karl carried the basket, and Bill and Olaf the little fir tree. The boys wouldn't let Britta and Anna and me carry anything. My, how surprised Karen when we came! Well, she probably just pretending to be surprised, because she knows that we come every year. Karl unpacked everything in the basket and put it on the table, and Karen just shook her headand said, "My, my, it's too much, it's much too much!"
I didn't think that it was too much, but it was a lot: a large piece of ham, a sausage, a round cheese, coffee, ginger snaps, candles, [color=sky blue]c[/color]andy and I don't remember what all. We put the candles on Karen's tree and danced around it a little to practise for later on that night. Karen was very happy, and she stood in the doorway and waved to us as we left.

Astrid Lindgren (1907-2002).

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"The Children of Noisy Village"

When we got home Karl and Bill and I decorated our tree. Daddy helped us. We got the red apples that we were going to use on the tree out of the attic, and then we hung some of our ginger snaps on it. We put raisins and nuts in the baskets we had made in Grandfather's room. We also hung up the cotton angel that Mommy had used on her tree when she was little- and then, of course, a lot of flags and candles and [color=sky blue]c[/color]andy. My, how pretty the tree was when it was finished!
Then it was time to 'dip in the pot'. Mommy gave us large slices of rye bread that Agda had baked, and we dipped them in the broth that the ham had cooked in. My, how good it was! Then there was nothing to do but WAIT. Karl said that times like those ours in the afternoon of Christmas Eve, when you don't do anything but wait and wait, are the kind of things people get grey hairs from. We waited and waited and waited , and from time to time I went to the mirror to see if I had any grey hairs yet. But strangely enough, my hair was just as blond as ever. Bill hit the clock now and then, because he thought that it had stopped.
When it got dark, it was time at last to take our presents over to North farm and South Farm. You can't do that when it's light because it wouldn't be exciting at all. Karl and Bill and I put on our red Santa Claus caps and Karl took the Santa Claus mask that he was gouing to wear later in the evening (it's Karl who is Santa Claus at our house nowadays. When I was little I thought that there was a real Santa Claus, but I don't think so anymore).
Then we took our packages and sneaked out into the dark. The sky was full of stars. I looked toward the forest, standing so dark and still, and imagined that perhaps there was a real Santa Claus living there who soon would come, pulling a sled loaded with Christmas presents. I almost wished that it were true.
There was no light in the kitchen at North Farm. We pounded on the back door, and then we opened it and threw our Christmas packages inside. Britta and Anna came rushing out and said that we had to come in and taste their Christmas cookies and candy So we did, and they gave us Christmas packages too. Britta and Anna put on their Santa Claus masks, and we all went over to South Farm to see Olaf. He was sitting in their kitchen, and he was just waiting too. Skip, his dog, barked like everything when he saw five Santa Clauses coming. Then Olaf put on a mask too, and we all ran out and played Santa Claus in the dark.

Astrid Lindgren 1907-2002).

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"The Song of the Christmas Tree Fairy"

The little Christmas tree was born
And dwelt in the open air;
It did not guess how bright a dress
Some day its boughs would wear;
Brown cones were all, it thought, a tall
And grown-up Fir would bear.

O little Fir! Your forest home
Is far and far away;
And here indoors these boughs of yours
With coloured balls are gay,
With candle-light, and tinsel bright,
For this is Christmas Day!

A doll-fairy on top,
Till children sleep; then she
(A Live one now!) from bough to bough
Goes sliding silently.
O magic sight, this joyous night!
O laden, sparkling tree!

By Cicely Mary Barker (1895-1973)

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"The Wind in the Willows"

This is an excerpt from the book which shows even animals celebrate Christmas.

I think it must be the field-mice,' replied the Mole, with a touch of pride in his manner. `They go round carol-singing regularly at this time of the year. They're quite an institution in these parts. And they never pass me over -- they come to Mole End last of all; and I used to give them hot drinks, and supper too sometimes, when I could afford it. It will be like old times to hear them again.'
"Let's have a look at them!" cried the Rat, jumping up and running to the door.
It was a pretty sight, and a seasonable one, that met their eyes when they flung the door open. In the fore-court, lit by the dim rays of a horn lantern, some eight or ten little field-mice stood in a semicircle, red worsted comforters round their throats, their fore-paws thrust deep into their pockets, their feet jigging for warmth. With bright beady eyes they glanced shyly at each other, sniggering a little, sniffing and applying coat-sleeves a good deal. As the door opened, one of the elder ones that carried the lantern was just saying, "Now then, 1, 2, 3!" And forthwith their shrill little voices uprose on the air, singing one of the old-time carols that their forefathers composed in fields that were fallow and held by frost, or when snow-bound in chimney corners, and handed down to be sung in the miry street to lamp-lit windows at Yule-time.

