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PAGE 8—The Southern Cross, December 16, 1965
outh Sc
Rev. Herbert J. Wellmeier
op
e
With a jingle-jangle and a
ho-ho-ho the annual ritual of
gift-giving and exchange of
presents will soon take place
under every roof-top in A-
merica. Even where there
is no snow, maybe no chim
ney either, the jolly fat man
who is a caricature of St.
Nicholas will get all the cre
dit for dazzling diamonds,
noisy frightening guns and ugly
useless neckties.
People are even now in the
midst of madness as the re
maining shopping days slip
desperately by, and panic is
just around the corner unless
the pain-wracked brain can
spare the swollen and numb
feet more travail by quickly
locating a bargain-basement
trinket for Aunt Minnie.
Many people do complain
that the ordeal of buying pre
sents is becoming so burden
some and expensive that they
“hate Christmas. ,, This sad
situation could have arisen
only because the true spirit
of gift-giving has been lost
in the idiotic, frantic and
senseless concentration on
fulfilling social obligations
rather than being motivated
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by genuine affection for pros
pective recipients, and even
more basic, a deep love of the
new-born Redeemer. We can
not fairly blame Christ or His
Birthday observance for the
travesty that has grown from
the laudable custom of gift
giving in honor of the Great
Gift of the Heavenly Father.
Sure, it is easy to lose sight
of the “main reason for all
the commotion,” and wheth
er the merchants should be
identified as egg or chicken,
producer or product of the
commercialism we now have,
is impossible to solve. Are
they merely answering a need
or pampering and nurturing
a greed? Who’s to say?
But in our own individual
lives, for us personally, gift
giving need not be a routine
inescapable, but can be a most
Christian expression of gra
titude to the Savior as well
as familial love for relatives
and close friends. Veritably,
“it’s the thought that counts.”
Consequently if giver and re
ceiver both give it some
thought, gift giving symbolizes
and portrays the noblest and
most pleasing human senti
ments.
The Church has wisely gi
ven us the advent period to
prepare for Christ’s com
ing, (His historical coming
as Savior and His future com
ing as Judeej. with hearts
full of charity. Neglect tc
concentrate on this fact re
sults in crass selfishness in
counting on Christmas as a
bringer of loot. No wonder
the glitter is lost precisely
at midnight of December 25th.
But it’s only a beginning oi
joy for the well-prepared ce-
lebrator of Christ’s birth. For
him, joy and peace and love
lingers on. He has received
the greatest gift.
Open Your 1966
Christmas Club
Today
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the Liberty national
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• lull AND MOUGMTON • HAIEfSHAM AND JATH
• DtPENNf AT PAULSEN • HUNTS* All E0ICI IASI
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Around The Diocese
Obituaries
* Captain James W. McNeely of Columbus, who was serving
in Viet Nam.
* James Robert Money of Columbus, December 7th.
* Sgt. Michael Elinski of Augusta, December 10th.
* Mrs. Stella Marr Herb of Savannah, December 10th.
Marriages
* Miss Sally Ann Murphy of Atlanta and Mr. Stephen Francis
Roach of Thunderbolt, November 27 in the Sacred Heart
Church, Atlanta.
* Miss Amy Rebecca Head of Seal^ Ala., and Mr. Santo Bevacqua
of Philadelphia, pa., December 4 at Main Post Chapel,
Columbus.
* Miss Nancy Elizabeth Youmans and Mr. Charles Edward
Sutlive both of Savannah, December 11 in the Sacred Heart
Church, Savannah.
Necrology
PARTICIPANTS in the Parent-Teenager Forum of
the Cana Conference sponsored by the Savatnmah
Deanery Council of Catholic Women on Sunday,
December 12th at Benedictine High School in Sa
vannah: Left to right: Mrs. Edmond B. Anderson,
Panel Coordinator; Lt. Peter F. Murphy of Ft.
Sitewlart, panelist in teenage meeting; William B.
Lain, Jr., panelist in parent meeting; Mrs. Carl R.
Jordan, Chairman of Forum; Rev. John Loftus of
Jesup, Moderator of Forum; Cmdr. and Mrs. Rob
ert B. Hogan, panelists in teenage meeting
(Staff Photo by Bob Wlard)
FROM NAPLES TO ROME
Bethlehem — Italian Style
James c. O’Neill
Like Christmas, the Fitti
paldi family comes to Rome
once a year; in fact, they
bring some of Christmas with
them.
The Christmas they bring,
however, i s not that of plas
tic, tinsel or styrofoam San
tas. The Fittipaldi Christ
mas is that of Naples two
to three hundred years ago.
For 32 years Vincenzo and
Carmelo Fittipaldi have ope
rated a tiny outdoor stall on
Rome’s piazza Navona where
they seU hundreds of hand-
painted terra cotta figures
that are dear to the Italians
at Christmas time.
