Christmas memories from Oceania | Humor in the folds of everyday life
From Solomon Islands (Oceania), Sister Anna Maria Gervasoni gives us a smile with the story of a past Christmas
Dear friends,
in Honiara, there were few people left in town and no big events; Christmas was celebrated very quietly, in homes, with a twist related to the nativity scene in the cathedral.
It happened that the sacristan had prepared the nativity statues in the sacristy (beautiful, large carved and polished wooden statues), dusting them well for their “solemn entrance” at the various Holy Masses.
With the boys he had then gone to the church to prepare the hut in front of the altar. Back in the sacristy, he noticed that there was a gap on the table where the statues were placed: baby Jesus was no longer lying in the manger!
Looking here, looking there: nothing. During the celebrations of the week before Christmas, the cathedral pastor and the bishop made choral appeals to have the child back and had us pray to St. Anthony, who causes lost things to be found, but until the eve still nothing.
The Marist Sisters, then, came to the rescue, offering their plastic baby Jesus (he was the exact size!) and with a little paint of brown for the skin, black for the hair and a splash of hairspray to make him shiny, on Christmas night a beautiful smiling baby Jesus took his place in the cathedral’s manger.
Search here, search there: nothing. During the celebrations in the week before Christmas, the cathedral pastor and the bishop made choral appeals to have the baby back and had us pray to St. Anthony, who causes lost things to be found, but until Christmas Eve still nothing.
The Marist Sisters, then, came to the rescue, offering their plastic baby Jesus (he was the exact size!) and with a little paint of brown for the skin, black for the hair and a splash of hairspray to make him shiny, on Christmas night a beautiful smiling baby Jesus took his place in the cathedral’s manger.
But the story is not over yet! The next day, it was time to bring in the shepherds (at each mass, during the initial procession, the various characters were brought in). When the priest with the altar boys reached the altar, he noticed that no one had brought them. So, he says to an altar boy, “The shepherds!”
The little boy was hesitant because that word was not part of the name of the items for Mass (English is not yet well known, especially for children attending elementary school).
After a careful explanation, two of them “flew” into the sacristy to appear soon after, beaming, holding two Wise Men!
At the frowning look of the priest, they turned back and timidly came out, showing two more statues (the right ones this time) which they then placed next to Mary and Joseph.
The nativity scene is not very well known in these lands: families do not have it and children only see it in churches, so for them one character is as good as another.
If you think that the adventures of the cathedral nativity scene are over, you are wrong! On St. Stephen’s Day, in fact, it happened that, again at the initial procession, at the altar, the Bishop noticed that the two altar boys who were supposed to carry the candles did not have them! So, he approached one of them and whispered to him, “The candles!” (in English, candle is spelled CANDLE and pronounced CANDOL).
After a moment of bewilderment and hesitancy, two altar boys run into the sacristy and appear jubilant with… the two camels of the Three Kings (in English camel is CAMEL and pronounced CAMOL; you can tell that “candol” and “camol” sound similar!).
I think people at Mass came more willingly, curious to see what would happen next!
With these notes of color I leave you, wishing you to catch a glimpse of that hint of humor that lurks in the folds of daily life and makes our days colorful and lively…
A hug and see you next time.
Sister Anna Maria Gervasoni, Missionary of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians in Oceania
Source and image
- Sister Anna Maria Gervasoni