Carol

Villagers all, this frosty tide,
Let your doors swing open wide,
Though wind may follow, and snow beside,
Yet draw us in by your fire to bide;
Joy shall be yours in the morning!
Here we stand in the cold and the sleet,
Blowing fingers and stamping feet,
Come from far away you to greet --
You by the fire and we in the street --
Bidding you joy in the morning!
For ere one half of the night was gone,
Sudden a star has led us on,
Raining bliss and benison --
Bliss to-morrow and more anon,
Joy for every morning!
Goodman Joseph toiled through the snow-
Saw the star o'er a stable low;
Mary she might not further go-
Welcome thatch, and litter below!
Joy was hers in the morning!
And then they heard the angels tell
"Who were the first to cry Nowell?
Animals all, as it befell,
In the stable where they did dwell!
Joy shall be theirs in the morning!"

By Kenneth Grahame (1859-1932).

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O Come All Ye Faithful

O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant,
O come ye, O come ye, to Bethlehem.
Come and behold Him, born the King of angels;

Refrain:
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
Christ the Lord.

God of God, Light of Light,
Lo He abhors not the Virgin's womb ,
Very God, begotten, not created; Ref

See how the shepherds, summoned to His cradle,
Leaving their flocks, draw nigh to gaze;
We too will thither bend our joyful footsteps; ]Ref

Sing, choirs of angels, sing in exultation;
Sing, all ye citizens of heaven above!
Glory to God, all glory in the highest; Ref

Yea, Lord, we greet Thee, born this happy morning;
Jesus, to Thee be glory given;
Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing. Ref

Words & music by John Francis Wade (1743)
Known in Indonesian as [color=sky blue]"Lekaslah Pra Iman"[/color] (Madah Bakti)

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"The Night Before Christmas, or the Visit of St Nicholas"

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there;

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;
And mamma in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled down for a long winter's nap,

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below,
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer,

With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name;

"Now, DASHER! now, DANCER! now, PRANCER and VIXEN!
On, COMET! on CUPID! on, DONDER and BLITZEN!
To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!"

As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky,
So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
With the sleigh full of toys, and St Nicholas too.

And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my hand, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St Nicholas came with a bound.

He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;
A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.

His eyes- how they twinkled! His dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow;

The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath;
He had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook, when he laughed like a bowlful of jelly

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk,
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose;

He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,
"HAPPY Christmas TO ALL, AND TO ALL A GOOD-NIGHT!"

Clement Clark Moore (1779-1863)

post by hansel@ WG

selanjutnya: http://renunganpagi.blogspot.com/2003/12/christmas-anthology-3-dari-9.html

Christmas Anthology (1 dari 9)

"Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God; speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem; and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned." (Isaiah 40:1-3)

"For unto us a hild is born, unto us a Son is given, and the government shall be upon His shoulder, and His name shall be called: Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace." (Isaiah 9:6-7)

"Behold a virgin shall conceive and give birth to a Son, and His name shall be called Emmanuel, which means God is with us." (Isaiah 7:14)

"In the beginning, was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
And the Word has become flesh and dwelt among us." (John 1:1, 14)

"For God so loved the world that He gave His Only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16)


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Oh Come, Oh Come Emmanuel

Oh come, oh come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear.

Refrain:
Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

Oh come, Thou Wisdom from on high,
Who orderest all things mightily;
To us the path of knowledge show,
And teach us in her ways to go. Ref

Oh come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan’s tyranny;
From depths of hell Thy people save,
And give them victory over the grave. Ref

Oh come, Thou Day-spring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here;
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
And death’s dark shadows put to flight. Ref

Oh come, Thou Key of David, come,
And open wide our heavenly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery. Refrain

Oh come, Desire of nations, bind
In one the hearts of all mankind;
Bid Thou our sad divisions cease,
And be Thyself our King of Peace. Ref

Oh come, oh come, Adonai,
Who to Thy tribes on Sinai’s height
In ancient times once gave the law
In cloud and majesty and awe. Ref

Tranlated from Latin by John M. Neale (1851), music arranged by Thomas Helmore (1856).

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"The Children of Noisy Village"

In this gently humorous tale, Astrid Lindgen takes us through a year in the lives and customs of six Swedish children: Lisa (who is the narrator), Anna, Britta, Karl (Lasse), Bill (Bosse), and Olaf (Olle) living on a group of three farms in the countryside. This episode tells how they celebrate Christmas in all its solemnity and festivity.

