Times-Advocate, 1987-12-22, Page 29Christmas is family time
Newcomers anticipate their
Just as Mary and Joseph spent the
first Christmas in a place other thin
their home town, a number of peb-
ple in this area will be spending
their first Christmas in Canada.
Some traditions• they will bring t�
their new abode, and others they
will adopt from their Canadian
neighbours.
The American monks who esta
blished a Franciscan _monastery in
the former St. Peter's Church on
.Highway 4 south of Exeter in June
will be blending Roman Catholic,.
Franciscan and Polish traditions and
customs in this year's Christmas
celebrations.
Monastery head Father David La-
dislaus Przedwiecki is quick to
point out that St. Francis of Assis-
si, the patron saint of his order,
originated the nativity scene that
has become an integral part of
group (an lb -year-old candidate in r z -course meal to commemorate the
this Case) will.be stationed at the 12 tribes of Israel, the 12 apostles
window to look for the first'star. - and the 12 days of Christmas. The
When sighted, he will call out "I menu wiltinclude Polish barszcz ( a
have seen the Star of Bethlehem", hearty soup),.creanled pickled her -
and the celebrations will begin. ring, fish, fruit, nuts, Polish bread,
The gospel story from St. Luke babka cake, and pierogis, which arc
will be interspersed with carols per- . dumplings stuffed with a variety of
taining to the scriptures being read. fillings such as cheese, potatoes,
(Father David notes that there arc no onions or mushrooms.
secular Polish carols.) Gifts will be exchanged after din -
Before the final meal of Advent ner.
(the "wigilia" or vigil) begins, the The public is invited to the
decorative wafers called "oplatki" Christmas Eve service in the
(bread of angels) will be blessed, church, starting off at 11:00 p.m:
broken, and passed among those with carol singing. The Advent
around the friary table. Any diffi- wreath will be shining during the
cultics, problems and contentions blessing of- the Chriktmas, crib.
are resolved as the celebrants ask Christmas Eve Mass will begin at"
each other's forgiveness. 11:30.
The room's decor will be a remin- Christmas Day is a working day
der of the first Christmas. Sheaves in the life of a Franciscan monk.
will stand in each corner, and straw The local friars will be out doing
FESTIVE PLANS - The Franciscan Monastery , south of Exeter will be open to the public for Christmas Eve
:Mass. Father David Przedwiecki stands beside a model of the friary which will be built beside the church. A
ground -breaking ceremony is schedule for March, 1988.
Christmas. In 1223 St. Francis led -
a torchlight parade of the townspeo-
ple of Greccio, Italy, to a cave
where he had set up a live represen-
tation of the stable where Christ
was born.
Father David also credits St. Fran-
cis with initiating carol singing.
Chrisunas for the monastery resi-
- dents (whose numbers have grown
from six to 12) will begin the day
before. Following an old Polish
custom, the youngest among the
will be strewn under the tablecloth
and under the table, with. a few,
wisps under each plate. The table
will have an extra setting, the
Christ chair. Any stranger coming
to the door will be ushered to this
scat, in accord with the old Polish
saying " A guest in the house is
Christ in the house".
After toasting each other with
wine, and asking God's blessing on
the food, the friars, novices and can-
didates will sit down to a meatless,
something, for others; they hope to
pay a visit to the Blucwatcr 24eten-
tion centre. They will also be say-
ing special masses. The brothers
are not permitted to go to their for-
mer homes on Christmas Day, but
will share dinner together. Thcy
may visit their families on the first
Sunday after Christmas.
Looking expectantly towards their
first Christmas in Canada, Father
David spoke for his fellow monks.
"We will be spending our first
1
Times -Advocate, December 22, 1987 Page 9A
first Christmas in Canada
ChriSunas in our first permanent
'home. The fact we arc hcrc makes
us very happy. We have reccived'so
much goodness and kindness from
•so many people. We wouldn't have
gotten a warmcr reception anywhere
else on earth." •
* * .*
Tom and/Liz Acton, RRI Cen-
tralia, are also spending their first
Christmas in Canada. The Actons
and their children Carol, 13, Jenny
10 and Robert, 5, emigrated from
Ireland in April. They left bchind a
Georgian -style mansion on a cash
crop farm 25 miles from Dublin,
Ireland, -to settle on a beef and cash
crop farm southeast of Exeter.
In Canada, as in Ireland, the din-
ing table will be loaded with beef,
turkey, ham, a brcad sauce of on-
ions, bread and stuffed cloves sim-
.mered in milk to accompany the
meat, cranberry sauce, oxtail soup,
and a host of other good things.
