If you’re wondering if Santa Claus, the North American version of Saint Nicholas, is part of the Christmas tradition on Sardinia, the answer is no. But on Sardinia and in the rest of Italy there is La Befana, the Santa Claus counterpart. The tradition behind La Befana goes way back in time, at least as far back as that of St. Nicholas.
Saint Nicholas does his thing on Christmas Eve. La Befana is out on the Eve of Epiphany, the evening before 6 January. St. Nicholas travels from rooftop to rooftop in a sleigh drawn by eight tiny reindeer. Rudolph leads the way if it’s foggy on Christmas Eve.
La Befana travels on a broom and everyone knows what that means. Lest you think that she was the forerunner of women’s liberation on Sardinia or in Italy, for that matter, guess again. No, as the legend about her goes, she was a lowly housekeeper, who when the three wise men asked her to join them on their journey to Bethlehem, she declined.
Too much housework to get involved in such a journey, she is reported to have said. Later, the story goes, she resented not joining them. So instead, she traveled looking for the Christ child on her own giving candy to all of children who she thought might be the Son of God.
Like Santa Claus, La Befana delivers gifts to children, and she also is covered with soot from climbing down and up chimneys. Have you ever wondered how Saint Nicholas and now La Befana deal with those homes or apartments without chimneys? Just a thought.
Like the children in North America, where the kids “hang their stocking by the chimney with care, in hopes that St. Nicholas would soon be there,” the kids on Sardinia do the same thing in hopes that La Befana would soon be there. Typically a small glass of wine and a plate with a few morsels of food, often regional or local, are left for La Befana as a token of appreciation. Does she have a designated driver on he broom? Picture that one.
Like Santa Claus, La Befana fills socks of children with candy and presents if they are good or a lump of coal or dark candy if they are bad. St. Nicholas, perhaps a bit more democratic than his Sardinian counterpart, leaves equal amounts of everything for the kids. After all they are only kids. If nothing else, “rehabitable.” Look that one up and you’ll find it’s not a word. Nonetheless, you get the gist of the usage here.
So there you have it. Saint Nicholas and La Befana. Two legendary human beings with their hearts in the right place.
Saint Nicholas does his thing on Christmas Eve. La Befana is out on the Eve of Epiphany, the evening before 6 January. St. Nicholas travels from rooftop to rooftop in a sleigh drawn by eight tiny reindeer. Rudolph leads the way if it’s foggy on Christmas Eve.
La Befana travels on a broom and everyone knows what that means. Lest you think that she was the forerunner of women’s liberation on Sardinia or in Italy, for that matter, guess again. No, as the legend about her goes, she was a lowly housekeeper, who when the three wise men asked her to join them on their journey to Bethlehem, she declined.
Too much housework to get involved in such a journey, she is reported to have said. Later, the story goes, she resented not joining them. So instead, she traveled looking for the Christ child on her own giving candy to all of children who she thought might be the Son of God.
Like Santa Claus, La Befana delivers gifts to children, and she also is covered with soot from climbing down and up chimneys. Have you ever wondered how Saint Nicholas and now La Befana deal with those homes or apartments without chimneys? Just a thought.
Like the children in North America, where the kids “hang their stocking by the chimney with care, in hopes that St. Nicholas would soon be there,” the kids on Sardinia do the same thing in hopes that La Befana would soon be there. Typically a small glass of wine and a plate with a few morsels of food, often regional or local, are left for La Befana as a token of appreciation. Does she have a designated driver on he broom? Picture that one.
Like Santa Claus, La Befana fills socks of children with candy and presents if they are good or a lump of coal or dark candy if they are bad. St. Nicholas, perhaps a bit more democratic than his Sardinian counterpart, leaves equal amounts of everything for the kids. After all they are only kids. If nothing else, “rehabitable.” Look that one up and you’ll find it’s not a word. Nonetheless, you get the gist of the usage here.
So there you have it. Saint Nicholas and La Befana. Two legendary human beings with their hearts in the right place.
