The story of the befana

1. The story of the Befana
The story of the Befana begins a long time
ago and descends from pre-Christian
magical traditions. The term "Befana"
derives from the Greek "Epiphany", or
"apparition" or "manifestation". The Befana
is therefore celebrated on the day of the
Epiphany, which usually closes the
Christmas period.
Originally the Befana was a symbol of the year just passed, a year
now old just like the Befana itself. The gifts the old woman brought
were auspicious symbols for the year that was about to begin.
In the Christian tradition, the story of the Befana is closely linked to
that of the Magi. Legend tells that on a cold winter
night Baldassarre, Gasparre and Melchiorre, on the
long journey to get to Bethlehem from the Child Jesus,
unable to find the way, asked an old woman for
information to show them the way. The Magi,
therefore, invited the woman to join them, but,
despite the insistence, the old woman refused. Once
the Three Magi were gone, she regretted not
following them and so she packed a sack full of
sweets and started looking for them, but to no avail.
The old woman then began to knock on every door,
giving sweets to every child she met, in the hope that
one of them was Child Jesus. Students
Martina & Sharon