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Volume LXI
Salem College, Winston-Salem, N.C., Friday, Decembers, 1978
Numbers
Christmas in
Old Salem
by Missy Littleton
Photos courtesy of Old Salem Restoration, Inc.
As the weather begins to
turn frosty cold, stores fill
their windows with gifts and
decorations, green wreaths
appear on doors and
decorated trees are placed
in windows. Santa and his
elves come out of hiding and
we see Rudolph’s red nose
shining once again. The
Christmas season is
definitely here and as we
watch Old Salem being
decorated, we may wonder
how the Moravians prepared
for and celebrated Christmas
long ago. This information is
easily gathered at Old Salem,
Inc.
In general, the Christmas
custom of the 18th century
American Moravians
reflected their German
heritage. These customs were
expressed through the
practices of their church. On
December 24, Christmas Eve,
a children’s Love Feast
commenced at about 5 or 6
p.m. This service consisted of
Scriptures and music related
to Christ’s birth. The songs
and passages were delivered
on a level the children would
understand. They were asked
simple questions concerning
the birth and life of Christ.
Then each child received
gifts, usually an apple, a
piece of ginger cake and a
colorfully written Christmas
verse. Finally, each child was
■given a lighted candle with a
red ribbon tied around it.
They would walk home
through the darkened town
with the candle still burning.
The tradition of the
Children’s Lovefeast dates
back to 1747 when Johannes
Vor Watteville, a young
Moravian minister living in
Germany met with the
children of his congregation
to tell the Christmas storyAs
a reminder of what he had
told, he gave the children a
lighted candle tied with the
red ribbon. The f'ame was
symbolic of Ch."ist’s love and
the red was suggestive of the
cost Christ paid for their
redemption. Today the
candle represents the light
that came into the world with
Christ’s birth.
Apparently the 18th century
Moravians had not adopted
the customs of decorating the
Christmas tree as we know it
today. But there are
references made to the
German tradition of building
wooden pyramids decorated
with cookies, f 'uit candles
and greenery. Surrounding
the pyramids were pictures,
Cont'd. on four
Moravian
hand
rings
in
Christmas
cheer.
(See related
story p. 4)