At our Community Meal the other night one of our guests handed me a Candy Cane and this little poem that I thought was kind of nice.

The Candy Cane
a Gift of Love

It had to be special to be a gift
for the King of Kings, thought
the humble candy maker.

No just any piece of candy
would do it. It had to be hard
candy because the church is
built on solid rock and God’s
promises are a firm foundation.

It would be formed in the shape
of the Good Shepherd’s staff. A
“J” that would also stand for the
precious name of Jesus.

But it had to say more. White
stripes would symbolize the
virgin birth and the sinless
nature of Christ.

Three small red stripes would
represent the scourging Jesus
suffered on His way
to the cross.

One large red stripe would
remind those of the blood of Jesus
shed as payment
for our sins.

It would be a gift of love that
would tell his story – the
greatest story ever told!

I am desperately trying to catch up on the 40 Days of Pastoral Blogging exercise that I promised I would do, but I am falling way behind.

The word is Hats.  Now if anyone knows me they know I have a variety of hats from Liturgical to everyday wear.  Hats used to be a big thing, most men would wear hats all the time, in fact I was in one Orthodox Church where there was a little clip in the pew for the men to clip their hats on.  I think we need to restore this custom of wearing hats.

Orthodoxy has a wide variety of hats both for liturgical use and non-liturgical use.

There is the Skufia A skouphos (also skufiya, skufia, or skoufos) is an item of clerical clothing worn by Orthodox Christian monastics (in which case it is black) or clergy, sometimes specifically awarded as a mark of honor (in which case it is usually red or purple). It is a soft-sided brimless cap whose top may be pointed (Russian style), flat and pleated (Greek style), or flat with raised edges (Romanian style). Typically, monastics receive their skufia either when they first become novices or when they are tonsured. A monk or nun who has been tonsured to the Great Schema will wear a skoufia that has been embroidered with prayers, crosses, and figures of seraphim.

The Klobuk

There is the Kamilavka and the Klobuk.  The Kamilavka is a round hard sided hat worn by many clergy and the Klobuk is the same hat but with the monastic veil attached worn by monastics in the rank of stavrofor and by all Bishops.

The Mitre is worn by Bishops and if the cross is removed from the top it is worn by Mitred Archpriests although that rank is become awarded less and less.

So there it is, a little primer on Orthodox Hats.

As we draw near to the celebration of the Nativity of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ it is time to reflect on some Strange Christmas Traditions from other places.  I am not talking about what we do in our own homes, although I could share stories of being locked in my room waiting to open gifts, but rather interesting things that happen in other places.

Scotland is an interesting mix of religious and secular traditions.  Prior to the Reformation making its way to Scotland the celebration of Yuletide and Christmas were done together in a long celebration that lasted until after the New Year.  The name comes from the Scandinavians, for whom ‘Yultid’ celebrated during twelfth month, being the twelfth name of Odin, who was supposed to come to earth in December, disguised in a hooded cloak. He would sit awhile at the firesides listening to the people, and where there was want he left a gift of bread or coins.

Nollaig Beag, or Little Christmas was the celebration of the Birth of Christ and was celebrated not with parties but in a very solemn way.  The festivities would being a few days later and spill over in to the New Year or the Twelfth Night.  The French often called Christmas ‘Homme est né’, Man is Born, and some believe this is the root of the word ‘Hogmanay’ the celebration of the New Year.

With the Reformation almost all Christmas celebrations were banned and people were even fined for celebrating the feast.  Bakers who would make the traditional Yuelbreads were fined and in 1638 the General Assembly in Edinburgh tried to abolish Yuletide.  The restoration of the Monarchy brought back the celebration of Christmas although it was still frowned upon by the Kirk.  The celebration remained alive in the High Church and among the Roman Catholic population.

So here are some interesting tradition from Scotland:

Black Bun. Originally Twelfth Night Cake. It is a very rich fruit cake, almost solid with fruit, almonds, spices and the ingredients are bound together with plenty of Whisky. The stiff mixture is put into a cake tin lined with a rich short pastry and baked.

This takes the place of the even more ancient Sun Cakes. A legacy from Scotland’s close associations with Scandinavia. Sun cakes were baked with a hole in the centre and symmetrical lines around, representing the rays of the Sun. This pattern is now found on the modern Scottish Shortbread, and has been misidentified as convenient slices marked onto the shortbread!

