Rome for Christmas or Bust
Rome during the Christmas
Season is joyous. With a crisp air, stylish big-city Italians cupping hot
cappuccino in corner cafés, and hurried shoppers bundled up with panache,
thoughtfully pausing at grand manger scenes is just amazing. The season here
stretches for over a month — not to maximize shopping days, but to fit in the
season’s many holy days.
Vatican City, the
headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church, Rome is rich with Christmas’s most
sacred traditions. Manger scenes, called presepi, originated just a little north of Rome in
Assisi some 800 years ago, when St. Francis taught the story of Jesus’s birth
with props. For a historical escape, visit the Basilica of Santa Maria
Maggiore. There you can see five wooden planks, said to be from the original
Christmas manger.
Creative crèches are on
display all over town, ranging from old and traditional to avant-garde. Visit
any of the churches in town from early December through Epiphany (January 6) to
see one, or visit Piazza del Popolo’s annual exhibition, with 100 presepi made by artists and schoolchildren. Artistic
quality varies, from modern to abstract to classical and prestine,
but each is unique.
One of the most important
relics in Rome is at the Church of Santa Maria in Aracoeli. The Santo Bambino,
a statue of the holy child, is clothed in rich fabrics and covered with jewels.
He’s believed to have miraculous healing powers, and it’s said that the
Bambino’s lips turn red if a prayer is about to be answered and pale if there
is no hope. Children especially love the Bambino, writing him letters and
reciting poems to him on Christmas Day. The Bambino figure is usually kept in a
glass case in a chapel, but at the stroke of midnight on Christmas Eve, he’s
presented to the church’s eager and expectant parishioners.
The Vatican’s Nativity
scene has always been the premier decoration on St. Peter’s Square. But Pope
John Paul II, who grew up in Poland and became the first non-Italian pope in a
very long time, missed having a Christmas tree. So, in 1982, he added a lighted
evergreen to the celebrations, standing tall near the central pillar. Each year
on Christmas Eve, the pope celebrates midnight Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica
For many Roman families,
Epiphany, not Christmas, is the big gift-giving day, when kids open presents
delivered by the broom-riding witch, La Befana. My mom was adamant that Italy’s
beloved Befana is “100 percent Roman,” and holds a special place in
her city’s popular imagination. On the eve of Epiphany, the Befana flies over
the rooftops of Rome on her broom and brings gifts to the good children or coal
for the bad ones. According to historical readings, the children of Rome leave
La Befana a snack somewhat like leaving cookies for Santa, some soft ricotta
cheese since she has hardly any teeth.
Some Roman parents
threaten naughty kids with, “Lo dico alla Befana!” (I’ll tell the Befana!), or the
ever-popular, “Viene la Befana e ti porta via!” (The Befana will come and take you
away!), which is very bad news indeed, because Befana has an ogre of a husband
who devours children. According to legend, the three Wise Men stopped to ask
Befana for directions to Bethlehem and the Christ child, but she was too busy
to help. As time passed, Befana kept thinking about the strange visitors and
their quest. With a sack filled with bread, she set out to find baby Jesus,
too. Whenever she saw a baby boy, she gave him a piece of bread, hoping he
might be the Christ child. Befana still wanders through Italy each Christmas season
looking for the baby and leaving goodies for the children. Her name means
“gift-bringer.”
Lively Piazza Navona
hosts a holiday market — known locally as the “Befana Market” — that
bustles with street performers and vendors from early December until Epiphany.
Here you can shop for decorations, toys, and other gift items. Or pop into one
of the city’s many fine bakeries for their Christmas confections. These vary,
but you’ll find one constant — fruitcakes. In Italy, fruit-“cake” is
disguised as bread (pane). There’s big bread (panettone), golden bread (pandoro), strong bread (panforte), and sweet bread (pandolce). Panforte is a dense mixture of honey, candied
fruit, nuts, and spices — and it’s rugged enough to toss around at parties and
still consume later.
No matter who you are
what nationality, race or secular you are, now of year in Rome people are
wishing their families, friends — and even strangers — the same thing: Merry
Christmas, or as they say in Italy, Buon Natale!
