A member of our congregation, Helen Liang, grew up in China, and she sent us a few photos of Christmas there.
She says:
Christmas is an important festival in China. Most of the photos are of outdoor decorations, with only one image of a floating Christmas tree in a mall. Christmas is also the busiest time for the church, with various Christmas decorations in the church and various praise performances on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. But Chinese people don't eat Turkey at Christmas. There is no specific Christmas dinner, sometimes we will book in advance to eat at a restaurant.
The Cathedral Communications Committee has invited members of the congregation to share their Christmas memories. Below is a story from Andreas Decken.
I grew up in Germany, near the border with the Netherlands. The Christmas season started on December 6th. In neighbouring Holland, the 6th is similar to Dec 25th in Canada, when gifts are exchanged. Where I grew up, kids put their polished winter boots in the hallway the night before, and Sankt Nikolas (Santa) would either leave chocolates or bare twigs from trees in the boots. You can guess who received bare twigs.
There were many outdoor Christmas markets. People sold handcrafted gifts, but there were, of course, many booths with food and the traditional “Glühwein”, spiced wine that is served hot.
Christmas was celebrated on the eve of Christmas, “Heiligabend”. On that day, children were not allowed in the living room so that they wouldn’t disturb the “Christkind” (Christ child), who was decorating the tree. The Christmas tree originates from western Germany, a tradition that goes back hundreds of years. Once it was dark outside, the Christmas tree was lit, originally with candles but later with electric lights. After re-citing Christmas poems and singing carols, I was allowed to open my gifts.
Later on Christmas Eve, we attended the Christmas service. After the service, we congregated in the market square. A large bonfire was burning, and the church trombone choir played carols late into the night.
When I got older, I was a member of the YMCA. In Germany, the YMCA is closely connected to the Protestant church, and we would have a birthday party for baby Jesus at Christmas. The young people in their teens and twenties attended this party on Christmas Eve.
Many other German traditions are quite different from here in Canada. Did you know that the German Santa lives in the clouds? Every time it snows, it is Frau Holle (his wife) shaking out the bedding. Sankt Nikolas comes on foot from the forest, and he is not dressed in red and white. He carries a large sack with the gifts for the Christkind to place under the tree.
Other German traditions include lighting the advent wreath which has four red candles; placing nutcrackers in the house; opening the advent calendar; doing lots of Christmas baking including Stollen, the German fruitcake; and of course, lighting the candles of the Christmas Pyramid. The Christmas Pyramid is a hand-carved nativity scene placed on a multi-tier carousel that spins due to propellers that are driven by the heat of the candles.
When I came to Canada, I realized that I knew quite a few of the popular Christmas carols, since they were translated from German into English. While it was composed in Austria, the most famous German language carol is likely “Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht” (Silent Night, Holy Night). Even today, I cannot resist singing it in German when it is sung as one of the hymns in our Cathedral Christmas services.
The Cathedral Communications Committee has invited members of the congregation to share their Christmas memories. Below, listen to a story from Rachel.
The Cathedral Communications Committee has invited members of the congregation to share their Christmas memories. Below, listen to a story from Claire.
The Cathedral Communications Committee has invited members of the congregation to share their Christmas memories. Below, read a story from Marilyn Lewell.
Apart from wonderful times with my family, my Christmas memories involve music. Having sung in choirs since an early age, including school, church and community choirs, I remember singing Handel’s MESSIAH for the first time at 12 years of age, and almost annually since.
A special year was when my husband and I lined up outside Kings College Cambridge to be in the congregation for the famous Christmas Eve Carol service. It was magical.
Perhaps the most moving memory involved volunteering for the nurses’ choir in our uniforms, as we sang carols while carrying candles and visiting each unit of the hospital where we worked. Needless to say, that is no longer a tradition in hospitals but it was very special to the patients and nurses alike.
The Cathedral Communications Committee has invited members of the congregation to share their Christmas memories. Below, read a story from Ann Deveau. Stay tuned for other stories as we enter the Christmas season!
I’ve always despised the ubiquitous Christmas song, Little Drummer Boy. Our class choir had to sing it umpteen-dozen times to prepare for the school’s Christmas concert, but I was one of the off-key singers expressly told NOT to sing aloud. It was torture to spend hours pretending to sing PA-RUM-PUM-PUM-PUM and the rest of it. My little brother knew how much the song annoyed me, so, naturally, he played the record or sang it as often as possible.
Fast forward many years. My brother made sure that his children knew how to bug me. The minute I would arrive at their home for Christmas festivities, he’d say: “Hit it, boys.” Two impish faces would light up as they loudly sang Little Drummer Boy and waited for my inevitable and exaggerated groans.
My brother died when his sons were aged 9 and 11. A Christmas or two later, I opened my gift from them. The nephews had carefully made a music CD for me, downloading 19 different versions (including the same one by Johnny Mathis twice!) of Little Drummer Boy. They giggled in anticipation of my usual reaction, but I dissolved in a puddle of tears, laughter and hugs.
