Advent 2010

Over at AMOROMA my friend Larry continues his tradition of an Advent Calender to mark off the days until the celebration of Christmas. In previous years he has taken us daily through Roman Windows, Roman Doors and Roman Gates; this year he has created his calender from a remarkable series of angels that are omnipresent in architecture and decoration throughout our adopted city..

A left click will take you to the first day of Advent on Larry's Calender.

Once again this year I'll be providing a daily link to open the virtual door at Larry's site and reveal the angelic delight and reading for the day to be found there.

01 decembre - Sant'Eligio di Noyon

Lift Up Your Heads, Oh Ye Gates

And be ye lift up ye everlasting doors!
And the King of glory will come in.

Psalm 24:7

Adapted by Charles Jennens
For Handel's oratorio Messiah.

This staged performance of Messiah from Vienna may not be to every one's taste but ignore the strange goings on and you have the Arnold Schönberg Chor giving a youthful and I think wonderfully dramatic performance of this magnificent chorus.

Messiah is one of the great traditions of the Christmas season and that great chorus is appropriate for the beginning of the Advent season. It also appropriate for a start of a tradition that I have enjoyed over the past two years: our friend Larry's Internet Advent Calender. In 2007 each day from December 1st to Christmas Day Larry opened a window in our adopted city, last year he opened doors in Roma and this year he'll be opening some of the many gates throughout the city.

As in previous years I will be posting a link to his Advent Calender on the sidebar at the right. A simple click will take you to his Gate for the Day and a posting suitable for the day and the season.

There are so many wonderful gates here in Roma that Larry started a bit early this year with an Introduction and a remarkable bonus gate.

30 novembre - Sant'Andrea Apolostlo

Christmasy Things I

Last year I posted a series on our Christmas traditions and I don't want to repeat myself but I thought a little updating on the odd Christmasy Thing or two wouldn't be amiss. So I'll be doing that during the weeks of Advent leading up to Christmas.

And speaking of Advent my dear friend Larry at AmoRoma is keeping up a tradition he started last year - can two years be a tradition? I think so. Last year he created an Internet Advent Calender. Each day he posted a Roman window and one of the "O" antiphons for the season. This year, from December 1st - 24th, he'll post a picture of a different door that he's seen in Rome and a verse taken from Handel's Messiah.

And again this year I've posted a sidebar link to Larry's Advent Calender for anyone who'd like to join us in this tradition. And that would be Vincenzo, the other half of the team, inviting you to open a new door each day. Thanks Larry for keeping up the tradition.

And speaking of Advent Calenders the folks over at Sellmer are still producing wonderful advent calenders like this charming one of Old Stuttgart. Many are reproductions of favorites from years past including one of the Christkindlmarkt at the Marienplatz in Munich. I may buy one for next year but in the meantime Laurent and I will be heading up there this weekend to experience the Christmas Market first hand.

01 dicembre - San Egilio

The Traditions of Christmas - Advent Calenders

Advent Calenders, marking the days between the first day of Advent and Christmas Eve, are a Lutheran religious tradition that has found its way into the secular celebration of Christmas. Each day a window in the calender is opened to reveal a saying, a Christmas symbol or on more elaborate calenders chocolates or games. According to this delightful website - gloriously and badly translated from German into English - the first known calender was created in 1851. The tradition fell by the wayside during the Second World War and was revived after 1946. The website has a great display of historic calenders including a rather charming White House calender from the '50s.

The first few years we were together Laurent and I always had an Advent Calender in the house. I don't remember how the tradition started but I think we may have found a Sellmer Calender in a Horchow catalogue, when the luxury mail order house was still family run and had novel items. We continued the tradition for many years but over the past five or six it has fallen by the wayside.

This year we're reviving the tradition of opening a window each day on a unique Advent Calender. Our friend Larry has created his version of an Advent Calender on his blog, AmoRoma. Each day Larry posts a photo of a window here in Rome with a writing appropriate to the Advent season. I've posted a sidebar link to Larry's Advent Calender for anyone who'd like to join us in this tradition.

5 decembre - San Guilio