BLESSED IS YOUR HOME

I took this pic on a very cold, but bright and sunny day in Nervi. Even though the weather has been quite cold in January, there has been relatively mild and sunny days in between.

 

 

I came back home from a short break yesterday and while I was away, the family stayed behind. An innocent question enquiring about everyone's health and if there were any news, was greeted with "wish you had been here" - type of hysterical laughter. And this is what happened:

One early evening, the doorbell rang and John opened the door. It was our neighbour, the very nice Italian lady, accompanied by an Italian gentleman. John thought he looked a bit official, but could not immediately say what triggered him to think that way. Cordial greetings were exchanged and the lady started to explain the reason for the visit. John's Italian has not improved much but he has had a very good reason to be grateful of the studies in Latin at school and later at the university while being in Italy. This knowledge enabled John to pick up couple of key words such as "benedizione" (a blessing).  After a lengthy attempt of a conversation, John finally understood that the gentleman in question was a priest from the local Catholic parish who was doing the rounds in our apartment block in order to bless the families and their homes. John got the impression that this was a traditional visit in the beginning of a new year, but he was not sure. Unfortunately, they had to part without any ceremonies as the language barrier turned out to be too difficult this time. So, for the time being our home has not yet been blessed, but I have a feeling this is a temporary state of affairs until we learn enough Italian to understand how to receive a blessing.

   Clearly the first weeks of January are not just about getting back to your everyday life as quickly as possible in Italy. One sign of this are the numerous exhibitions of nativity scenes which are open in many churches in Genoa and elsewhere in Italy in January. I am told that the  biggest and most beautiful "presepios" are in Napoli. Genoa also has  its own permanent and much appreciated crib, Madonnetta, which is located at the Santuario della Madonnetta church. The nativity scenes are usually carefully built by local artists who take considerable time and effort to create small statuettes  based on local people, their homes and places of work as a backdrop to the crib. A touch of humour is certainly allowed and a scene of men playing cards with one of them cheating the others is an often told example. The nativity scenes come complete with every possible miniature accessory from palm trees to shepherds.

  There is even a permanent shop in the old historical centre of Genoa called Buttegheta Magica (Via Della Maddalena 2) selling everything possible needed to build a nativity scene at home. And if you think this might be too much of a hassle, they are happy to come to your home and build it for you!