Little Christmas
Before I left my cousin’s place, I had one more treat in store. It was January 6th - the feat of the Ascension (sometimes known as “Little Christmas” among the Eastern Orthodox). This was one of three days, along with New Year’s and (Big) Christmas that the town put on a live nativity scene.
Now, this wasn’t just a few people dressed up like shepherds and hanging out or anything. This was an elaborate spectacle of at least half a dozen scenes of life in Judea at the time of Jesus. A crowd was waiting by the manger scene (Baby Jesus was played by a doll - it was too cold to have a real baby out there) for the big moment when the three wise men were going to make their entrance.
The coolest part of this? The scene took place in a series of hillside caves near the town - old Etruscan ruins. There was an Estruscan amphitheater next to it - they could tell it was Etruscan and not Roman because the Estruscans carved the entire theatre out of one big rock. For someone from a country where history is measured in decades, putting on a 2000-year old historical scene in something that predates it by centuries is pretty amazing.
Tags: Christmas, Italy
January 19th, 2007 at 2:34 pm
Moses,
My lack of knowledge of Italian culture aside, I feel you have mistaken one Catholic feast for another. The Feast of the Ascension marks Jesus’s Ascension up to Heaven, forty days after his resurrection.
January 6th marks the Epiphany, AKA Three King’s Day, when the incarnation of God was revealed to the world.
Brush up on your New Testament, Mr. Gates. There’s some good stuff in there!