8 Comments

  1. lovely read — and interesting facts. it is so nice to see such pleasant and non-consumer christmas traditions. happy wheat growing!!

  2. We must pass this on to our own Barbara – I wonder how much she knows about her namesake! She does know about lightning, as we visited the mission in Santa Barbara together. (We have a milagro of Santa Barbara on our front door to protect our home from lightning.)

    And the santons are so sweet – I have never seen them before!

    Thanks, Susan, for another lovely post! Bonnes fêtes! David

  3. I grew up in a household that used the term "creche", which now seems unusual as we weren't French. Further, in francophone New England the term seemed not to be known. I wonder how we came to use the french term. Anyway, it was a sign of coming Christmas to set it up. We'd add the baby Jesus on Christmas Eve upon returning from church, and the three wise men bided their time on an adjacent bookshelf until January 6th, and there it stayed through Epiphany though all other Christmas paraphernalia was removed from the house on January 5. Fond memories of childhood. — Mark

  4. Hey there, I am from Lebanon, and Saint Barbara is celebrated like Halloween elsewhere. Kids dress-up and go knocking on their neighbors' doors, singing songs related to Saint Barbara and getting treats in return.
    We also plant wheat. It is said that by Christmas they reach their peak if you plant them on December 4th.
    This said, the story we are told is a little different. While the Saint does convert to Christianity despite her father's objections, we are told she goes hiding in the wheat fields at some instance, while on another occasion, God miraculously opens up a rock so she could hide from her father; which explains both the wheat tradition and the dressing-up to hide one's face…

  5. Hi Youmna, What an interesting story. What kinds of outfits and masks do children where? Did you plant your wheat? I hope you have a wonderful holiday season. Thanks so much for writing!!



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