Bees leave hives Xmas Morn. There is an old belief that early on Christmas Morning all bees will leave their hives, swarm, and then return. Many old Scots tell tales of having witnessed this happening, though no-one can explain why. One explanation is that bees get curious about their surroundings, and if there is unexpected activity they will want to check it out to see if there is any danger. As people were often up and about on Christmas night observing various traditions, or just returning from the night services, the bees would sense the disturbance and come out to see what was going on.

Divination customs – Ashes, Bull, Cailleach

There are a number of ancient divination customs associated with Scottish Christmas tradition. One involves checking the cold ashes the morning after the Christmas fire. A foot shape facing the door was said to be foretelling a death in the family, while a foot facing into the room meant a new arrival.

Another was the ceremonial burning of Old Winter, the Cailleach. A piece of wood was carved roughly to represent the face of an old woman, then named as the Spirit of Winter, the Cailleach. This was placed onto a good fire to burn away, and all the family gathered had to watch to the end. The burning symbolised the ending of all the bad luck and enmities etc of the old year, with a fresh start.

The Candlemas Bull was in reality a cloud. It was believed that a bull would cross the sky in the form of a cloud, early on the morning on Candlemas, February 2nd. From its appearance people would divine. An East travelling cloud foretold a good year, south meant a poor grain year, but if it faced to the west the year would be poor. This custom was a remnant of the ancient Mithraiac religion, when the Bull-god would come at the start of Spring to warn of the year the farmers could expect.

CANDLELIGHT

All of the Celtic countries have a similar custom of lighting a candle at Christmastime to light the way of a stranger. (See LIGHT IN THE WINDOW IRISH CUSTOMS)

In Scotland was the Oidche Choinnle, or Night of Candles. Candles were placed in every window to light the way for the Holy Family on Christmas Eve and First Footers on New Years Eve. Shopkeepers gave their customers Yule Candles as a symbol of goodwill wishing them a ‘Fire to warm you by, and a light to guide you’.

FIRST FOOTERS

It was and still is the custom for a stranger to enter the house after midnight on New Years Eve/Day. There were taboos about the luck such a stranger would bring, especially in the days of hospitality to travelling strangers. A fair haired visitor was considered bad luck in most areas, partly due to the in-fighting between the dark scots and the fair Norse invaders. However, in Christian times, a fair haired man was considered very lucky providing his name was Andrew! Because St Andrew is the Patron Saint of Scotland. A woman is considered taboo still in many areas!

The Firstfooter must make an offering, a HANDSEL. This can be food, drink or fuel for the fire. The ritual which have grown up around this custom are many. An offering of food or drink must be accepted by sharing it with everyone present, including the visitor. Fuel, must be placed onto the fire by the visitor with the words ‘A Good New Year to one and all and many may you see’. In todays often fireless society the fuel is usually presented as a polished piece of coal, or wood which can be preserved for the year as an ornament.

Sayings eg : Is blianach Nollaid gun sneachd – Christmas without snow is poor fare.

Source

Well this is an interesting topic on out 40 Day Blogging experience.  It seems that this topic come up during this time of year as well seem to spend money on things that we do not need but we continue to do it.

Funny how when we think of Idolatry we usually just think of money but anything can become an idol if it is not used appropriately.  Even religion can become an idol, and that is when it is at its worst.

I was recently in a discussion with someone about religious fanatics.  There are good fanatics and bad fanatics I guess but I lean towards the fact that any kind of a fanatic is not always good.  Religion is one of those things where it is easy to fall into the trap of the rules being more important than anything, and I find that especially true in Orthodoxy.

So many people fall in love with the rules of Orthodoxy that they miss the spirit of it all.  As an example, we are in a fast and abstinence period during Advent.  We get wrapped up in the food part but forget about the rest of it, or we go so involved in the rules that we forget there is supposed to be a change in us that will take place if we are doing it right.

I try to take everything in moderation so as not to become too much of a fanatic and make an idol of out things in a bad way.

Fr. John has chosen the topic of monastics for the 28th day of our 40 day blogging exercise.  I have written about monastics before on this blog, just do a quick search and you should be able to find them.  I thought what I would do is post a couple of videos that showcase, if you will, the life of monastics.

The first video is just that a video, no words, or very few words are spoken, but through the video you will get a glimpse into the life of the monk.

The second video is from the CBS program 60 Minutes and their program a few years back on the monks on Mount Athos.  I am sure by now you have seen the 60 minutes video but I thought I would post it again just in case.