Dessert was ahvays trifle and plum
pudding.
Liz will not be able to go out to
her garden here and pick some holly
to decorate the Christmas pudding.
However, she has baked a plum
pudding, and it will be paraded out,
sprinkled with whiskey and set
aflame as the highlight pf a tradi-
tional Irish Christmas dinner.
A rich fruitcake served later is al-
ready decorated and waiting on the
sidegoard to be cut and served
Christmas night.
Christmases in Ireland are usually
green, with weather conditions
ranging from mild and wet to cold
,and freezing. The Acton children
have been outfitted in their first-
ever snowsuits which, they have
have discovered, are just the right
apparel for rolling in the snow.
Tom notes that in Ireland, little
work is done during the 12 days of
Christmas; the majority of Irishmen
arc off until after New Year's Day.
The Actons will also miss the
visit from the Wren Boys on Box-
ing Day. In Ireland, men blacken
their faces and go out carolling to
collect money for the poor.
While living in Europe, the Ac -
tons spent one Christmas in Spain.
They were amazed that all the shops
were open on Christmas Day in
Madrid. Christmas Eve is the main
focus of festivities in that country.
Tom summed up the reasons
which drew the Actons to Canada :
this is a big country, it offers good
opportunities, has a reasonably
good government and is on a conti-
nent, in contrast to the 300 mile by
-150 mile island they came from.
If Liz could have one wish, she
would ask Santa for a hard -top road
at the end of the lane, but that is a
minor detail. The Actons anticipate
a happy - and white --Christmas in
their chosen new country.
* * *
For the Kaumanns, Christmas
means family, no matter where one
lives.. Peter and Irmgare brought
son Hilmar, 20 and daughter Clau:
dia, 17, with them from Germany
when they took possession in
March of the 400 acres they had
bought at RR 1 Lucan. Their older
son stayed bchind, but will join his
parents and brother and sister for
their first Christmas in Canada.
Traditionally, Christmas Eve is
the most important part of a Ger-
man celebration of Christmas...
This is when the trcc is put up and
decorated, and the wrapping comes
off the presents. The tree, a real
spruce, stays up until January 6.
On December 24, the Kaumanns
family will sit down t9 a roast
goose dinner. After carol singing
fewer hours on his Canadian farm ,..
because of the much larger equip-
mens used in this country.
Hilmar is enrolled in the Agricul-
tural Business Management course
at CCAT, and Claudia is in grade
11 at -IDHS. Thcir parents are
travelling to London every week for
• English lessons. -
"This is a large country, with
good neighbours and good people. I
hope by next Christmas I will
ALL READY - Liz Acton holds the plum pudding which will
as the highlight of a traditional Irish Christmas dinner.
and the reading of the Christmas
story from the Bible, attendance at
Christmas Eve Mass will usher in
Christmas Day.
Christmas Day will be relaxed
and happy, with all thefamily to-
gether after their separation. Some
neighbours have been invited to
drop in later in the day for coffee
and cookies.
One Canadian tradition the Kau-
manns appreciate is the outdoor
Christmas lights and other decora-
tions they arc admiring on both pri-
vate homes and municipal streets.
In Germany only large shopping
centres and the interiors of private
homes arc decorated for the season.
(The recent immigrants arc also as-
tounded at the variety of fresh vege-
tables available in Canadian grocery
stores, and have adapted their eating
habits to take advantage of such
abundance.)
The Kaumanns owned 30 hectares
in the, Rhineland, and rented another
30. They raised bccf cattle, and
grew sugar beets, winter wheat and
barley. Here, this year's crop was
corn, soybeans and winter wheat.
The barn houses a hcrd.of Hereford-
Charolais cattle.
Peter has found that despite the
-great acreage increase, he worked
be set alight
speak a little more English", Peter
said. - -
Irmgarc put her thoughts about
Christmas into one sentence. "If all
my family -is here in Canada, that's
Christmas:"
*- * *
The same thread runs through all
countries where Christmas is ob-
served. Regardless of place or na-
tionality, Christmas is, and always
has been, a family time, a time to
gather together and celebrate the
birth of our Saviour, Jesus Christ.
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TASTE TEST - Hilmar Kaumanns (left) and his parents Peterna d Irmgare try some of the traditonal
makronen(maearoons) and zimtsterne (cinnamon cookies) they will serve guests this Christmas.
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