2. Ciao! That means “Hello”
in Italian! My name is
Nick and I live in Rome,
which is the capital city of
Italy. Italy is easy to find
on a map… it’s in Europe
and is in the shape of a
boot! See?
3. So, now that you know where I
live, let me tell you about what
I am getting ready to do
today… I am so excited! A
bunch of us kids from the
neighborhood are getting
together to… well, why don’t
you just come along and find
out!
4. Right now we are celebrating
the Novena- the three weeks
before Christmas. One thing
we love to do is go to the
homes in the neighborhood to
sing and say some of our
favorite Christmas poems.
Sometimes the neighbors
give us treats and even
money we can use to buy
gifts!
5. That was fun, but I’m glad we’re home!
See the manger by the couch? My dad
will put that outside tonight. Many families
in Italy decorate with manger scenes
outside of their homes. I love seeing the
different mangers in my neighborhood!
Let’s take the manger out to him.
6. I love my manger scene!
We actually celebrate January 6th, or
the 12th day of Christmas, as the day
the Three Wise Men brought gifts to
Jesus. We get presents that day too!
Let’s head back inside and I’ll tell you all
about it!
7. Like I said, we believe that January 6th
is the day the Three Wise Men
brought gifts to Jesus. We call it
“Ephiphany”. Old Befana, an old
witch, leaves us presents on
Ephiphany too. She leaves gifts in the
socks of good children and coal in
your socks if you’re naughty. I hope
I’ll get a gift!
8. The legend of Old Befana is one of my
favorite Italian Christmas traditions. It
is said that, on the night Jesus was
born, the Wise Men asked Befana to
go with them to deliver gifts to baby
Jesus. Befana was so busy cleaning
her house that she did not go. When
she finally decided to go, it was too
late. She searches forever and ever
for the Three Wise Men and delivers
presents to children while she
searches.
9. We also get gifts on Christmas Eve!
Babbo Natale is the Santa Claus of
Italy. We write letters to him and, if
we’re good, he’ll bring us what we
asked for when he comes on
Christmas Eve! I’m hoping for a new
computer this year!
10. Oh! I almost forgot to tell you about
my two favorite things about
Christmas in Italy! First… the tasty
food! At my house, my nona, or
grandma, makes lots of sweets,
breads, fish, and even eel for our
Christmas meal.
11. But my all-time favorite part about
Christmas in Italy is the time I got to see
the Pope give his yearly address at the
Vatican. He always blesses the people at
noon on Christmas Day. He is very
special to people in Italy and around the
world too.
12. I am so glad you stopped
by. I’ve got to start writing
my letter to Babbo Natale!
I hope you enjoyed learning
about how we celebrate in
Italy! Ciao! That means
goodbye too!
13. Do you know who I am? That’s right!
Old Befana! I’m off to deliever
presents to Nick… I think you’d agree
that he’s been quite a good boy this
year! Buon Natale!
