Christmas Eve Customs in France
Nov 16th, 2003, 06:05 AM
#1
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Christmas Eve Customs in France
We will be spending Christmas in France this year.
I have been reading about some of the traditions and the Christmas Eve Revellion dinner fascinates me. From what I have heard people go to midnight mass and on their return at around 1 in the morning they commence the Christmas feast which can last several hours.
One website said it was beacuse people wanted to be up and feasting to welcome the birth of the new king rather than leave it to the next day as we do in the UK.
What is the reason for the dinner being held in the early hours of the morning. Can anyone enlighten me?
Buzzy
I have been reading about some of the traditions and the Christmas Eve Revellion dinner fascinates me. From what I have heard people go to midnight mass and on their return at around 1 in the morning they commence the Christmas feast which can last several hours.
One website said it was beacuse people wanted to be up and feasting to welcome the birth of the new king rather than leave it to the next day as we do in the UK.
What is the reason for the dinner being held in the early hours of the morning. Can anyone enlighten me?
Buzzy
Nov 16th, 2003, 09:14 AM
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I assume it is because they are hungry. So, if you are having a midnight Mass for Christmas, you would then have to eat dinner after it, which would be early morning. The alternative would be to be hungry and not have eaten for a very long time.
I was raised Catholic, although I'm not now, and I think Catholic customs are probably what you might not know -- you are supposed to fast before receiving Communion. Time periods for fasting have changed, but in older days (and my childhood), you were supposed to have fasted quite a long time before receiving communion.
This is just speculation, but it just makes sense to me that people might want to eat and since it's a holiday period, they don't have to worry about getting up early for work or school the next day.
I was raised Catholic, although I'm not now, and I think Catholic customs are probably what you might not know -- you are supposed to fast before receiving Communion. Time periods for fasting have changed, but in older days (and my childhood), you were supposed to have fasted quite a long time before receiving communion.
This is just speculation, but it just makes sense to me that people might want to eat and since it's a holiday period, they don't have to worry about getting up early for work or school the next day.
Nov 16th, 2003, 11:26 AM
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I'm from French Canada and we always had Revellion.
As to how exactly the tradition started who knows, but I do think that Christina may have a point with the fact that years ago you had to fast at least 3 hours before communion, it is now only 1 hour, also during Advent, which I can't remember exactly how many days prior to Christmas it starts, I think 30 or so, you weren't supposed to indulge like crazy on food. Therefore, having a meal as soon as Christmas was here makes a lot of sense.
We have been living in the States for 35 years and we still have Reveillon, though a little modified. We no longer have a huge sit down meal after midnight, but we still have a buffet type meal, everyone knows not to eat dinner on Christmas eve and I'm sad to say that we don't always go to midnight mass. But we open our gifts after midnight and as the family got larger, it took more times, we sometimes were up until 6am, eating and opening gifts. Needless to say, Christmas day is low key.
If you do intend to go to Midnight Mass, I highly suggest you go early, it is usually very crowded.
As to how exactly the tradition started who knows, but I do think that Christina may have a point with the fact that years ago you had to fast at least 3 hours before communion, it is now only 1 hour, also during Advent, which I can't remember exactly how many days prior to Christmas it starts, I think 30 or so, you weren't supposed to indulge like crazy on food. Therefore, having a meal as soon as Christmas was here makes a lot of sense.
We have been living in the States for 35 years and we still have Reveillon, though a little modified. We no longer have a huge sit down meal after midnight, but we still have a buffet type meal, everyone knows not to eat dinner on Christmas eve and I'm sad to say that we don't always go to midnight mass. But we open our gifts after midnight and as the family got larger, it took more times, we sometimes were up until 6am, eating and opening gifts. Needless to say, Christmas day is low key.
If you do intend to go to Midnight Mass, I highly suggest you go early, it is usually very crowded.
Nov 16th, 2003, 11:57 AM
#4
Christmas Day is celebrated in France with all of the family coming together. On Christmas Eve, French children put their shoes (sabots) in front of the fireplace. They hope Pere Noel (Father Christmas) will fill them with presents. His partner Le PERE Fouettard (Father Spanker) would "reward" bad children with a spanking.