The nephews are now 30 and 28, but I still play that homemade CD every December. I grit my teeth at the annoying tune, but I bask in the warm love of family that underpins the creation of the musical collection. PA-RUM-PUM-PUM-PUM………………
Christmas comes gradually to our house—gradually and somewhat gently. Of course, it wasn’t always like that. When I was a child, Christmas arrived suddenly! It came on Christmas morning when we got out of bed and after opening the living room door, found that the room had been magically transformed with a fully decorated tree.
Santa always left our stockings at the foot of our beds. I still recall waking up and wiggling my toes to see if the stocking was there—and the joy and wonderment of finding it and realizing who had put it there! When you moved it with your foot, it made a special sound that cannot be compared to anything else.
But it all happened on that one day—which made the whole experience that much more exciting! Mind you, there were still events that led up to Christmas. Advertising on radio and TV still encouraged us to get our shopping done early, and there was still the Santa Claus parade. More important than the parade was the opening of “Toyland.” Yes, my friends, I remember when there were no malls, the stores were on one or two streets downtown, and they did not keep a full selection of toys all year long. “Toyland” meant that Christmas was really coming!
But in spite of this limited hype, things didn’t start to get serious for me until the party on the last day of school. After school ended, I would get perhaps as much as two or three dollars from Mom to go downtown and buy something special for my grandmother. It was usually a nick-nack to go on her mantle. Dogs, cats and other cute animals were very popular with me and her other grandchildren. As a result, Nanny’s mantle resembled a menagerie. I am sure that many a saleslady was silently screaming at how much time it took me to choose just the right piece.
On Christmas Eve morning, my sister and I would take the bus to Nanny’s house to get a pair of her stockings. She wore those special “old lady” stockings that were perfect for hanging up. Nylons just didn’t seem to work! We would phone her in the morning, “Nanny, do you have any of your stockings you could let us borrow?” The answer was always “Yes” for her many grandchildren. I’m surprised that Christmas Day found her with any stockings left to wear.
The bus ride to her house was also special. For me, bus rides were always special. But this one, more so. Mom would give us bus fare—a shiny five cent piece, “Put this inside your mitten and don’t take it out until you get on the bus! Nanny will give you another one for the ride back.”
The 2019 Nativity Scene at Christ Church Cathedral
Now, we could have walked down the street and taken the West Loop bus that went down the hill, and we would have been at Nanny’s house in no time. But I always liked to take the bus going in the opposite direction. The cost was the same, but you got a much longer ride. You traveled along Water Street, where you could see the Christmas lights and the people hurrying into the stores. They were getting on the bus, loaded down with mysterious packages! People seemed to act differently because it was Christmas Eve. People smiled more, and we often heard those magical words, Merry Christmas.
Over the years our habits have changed. Christmas doesn’t arrive as suddenly as when I was a child. I couldn’t possibly do what my parents did on Christmas Eve. But we are still a family that decorates the tree just before Christmas—as opposed to just before Remembrance Day—and I am, purposely, one of the last on my street to decorate the outside of my house. But mid- November finds us at the tree farm picking out our tree and around the end of November, we start to see hints of Christmas. The ornate wall hanging suddenly shows up. Then, a bit later, the everyday mugs disappear, replaced by the Christmas mugs. By Advent Sunday, the ceramic Christmas tree will have appeared. And a bit later, my well-thumbed copy of Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” calls out to me. But the tree in all its glorious and majestic splendor is still left until almost Christmas. On the other hand, our decorations stay up and the outside lights stay lit until Twelfth Night.
Bringing out the Christmas decorations is always special. Seeing that particular favourite ornament is like welcoming back an old friend. Seeing the boys’ special ornaments always brings back memories of Christmases past. And even trying to figure out how strings of lights could possibly have twisted themselves that much while sitting for eleven months in a motionless box is more or less tolerable!
In spite of having celebrated many Christmases, we are still caught up in the rush of Christmas shopping and the dash to make sure that we have those last minute things, which always seem to get forgotten.
But even so, our Christmas seems to come gradually and gently. Perhaps that fits with how the baby Jesus arrived. May your Christmas be joyous and gentle.
They say that the heart always comes home for Christmas and perhaps that is why so many memories of Christmas’s past seem to fill our minds at this special time of the year.
We’ve been asking congregation members to share some of their special Christmas memories with us. Here’s what the attendees of the December Medley Tea had to say.
For Rita Veysey, the thrill of Christmas was the Christmas Sock! This much-anticipated sock and the gathering of the entire family for Christmas dinner are part of Rita’s favourite memories.
Elizabeth Smith lived in Saint John when she was a youngster, and her best Christmas present was a cardboard grocery store complete with canned goods. She was six years old when she received this gift and was mightily impressed with it. She recalled scurrying next door to share her good luck with her friend, who had also received a grocery store, and hers was made out of wood!