These figures naturally in
clude the Virgin, St. Joseph
and the Christ Child. But
that is only the beginning. For
in Italy the Neopolitan crib
is one of the great traditions
of the season.
The Neopolitans, at least
in bygone days, could not con
ceive of Christ being born in
the cold night solitude of a
Judean hillside. Instead they
surround the family of Bethle
hem with the uproar and com
plexity of Italian village life.
Chickens scratch for food,
goats neigh for their mothers,
men play cards or drink wine
while their women gather at
the town well, chattering,
carrying brass water jugs on
their heads or lugging heavy
legs of salami.
Around the crib are heaped
the gifts of the countryside.
Cheeses in various forms,
hams, fish, including Medi
terranean squid, and woven
baskets of pears, mushrooms
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and the whole colorful array
of vegetables crowd the
classic and non-Italian figures
of the Holy Family.
The whole village is there:
the shoemaker hammering
nails into mountain boots; the
baker sweating over his red-
hot oven; the butcher cutting
meat with a cleaver, while
a cat swipes at sausages hang
ing down from the work table.
The shepherds of the
Christmas story are Abruzzi
mountain shepherds with their
feet encased in rough wound
leggings. They play the pri
mitive pipes and horns of these
mountain people who to this
day still invade Rome every
Christmas time to make mo
ney from donations as they
fill the city’s busy streets with
the nasal whines and scurls
of their instruments.
The Fittipaldi stall is only
one of dozens on Piazza Na
vona, open only from Dec. 1
to Jan. 5, selling Christmas
figures in the Neopolitan tra-
dition. However, they are
the only ones who have not
given into plastic. To them
today’s plastics are as wel
come as the half dozen Santa
Clauses-cum-amateur photo
graphers who lay in wait in the
square to trap hapless pa
rents into having their child
ren photographed with old St.
Nick at exhorbitant prices.
“Our tradition is an old
one,” explains Vincenzo. “It
goes back hundreds of years
before Santa Claus was ever
heard of in Italy.”
Throughout the year the el
derly couple lives in Naples
where they have a vestment
store. When not working in
the store, they mold the clay
figures and bake them. Terra
cotta is rather fragile and
once a figure is baked it has
to be handled with great care.
After all the rough areas of
the figurines are smoothed a-
way, the figures are taken tc
four-piece-work artists whc
begin painting them by hand.
Every detail of dress is care
fully taken from older models.
The painstaking detail work
of each piece is among the
factors that make these col
lectors’ items. The cos
tumes, colors, and even the
poses, follow a tradition that
has come down from past
centuries.
Naples abounds with the
most elaborate Christmas
cribs in Italy. Crib making
reached a zenith under the
Bourbon King Charles III of
the Two Sicilies who set aside
an entire room of bis palace
at caserta for his Christmas
scene.
Already in their 60s, the
Fittipaldis do not anticipate
being at piazza Navona many
more years. “Another year,
maybe two,” says carmela.
“We are getting to old, it’s
too cold standing here for 12
or 14 hours a day and too many
people do not know the dif
ference between our figures
and the plastic ones all around
us.
“It takes hours to produce
any one of these and we can’t
and won’t sell them for pen
nies,” she said.
As a matter of fact, the
Fittipaldis haven’t run any
risk of having to sell for pen
nies. Their figures, animals
and various other works of
folk art which range from a
foot to an inch high are in
great demand. Many people
return each year to add to
their collections.
Compared to plastic the fi
gures are expensive, since a
single figure of about three
inches in height costs about
a dollar (a group piece such
as a Neopolitan street fish
.vender with his stand runs
about $2.50). But the fact
is that there are plenty of
Romans more than willing to
acquire pieces of an art that
is fast disappearing.
* Rev. John A. Morris, Dec. 24, 1957.
Interfaith Program
A panel of Columbus Women representing the Catholic,
Jewish and Protestant faiths met recently at the home of Mrs.
Harry W. Kinnard. The Catholic Women's Group will host a
second Interfaith program Jan. 18 at the Main Post Chapel, Ft.
Benning. A priest will explain the meaning of the Mass. A ques
tion and answer period will foHow. Service wives of all faiths
are invited to attend.
K.C. Christmas Party
Savannah’s Holy Family Council No. 5588, Knights of Co
lumbus will present its second annual Christmas Party for
members’ children on Sunday, December 19, 3:uu PM until
6:00 PM at the Southside Branch Y.W.C.O. and will feature
old fashion Christmas caroling, traditional and popular Christ
mas music with Mrs. c. A. Nielubowicz at the piano.
“Ecumenical Day”
Approximately 125 students attended the “Ecumenical Day”,
last Sunday, at which Brunswick’s catholic students who attend
public schools played host to non-catholic friends at a Mass at
St. Francis Xavier Church. The Mass was offered by the Rev.
Paul Burkort, S.M. The project was initiated by Sister Lo
retta Joseph and Sister Marie Brendon who provide religious
instruction, each Sunday, for students attending public schooL
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