The midnight service on Christmas Eve is traditionally followed by a meal called ?le reveillon'. Sidewalk cafes and restaurants are open all night serving reveillon . Reveillon means to wake up, or first call of the day. So, Reveillon is a symbolic spiritual awakening to the meaning of Christ's birth. The meal can consist of oysters, sausages, wine, baked ham, roast fowl, salads, fruit and pastries. Christ cakes are baked and decorated with sugar to resemble the Holy Child. In south France a Christmas loaf (pain calendeau) is cut crosswise and is eaten only after the first part has been given to a poor person. In Alsace, a roasted goose has pride of place. In Brittany there are buckwheat cakes and sour cream. In Burgundy, turkey and chestnuts are eaten. In the Paris region oysters are the favorite dish, followed by a cake shaped like a Yule log. After the festivities, it is customary to leave a candle burning just in case the Virgin Mary passes that way.
In northern France, children are given their gifts on December 6th, which is Saint Nicholas Day, instead of Christmas Day.
Creche is a French word for manger or crib, and one little French town has become famous world-wide for its little figures used in Christmas cribs. It is Aubagne, a modest little Provenal town about halfway between Marseilles and Aix-en Provence, and is the home of the French Foreign Legion. Here craftsmen make unbaked clay figures called santons or ?little saints'. These were started by Jean Louis Lagnel . He held his first Foire aux Santons, a ?little saints festival', in 1803. It had included the regular nativity figures and sometimes a poacher - honored for enterprise, gendarme, a miller, a fishwife, a woman musician, and the village simpleton (le ravi).
The midnight service on Christmas Eve is traditionally followed by a meal called ?le reveillon'. Sidewalk cafes and restaurants are open all night serving reveillon . Reveillon means to wake up, or first call of the day. So, Reveillon is a symbolic spiritual awakening to the meaning of Christ's birth. The meal can consist of oysters, sausages, wine, baked ham, roast fowl, salads, fruit and pastries. Christ cakes are baked and decorated with sugar to resemble the Holy Child. In south France a Christmas loaf (pain calendeau) is cut crosswise and is eaten only after the first part has been given to a poor person. In Alsace, a roasted goose has pride of place. In Brittany there are buckwheat cakes and sour cream. In Burgundy, turkey and chestnuts are eaten. In the Paris region oysters are the favorite dish, followed by a cake shaped like a Yule log. After the festivities, it is customary to leave a candle burning just in case the Virgin Mary passes that way.
In northern France, children are given their gifts on December 6th, which is Saint Nicholas Day, instead of Christmas Day.
Creche is a French word for manger or crib, and one little French town has become famous world-wide for its little figures used in Christmas cribs. It is Aubagne, a modest little Provenal town about halfway between Marseilles and Aix-en Provence, and is the home of the French Foreign Legion. Here craftsmen make unbaked clay figures called santons or ?little saints'. These were started by Jean Louis Lagnel . He held his first Foire aux Santons, a ?little saints festival', in 1803. It had included the regular nativity figures and sometimes a poacher - honored for enterprise, gendarme, a miller, a fishwife, a woman musician, and the village simpleton (le ravi).
Nov 16th, 2003, 12:08 PM
#5
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I am also a Catholic and know about the fasting before Communion but the Revellion is supposed to be quite an elabourate feast. I just marvel at their ability to eat such a huge meal so late at night. Surely everyone must be in bed until lunchtime on Christmas Day.
We will be attending Midnight Mass. I am really looking forward to doing this in France. In our local town in the UK our church is always packed to the rafters.
Thanks for all your replies. It would still be great to know the official reason for the late meal though.
Buzzy
We will be attending Midnight Mass. I am really looking forward to doing this in France. In our local town in the UK our church is always packed to the rafters.
Thanks for all your replies. It would still be great to know the official reason for the late meal though.
Buzzy
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