Lots and lots of snow and hunting for a Christmas tree in the woods are fond memories shared by Yvonne Milward. Yvonne grew up near Rusagonis on the family homestead and remembers that her father would take them out the weekend before Christmas into the woods to choose a tree. Invariably, in spite of his warnings before the tree was cut down, the children would pick one much too large, and it would wind up having to be substantially shortened before coming into the house. Apparently, little ones have eyes that are too big for both trees and their bellies!
Fern Wolstenholme recalls every Christmas (without fail) getting up very early and getting into the car to head to Wirral and to Welsford. Fern, her sister, and her parents would leave Sussex and travel through rain, sunshine, sleet, or snow to spend Christmas with both sets of grandparents. The girls were allowed to take one thing from under the tree for the journey and usually, they chose a book. Of course, the Christmas trees were real back then and were decorated with real candles, which would be lit for a short time. Fern said that her aunts were probably waiting behind the parlour door with a bucket of water, just in case!
Althea Barlow said that when she was little, the children were never allowed to see the tree before Christmas morning. What anticipation they must have felt when they tumbled out of bed that morning!
The fondest memory that Joan Harrison shared was of the first night that she was allowed to attend the midnight Christmas Eve service with her family. She was only about six years old, and it snowed that night as they walked the mile or so together from their home to the Anglican church in Plaster Rock. She can still picture the beauty of that evening.
Ken Howlett began every Christmas Eve as a young boy with a family skate on Lake Edward, followed by going to church together. When they returned home from church, they would put a lunch out for Santa before heading to bed. Ken also remembers the sparklers and real candles that decorated the tree and the warning to little ones to sit down and not touch the tree. The mischievous twinkle in Ken’s eye as he related this story leads one to believe that those warnings were well advised!
They say that the heart always comes home for Christmas …
When Carolyn Howlett was six years old, all she wanted for Christmas was a doll carriage. There seemed to be a dearth of doll carriages in the shopping area close to New Denmark. Thankfully, Carolyn had an aunt and uncle living in Toronto and her mother wrote to them to share her dilemma. Off they went to Eaton’s and a doll carriage was shipped from Toronto to New Denmark. For little ones, Carolyn says it was all about the cookies and the presents!
Wendy Brien recalls the Christmas that they spent in what is now the family cottage in Maquadavic. They had moved to New Brunswick from Silver Springs outside of Washington, after her Father suffered an injury. The log cabin on Maquadavic Lake was built by Wendy’s grandfather, and they lived there for a year or so before moving into town. Wendy told us how beautiful and magical a place the cabin was with its huge stone fireplace and still is magical to this day. She remembers an owl who got to spend Christmas with them, due to a broken wing. He was a well-behaved owl, unless he smelt smoke. Then he would hoot and hoot. No need for a smoke alarm in that house!
Mavis Cater, and her daughter Amy Elizabeth, both commented on the year that Amy Elizabeth received a bouncing ball. lt seems it was one of Amy Elizabeth’s favourite toys and one on which she could sit and bounce joyfully all around the house. Mavis said, somewhat wistfully, “I wish I had one as well.” She may have been expressing what many mothers feel at the end of Christmas Day, as well-sugared children head off to bed. “Oh for a bouncy ball…” Mavis also told us how on Christmas Day, she loved to head over to her granny’s house in Williamsburg. She had a young cousin just a year older than her, who due to having lost her Mother at an early age, lived with her grandmother. She would receive lots and lots of toys—more than enough for her and Mavis to enjoy!
… so many memories of Christmas’s past seem to fill our minds
When her children were about two and four years old, Juanita Fowler recalls finally getting them off to bed and asleep so that gifts from Santa could be placed under the tree on Christmas Eve. While the children did indeed get into bed, sleep apparently was a little farther away than Juanita thought. As presents were being placed carefully around the tree, a little voice was heard whispering, “Page you got your carriage!” Paige wound up spending the night sleeping with her mother, and Kevin slept with his father to prevent any further destruction of Santa’s surprises.
Lois Baker’s next-door neighbour could have helped Juanita solve the problem of sneak peeks on Christmas Eve. They had six rambunctious little ones to try to corral in their rooms, as presents went under the tree. The neighbour solved the problem by tying the bedroom doors together during this process!
Lois’s father was the true Christmas lover in the family. They had a big old house where rooms could be shut off and not heated when not being used. Much to his delight, the Christmas tree went up in one of these rooms. That meant that it could stay up long after Christmas. Sometimes it would stay up until Easter. Every Sunday, Lois, her sister, and her father would light the fireplace and sing Christmas carols! That’s a true Christmas afficionado.
One Christmas was especially jolly for Mary Pugh’s little brother. He was running around and round the dining room table, full of more energy than usual because the seven-year-old had indulged in brandy butter! Mary’s family lived in a big Victorian house in England with a huge staircase. Like Althea Barlow’s family, the Christmas tree was never put up until after the children were tucked up in bed on Christmas Eve. One can imagine the expressions on the children’s faces the next morning!
As we head towards Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, keep checking this website for more stories of Christmas past.