Now I'm going to tell you about the big snowstorm that came just before Christmas. Daddy said that it was the worst snowstorm he had ever seen.
Everyday, from the beginning of December, Karl had been saying, "I bet we won't have any snow for Christmas."
I felt sad everytime he said it because I wanted very much to have snow. But one day after anotherwent by, and still not the tiniest little flake fell. Then one day in the middle of the week before Christmas, while we were in school doing arithmetic, Bill suddenly said, "Look! It's snowing."
And it was. We were so happy that we all cheered, and Miss Johnson said that we should all stand up and sing "Now It Is Winter".
When we went out for recess the schoolyard was covered with a thin white layer. With our feet we made a track in the snow shaped like a figure eight. We ran around the eight during the recess.
Still Karl said, "I bet we won't have any more snow than this."
When we walked to school the next day, however, there was so much snow that we had to wade through it, and it was still snowing. But Karl said, "There won't be any more snow than this, and it'll probably melt before Christmas."
But that's where he was wrong. No sooner were we inside the school than it started snowing harder than ever. The air outside the window was perfectly white, and you couldn't even see across the yard. It kept on snowing all morning. And the wind began to blow too. It stormed and snowed and snowed, and finally Miss Johnson got worried and said, "I don't know how you children from Noisy Village are going to get home today."
She wondered if we would like to spend the night with her, and of course we wanted to very much, but we knew that our fathers and mothers would get awfully worried if we didn't come home. So we said we couldn't stay, and Miss Johnson told us we better leave right away before it got dark.
At one o'clock we left school. My, how big the drifts were!
And how the wind blew! We had to bend almost double when we walked.
"Well, Karl, is this enough snow for you?" asked Britta.
"It's not Christmas yet!" said Karl, but we could hardly hear what he said because of the wind.
We walked and walked and walked. And we held hands so we wouldn't get lost. The snow reached way above my knees, and when it's that deep you don't get ahead very fast, I can tell you. The wind blew right through us so that our toes and fingers, and noses got numb. Finally my legs were so tired that I told Karl I wanted to rest a little.
"Nothing doing," said Karl. Anna was tired too and wanted to rest, but Karl said it was too dangerous. Then Anna and I started to cry because we thought we would never get home again. We were only halfway then. But all of a sudden Olaf said, "Let's go to the shoemaker's. All he can do is chop our heads off."
Anna and I wanted to go to the shoemaker's even if he did chop our heads off.
The wind was so strong that we almost blew right through the shoemaker's door. He didn't look very glad to see us :
"What are you children doing out in this kind of weather?" he said.
We didn't dare say tht the weather had not been that bad when we had left home. We took off ourcoats and sat down to watch him while he mended shoes. We were hungry, but we didn't dare say so. The shoemaker made coffee for himself and ate sandwiches, but he didn't offer us any.
At dusk it stopped snowing and the wind stopped blowing, but the drifts were so high that we couldn't think how wewere going to get home anyway. Oh, how I wanted to get home to Noisy Village and to Mommy and to my bed!
Suddenly we heard sleighbells jingling out in the snow, so we rant to the window and looked. It was Daddy, driving the snow plow. We opened the door and called to him, and the shoemaker said, "Don't let the cold air in!"
Daddy was very happy when he saw us. He said he was only going to plow the road down to the big village, and then he'd pick us up on his way back.
That's what he did. Anna and I rode home on the snow plow, and the others walked behind. Now the road was smooth, so it was easy.
Mommy was standing at the kitchen window, looking worried, when we got home. Karl and Bill and I had hot beef broth with dumplings for supper, and it was the best food I'd ever tasted I ate theree platefuls Afterward I went right to bed. It was wonderful. Mommy said she had had a feeling that Daddy should go with the snow plow, because she was sure we'd be somewhere along the road. Wasn't it lucky that she'd had that feeling? Otherwise we would probably have had to stay at the shoemaker's all night.

By Astrid Lindgren (1907-2002)

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The Holly and the Ivy

The holly and the ivy,
When they are both full grown,
Of all the trees that are in the wood,
The holly bears the crown.

Refrain:
O the rising of the sun,
And the running of the deer,
The playing of the merry organ,
Sweet singing in the choir.

The holly bears a blossom
As white as lily flower;
And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ
To be our sweet Saviour. Ref

The holly bears a berry
As red as any blood;
And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ
To do poor sinners good. Ref

The holly bears a prickle
As sharp as any thorn;
And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ
On Christmas day in the morn. Ref

The holly bears a bark
As bitter as any gall;
And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ
For to redeem us all. Ref

Traditional

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post by hansel @ WG

bagian berikutnya

http://renunganpagi.blogspot.com/2003/05/easter-anthology-2-dari-5.html