December 26, 2022 11:03
by GIANPIERO TAVERNITI
No difference, no preference, but just being yourself in your conscience, in your faith and in the religious education given by your family, but confirmed by your confirmation, in the strong awareness of your faith. Giusto Lui was born in a hut in the cold and frost, those huts that many villages in Calabria reproduced in beautiful living cribs that this year will cradle our faith, our art in making them and our tradition of proposing them punctually every year, cribs evocative, raw, based on peasant civilizations, with characters, animals and real shepherds who brought cohesion to the various communities.
There are several nativity scenes that are created every year in Calabria with passion and faith by different communities, associations and many ordinary people who in this event give their best by providing everything they need, time, money, humanity and deprive themselves of the affection of their loved ones , in the time taken not only to set it up, but also to live it and immerse yourself in the character represented. In this Holy Christmas, in the final pandemic phase, in Calabria there will be several living nativity scenes from 26 December 22 to 6 January 2023.
Living nativity scenes that will cheer and populate various villages and centers of Calabria, some alive, others in the process of depopulation who try to resist, trying to better enjoy the holidays by making them alive in faith, worship and craftsmanship connected to the preparation cribs and the parallel events that will take place with markets and food and wine stands that will certainly not fail to give prestige to the quality products of this land. A level playing field between provinces, incredibly real cribs that FOR SURE will leave us something, will make us think about our origins, culture and religious faith of our people, keeping us united at least in faith and in sharing these living cribs that will revive in everyone of us that strong spirituality and that marked religious tradition that the most beautiful celebration of the year always gives us.
Each of us has the Christian duty to rediscover in this cold and sick period, to rediscover that inner warmth of surrounding oneself with one’s crib and one’s Christmas tree, which in the days following Holy Christmas can be cold in communities divided by little humanity, frozen by military, economic, ethnic or religious wars, but certainly for a few hours they can be warmed by the inner recollection, religious and fraternal, to experience a living nativity scene, sharing with fellow citizens who do not meet during the year for the commitments that “lock” us in not living together and with Calabrian and non-Calabrian compatriots who will come from places where a living nativity scene is not set up.
What can I say, all that remains is to live this beautiful experience, to experience internal territories, suggestive villages that are little visited or little valued, not only to live the importance of the crib in depth of faith, but also to “trigger” that cold little humanity, that indifference and sometimes that wickedness that go against the civil life of a community, a province and a region that unfortunately many negative ballasts try to curb it, but which in fact tries to react, moving and living in normality even the Christmas holidays that if enlivened by cribs of common characters, dedicated to their land and faith, will certainly bring that human wealth that shared will break down every wall, division, poverty and unworthy illegality.
Starting from 26 December 22 to 06 January 2023, several centers of Calabria will offer their living nativity scene, you don’t need to talk about it, but only take action to look for them and live them to the fullest with your families and fellow citizens. To name a few in the various provinces we can start from the day of December 26, with Pizzoni VV, RicadiVV, Pentone CZ, Badolato CZ, Miglierina CZ, Gasperina CZ, Lamezia Terme CZ, to move on to the province of Cosenza with Orsomarso, Paola, Acri, Rocca Imperiale, Morano Calabro and Cetraro, in the province of Reggio Calabria with Melicucco. On 27 .12, Cessaniti VV stands out in the Vibonese area, there will be an encore by Gasperina, Badolato and Acri, while on the 28th in the Catanzaro area there will be Simeri Crichi and on the 29th Aiello Calabro CS and an encore by Simeri Crichi Cz. They continue on December 30th in Aieta CS and in the days that will go from the first of the year to January 06th, it will be possible to take advantage of experiencing them, in the encore evenings, in the municipalities of Melicucco, Morano Calabro, Cetraro, Orsomarso, Paola, Miglierina, Aiello Calabro , Aieta and Rocca Imperiale.
For more info and perhaps last-minute updates, visit the presepevivente.it website. you can draw from it, but in the meantime, we feed the “social fire” that various Calabrian communities have lit, offering us the warm magic of the living nativity scene in the days following the birth of our Holy Savior that only wickedness, indifference and human coldness have brought to the cross, making him pay for all the sins of avarice, thirst for power and man’s money …… we too put a stick in the “bonfire” of the living nativity scene closest to us, appreciating the territory, living villages and villages in the utmost spirituality, observing real and important religious choreographies, connected to experiencing the Christmas holidays, in the various city communities that in Calabria offer us beautiful living nativity scenes, imbued with passion, tradition and religiosity.
Let’s visit them, appreciating them and encouraging them with the interest, in the importance of their existence, of always seeing them set up and always trying to trash the indifference and lack of humanity that is felt today in modern, ultra-social society, unraveled by economic speculations that go against the ‘normal man who finds it increasingly difficult to fill the tank of the heart with “clean petrol” that cannot dirty efficient social injectors, capable of pushing us on the path of civilization of civilized life, worthy of every traveler of all times.