On the First Day of Christmas, I Started Baking!

Elsa Beskow

Somehow as the years go by, the days leading up to Christmas seem to get busier and busier (or maybe I'm just getting older and slower?)  At any rate, this year I determined to save my baking and gift-giving for friends and neighbors until after the 25th - in order to spread the cheer over the Twelve Days of Christmas and lessen my stress.

Inspired by the book Celebrating the Twelve Days of Christmas, from December 26th to January 6th, I'll be reflecting on the 12 days leading up to Epiphany in my posts. (The book is available HERE.)

Along with craft ideas and Orthodox devotional material for the festal days, this wonderful new book by AmandaEve Wigglesworth offers a Christian perspective on the popular "Twelve Days of Christmas" song - to remind ourselves of the gifts God gives to us.

Carsten/Three Lions/Getty Images

On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me
    A Partridge In A Pear Tree...

Loren Long

Jan Brett

[Tomorrow, December 27, St. Stephen's Day is celebrated in the Eastern Orthodox Church, and I'll be highlighting some good picture books.  In the West, the saint is celebrated today.  Click HERE for my past posts about Good King Wenceslas and the Feast of Stephen.]

First Christmas: Book Stocking and a Moustache!

Merry Christmas!

“There is no peace that cannot be found in the present moment.” ― Tasha Tudor

Virgin Mary and Child
by Tasha Tudor
[source]

And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. (Luke 2:7)

If Mary could find Peace in a stable, certainly we can endeavor to find Him today and everyday in our modern world...wishing you a Merry Christmas!

From Christmas Poem to Favorite Hymn

Christina Rossetti is the author of many Advent and Christmas poems that were posthumously published in her POETIC WORKS, in 1904. Her most famous, A Christmas Carol, became a favorite Christmas hymn entitled In the Bleak Midwinter after it appeared in The English Hymnal in 1906, with a setting by Gustav Holst (and later by Harold Darke).  

This beloved Christmas carol has been performed by choirs and soloists ever since, including the Robert Shaw Chorale, Chanticleer, Julie Andrews, Sarah Mclachlan, and most recently, James Taylor (who sings my favorite modern rendition).

Below I've posted Rossetti's poem, accompanied by some Christmas picture book covers that illustrate the text beautifully...

"IN THE BLEAK MIDWINTER" 

by Christina Rossetti

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.

Angels and archangels may have gathered there,
cherubim and seraphim thronged the air;
but his mother only, in her maiden bliss,
worshiped 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 I give him: give my heart.

A GOOD REMINDER

[The text below is reprinted from my parish Sunday bulletin, "The Orthodox Weekly Bulletin" Vestal, Cliffwood, New Jersey, December 23, 2012]

Do you recall the "Dennis the Menace" comics, which chronicled the escapades of a mischievous young lad who constantly got himself into trouble? For many years on Christmas morning, newspapers would run a particular comic strip where Dennis would be standing in the middle of his living room, which was filled with toys and discarded boxes, bows and wrapping paper. With a look of bewilderment on his face, he asks this question: "Is this all there is?" 

source

Sadly, for many people, this is all there is to Christmas - the frantic rush to purchase something for someone who doesn't really need it in the first place, and who likely will return it to the department store the following day! Thankfully, for Christians, this festive day means much more. Whatever Christmas has become in all its secular glory, the most important aspect of this joyous feast is still summoned up in its first six letters: C H R I S T!

CHRISTMAS IN THE MANGER by Nola Buck, illustrated by Felicia Bond.  Sweet and gentle telling of the Nativity story for the very youngest, a "pat and peek" book with a rhyming text from the point of view of the animals, shepherds, Mary and Joseph.  The last line is so sweet,

"I am the baby asleep in the hay, and I am the reason for Christmas Day".

Christmas reminds us that "God so loved the world that he gave His Only-Begotten Son, so that whoever believes in Him may not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16) Christmas is a time for us to recall that peaceful night when God sent a Savior to His people, keeping His ancient promise. It is a day for us to sing like the angelic hosts: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will towards men!" It is also a day for us to imitate the shepherds, who left from their encounter with the Christ Child glorifying and praising God, and an opportunity for us to exhibit the same perseverance as the Wise Men, seeking our King no matter the sacrifice involved.

image by Niko Chocheli - source

As we sing in one of the feast's hymns of Vespers: "Heaven and earth are united today because Christ is born." Indeed, this is all there is and all we need to know about this glorious day.

PREPARE O BETHLEHEM:  THE FEAST OF THE NATIVITY, by Niko Chocheli. Luminously illustrated verses from Orthodox hymns of the prefeast and feast of the Nativity. 

