Anna Maffei is president of the Christian Evangelical Baptist Union of Italy, which includes 116 churches and 6,200 members.
Christmas is the feast of the family in Italy. It is felt very much as the occasion for the extended family to meet together, starting from the evening of Dec. 24.
Special meals are prepared and shared. There is exchange of gifts and visiting. Before Christmas, one tries to reach the highest number of relatives and friends by phone or mail to exchange information and wishes. In our country, which is massively and culturally a Catholic country, even those who never attend the Mass may choose to attend a special Mass, either on Dec. 24 — the midnight Mass — or on Dec. 25. Of course, before Christmas, there is a lot of shopping going on, the same as it happens everywhere in the Western world.
The Baptists celebrate Christmas in a similar way as the others but concentrate more on the Christian meaning of the feast.
It is not only a family-reunion holiday but also a community feast when we try to welcome the lonely people or immigrants and be family for them.
We may eat together, for instance, or play together a special Christmas play.
Christmas is also the children’s feast, and many churches organize plays on the nativity or other subjects in which to engage mainly children. In many churches, choirs sing gospel songs and carols.
The atmosphere, the warmth of the family, the celebration of being together and the good food!
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