Holiday Traditions Around the World

Write Us Your Holiday Traditions!

Brazil

Contributions by Danielle, Lucio, Marlene and Phillip - our friends from Brazil!

Danielle writes:

Christmas in Brazil is very meaningful. The Brazilian population is primarily Christian, and more are Catholic than not. The way we commemorate Christmas is not typically Brazilian in some ways. People trying understand how we commemorate Christmas may find it very strange because we only have snow in a very small part of Brassily. In the state of Rio Grande do Sul, which is deep in the southern part of our country, it snows -- but not at Christmas time -- only in July! Even so, we sometimes represent falling snow with little pieces of cotton on pine trees. We also have Santa Claus, but we call him Papai Noel (Father Noel). We say he lives in Greenland, far from us. :) And poor Santa, he usually comes in silk clothing because he would suffer so much from our summer heat in the heavy clothes worn in other countries. It's very warm here even in the winter.

Brazilians are a mix of people from many parts of the world, and as a former Portuguese colony, we have some customs relating to Christmas which originate from this heritage. One of them is to build wonderful "Christmas Scenes." This practice is common in northeastern Brazil (Bahia, Sergipe, Rio Grande do Norte, ParaÌba, Maranh„o, Cear·, Pernambuco, PiauÌ and Alagoas). It's traditionally referred to as a Nativity Scene in other parts of the world. In Brazil, we call it PresÈpio, which originates from a Hebrew origin of the word "presepium" that means the bed of straw in which Jesus first slept after birth. The PresÈpio was introduced in the 17th century, in the city of Olinda in the state of Pernambuco by a Franciscan friar named Gaspar de Santo Agostinho. Nowadays presÈpios are built in December and displayed in churches, houses and stores. In January, they are dismantled.

We've also adopted from cultures melting into our own, many foods commonly associated with Christmas: turkey, colored rice, grape fruits, apples and other special dishes. We eat at midnight serving the children first because they must quickly get to sleep if Papai Noel is to bring them gifts. Local charitable institutions undertake great campaigns to gather donations from people who can afford to give, and are willing to do so. But unhappily, far too many children in Brazil who pray for Santa's gifts will not receive any. Adults exchange presents and happy (merry) Christmas hugs.

Lucio writes:

Christmas is celebrated in my home of Rio de Janeiro It depends, of course, on how much money a family has. However, I can say that even poor find a way to have a modest dinner on the 24th. They also find a way of exchanging gifts, even if they are simple, especially for the children, assuming they aren't street children without a family. Papai Noel (Santa) comes during the night and brings gifts. But here it is hot, very hot when he arrives. He comes appropriately dressed for the occasion with a bag of gifts, boots etc.

I have a big extended family and we normally have a big dinner together. The dinner takes place on December 24th and it starts around 9 PM. The "woman of the house" of every participating household contributes a dish. So we usually have around 10 hot dishes and a many salads, deserts etc. Dinner only ends very late. We exchange gifts around midnight. Curiously, the main dishes are similar to the ones in the US: ham, turkey, nuts, etc. A pretty heavy meal to be eaten in our summer time! As the dinner is normally a party for every family, the adults drink wine and there is always some achievement to be celebrated or someone to be remembered (a dead or an absent person). So, we intermingle our happiness with a minute or two of sadness.

If one is a devout Catholic, he or she goes to the mass at midnight on Christmas Eve. This mass is called "Missa do Galo" (A galo is a rooster). The mass has this name because the rooster announces the coming day and the Missa do Galo finishes at 1 AM Christmas morning! On December 25th, Catholics go to church, but the masses are mostly late afternoon, because people enjoy sleeping late after the dinner (Ceia de Natal) or going to the beach. Of course it's a holiday and, if you're a public servant, the days surrounding it are also holidays.

Marlene writes:

In Brazil we've been sing our own version of "Jingle Bells" for many years. I've never discovered who created it, but it has been recorded. We adults, when children, accept such things without explanation :) Our version is sufficiently different from the American version. It's name is "Bell of BelÈm" ("Belem" is the same as "Bethlehem"). But it is sung to the tune of "Jingle bells." Here then, in Portuguese, is that song: Hoje a noite È bela, juntos eu e ela vamos ‡ capela felizes a rezar! Ao soar o sino, sino pequenino, vem o Deus menino, nos abenÁoar. Toca o sino, pequenino, Sino de BelÈm! J· nasceu Deus menino, para o nosso bem. J· nasceu Deus menino, para o nosso bem. Paz na terra! Toca o sino alegre a cantar AbenÁoe, Deus menino, este nosso LAR [Repeat:] Hoje a noite È bela... etc.

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