A good reminder in these last days of preparation...

Christmas Innocents

It's settled. We're in love.
Me, my husband, my daughter, her husband, his parents:  our whole family is in love.

With the darling baby boy who's inside this shirt!

If you've wondered why I haven't been writing quite as many posts as usual, blame my new baby Grandson and Christmas: 

Baby's Christmas, by Esther Wilkin, illustrated by Elioise Wilkin
Photo credit:  Cindi Rose

the smiling, decorating, photo snapping, rocking, baking, shopping, ordering, photo snapping, cooing, listening, nuzzling, singing, photo snapping, oo-ing, aahh-ing, gift wrapping, diaper changing, errand running, card addressing, photo snapping, praying, remembering, laughing, crying, hugging...  

The busy-ness, but also all the emotions that come with my first Christmas season of not only enjoying my Grandson, but missing my Dad.  

And even more emotions while still contemplating the families missing their children after the horrible shooting and tragic deaths of so many innocent souls at Sandy Hook Elementary School last Friday.

Today I read a beautiful poem for those Innocents, that is attributed to someone named Cameo Smith (it's all over the Internet, but I could not find the original source.)  Here it is...

"I AM STILL THE LIGHT" 

Baby Jesus in the manger From "The Christmas Story" ,
a Little Golden Book, 1952; Janet Werner, Illustrations by Eloise Wilkin.

Twas’ 11 days before Christmas, around 9:38

when 20 beautiful children stormed through heaven’s gate

their smiles were contagious, their laughter filled the air. 

they could hardly believe all the beauty they saw there. 

they were filled with such joy, they didn’t know what to say. 

they remembered nothing of what had happened earlier that day. 

“where are we?” asked a little girl, as quiet as a mouse. 

“this is heaven.” declared a small boy.

“we’re spending Christmas at God’s house.” 

when what to their wondering eyes did appear, 

but Jesus, their savior, the children gathered near. 

He looked at them and smiled, and they smiled just the same. 

then He opened His arms and He called them by name. 

and in that moment was joy, that only heaven can bring 

those children all flew into the arms of their King 

and as they lingered in the warmth of His embrace, 

one small girl turned and looked at Jesus’ face. 

and as if He could read all the questions she had 

He gently whispered to her, “I’ll take care of mom and dad.” 

then He looked down on earth, the world far below 

He saw all of the hurt, the sorrow, and woe 

then He closed His eyes and He outstretched His hand, 

“Let My power and presence re-enter this land!” 

“may this country be delivered from the hands of fools” 

“I’m taking back my nation. I’m taking back my schools!”  

then He and the children stood up without a sound.

“come now my children, let me show you around.” 

excitement filled the space, some skipped and some ran.

all displaying enthusiasm that only a small child can. 

and i heard Him proclaim as He walked out of sight, 

“in the midst of this darkness, I AM STILL THE LIGHT.”

HOW DICKENS HELPED SAVE CHRISTMAS

"I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year." -Ebenezer Scrooge

Illustration by Lisbeth Zwerger, source

Following intense scrutiny by Oliver Cromwell and his largely Puritan Parliament, Christmas celebrations in Great Britain were in decline. At the same time, the Industrial Revolution allowed British workers little time for the holy days. 

But Christmas celebrations began to make a comeback in the mid 1800's, in great part due to Queen Victoria, Prince Albert, and... Charles Dickens! 

Happy Birthday to A Christmas Carol, published 169 years ago today, on December 19, 1843! I love this beautiful edition, illustrated by Lisbeth Zwerger.

According to Laura Grande, who writes in History Magazine: Christmas still was not observed by the majority of the population, as workhouses and mill owners refused to recognize it as a holiday, forcing their employees to work their usual shifts, which often ran longer than 10 hours a day. With the majority of England at work, it’s no small wonder that Christmas still went largely unrecognized.

Dickens began writing "A Christmas Carol" in October of 1843 and the novella was completed within six weeks.

By Christmas Eve, all 6,000 copies had sold out and it continued to sell out with each new edition well into the following year.

The observance of Christmas had experienced a mid-Victorian revival, with a heavy emphasis on family-oriented festivities. 

Dickens was hailed as a hero and he did public readings of "A Christmas Carol" every holiday season from 1853-70. In total, Dickens had read his book aloud to massive crowds 127 times.
{source: Laura Grande, from December 2010/January 2011 issue of History Magazine. I found the article in its entirety, here.}

Another nice edition of Dicken's A Christmas Carol is this one, illustrated by P.J. Lynch.  You can see many of his illustrations for the book here, on his website.

Read more about the life of Charles Dickens, HERE, in my past post commemorating his 200th Birthday this year.