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Th
Volume LXII
Number 8
SAL6MIT6
iervlnq tlie Salem co eqe communitq since 19QO
.Dr. William May
Changes in Eductation Candle Tea Emphasizes Christmas Spirit
When Old Salem dedicated its rebuilt Single Brothers Workshop^t offered a
bur-part lecture series to the public, and to Salem students ®
**^d part of the series, labelled Education, was a speech by Dr. WiUiam May
titled “Public Happiness and a Liberal Arts Education.”
In his speech on Nov. 14, Dr. WiUiam May claimed that the sense of coMection
between private and pubUc happiness has been lost in our world today. He
tilustrated his philosophy by discussing a typical pubUc ceremony , a high school
'commencement. Dr. May stated that commencement should be the graduation
from puberty to adulthood, but that this type of change does not occur, because
growing up happens in smaU private steps, not in one large pubhc leap. In ad-
tifrion, he said that personal achievements and growth rarely comcide with
froditional pubUc ceremonies.
To further iUustrate his phUosophy, Dr. May discussed the last three decades,
"Oil the social upheavals in each. In the 50’s, people conformed to conditions, and
had individual, private Uves. However, this conformity changed to
'“ebeUion in the 60’s, when the population withdrew from conventions and tried to
'reate a counter culture by joining and promoting strange rehgions c^ts of
far-away things.” Now, in the 70’s, there is “individuaUstic careerism. We ve
the ME decade.
As a result of these attitude changes. Dr. May feels, education has undergone
»change. In the past, a liberal arts education was designed to create weU-
founded persons, but that philosophy has been lost, and the universities of today
^fcdedicated only to the training of the technicaUy proficient. Education today,
According to Dr. May, represents the decline of civic arts, and reflets the in-
^bstrial trend, because universities are corporate-like environments. Dr. May s
?'>lution to these problems is to insist that education deal more with critical
“'quiry. He feels that citizens deserve more than they are receivmg, and that if
'•’ey were educated with an emphasis on critical inquiry, they could better deal
^ith civic problems. “Critical intelligence,” commented Dr. May, is a social
»ct that teases the mind out of the bottle of private preference and opens it to
'Wic inquiries. Education is not a private deal; the classroom is Puhlic. Dr.
^ay added that, “The library is a commonwealth of learnmg, the critical
^uiry of peers is the parUament of the human mind.” Along with these points
frr- May stressed the idea that people “need places to go ... spaces m whmh to
®^and,” and he emphasized our need to seek help from the past, as at 0
aiem are indeed doing. Ja^c^CoXiet
The Moravian Candle
Tea ceremony began
this past Wednesday
evening. The Candle
Tea has been a tradition
at the Home Moravian
Church since 1929. This
ceremony takes place
each year in the
Brother’s House on
South Main Street
(across from Salem
Square). In earlier
Moravian history, the
Brother’s House was a
workshop and ap
prenticeship house for
the single men in the
community. Here they
learned their trades as
well as their moral and
spiritual disciplines.
The first part of the
ceremony is held in the
Old Chapel, where
Christmas carols are
sung, accompanied by a
classic David Tan-
nenburg organ of
pewter and wood,
Downstairs, one is
exposed to the art of
candlemaking. The
ingredients of these
candles, beeswax and
tallow, are poured into
pewter molds and left to
set form on their own.
The red crepe paper ruff
on the bottom is an
added bit of (Christmas
decoration and spirit.
Beside the old dining
room where these
candles are made is the
Old Brother’s Kitchen,
where German
sugarcake and the
traditional Lovefeast
coffee is served during
the ceremony.
In the cellar is the
■'putz” a word derived
from the German verb
putzen, “to place, to
decorate”. When the
Moravians came to the
New World, they
brought with them
years and years of
traditions. One of these
traditions was the putz-
building at Christmas
time. The first scene is
an accurately scaled
reproduction of Old
Salem as it was in 1860.
The second scene is that
of the Nativity, which
shows the countryside
and town of Bethlehem
as it was the night of
Christ’s birth. Here a
woman dressed in the
style of Old Salem
recites the Christmas
Story. Both scenes are
built in the old meat
cellar of the house and
involve antique hand-
carved wooden
figurines.
The Moravian
tradition is a
preparation for their
celebration of Advent. It
is an inspirational time
of fellowship. It at
tempts to link the past
with the present through
the various stages of the
candle-making, the
putz, and the sugarcake
and coffee. The Candle
Tea emphasizes the
timelessness of the
Christmas spiriL
Sdlem’s Christntds Storygsmsvsstmrnm'
by Missy Littleton
, As the weather begins
turn frosty cold,
^Wes fill their windows
'J'Hh gifts and
J^ecorations, green
J'feaths appear on
I'^ors and decorated
frees are placed in
'*'indows. Santa and his
*‘Ves come out of hiding
*bd we see Rudolph’s
fed nose shining once
*8ain. The Christmas
*®ason is definitely here
*ed as we watch Old
^*lem being decorated,
may wonder how the
Moravians prepared for
pbd celebrated
!;bristmas long ago.
^bis information is
Easily gathered at Old
'‘Mem, Inc.
In general, the
, frfistmas custom of the
ijph century American
Moravians reflected
their German heritage.
These customs were
expressed through the
practices ^ of their
church. On December
24, Christmas Eve, a
childrens 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 un
derstand. 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 Wat
te ville, a young
Moravian minister
living in Germany me!
with the children of his
congregation to tell the
Christmas story. As a
reminder of what he had
told, he gave the
children a lighted
candle tied with the red
ribbon. The flame was
symbolic of Christ’s
love and the red was
susggestive 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 Orman tradition of
building wooden
pyramids decorated
with cookies, fruit
candles and greenery.
Surrounding the
pyramids were pic
tures, illuminated with
candles, of the baby
Jesus and Virgin Mary,
the Bethlehem manger
and the shepherds.
Below the illuminations
the word Children was
written.
Though decorated
trees appeared in
Europe during the 17th
century and in England
and America around
1820, they probably did
not appear in Salem
until 1840 or later.
Occuring about 8:00
that same night.
Christmas Eve, was the
watch service and
Lovefeast. The service
included the reading of
the story of the Birth of
Christ and the singing of
Christmas carols and
hymns. The music came
from the large Hymn
Book which contained
over 2,000 hymns dating
from the early Latin
church to the con
temporary Moravian
church. This service
would last until mid
night.
At an appointed time
during the service,
while the choir sang
anthems, the Lovefeast
was served. Usually the
food offered was simple
and consisted of a
lightly sweetened bun
and coffee served in
mugs with cream and
sugar already stirred in.
When everyone was
served a blessing was
said and the minister
and congregation ate
together.
Christm as Day,
December 25, at dawn
the birthday of the
Saviour was announced
instrumentally, with the
sound of horns filling the
air. Then at 9 a.m. a
Liturgical service for
the confirmed members
of the church was given
with a sermon on the
text of the day.
Preaching services
occurred next at 10 a.m.
This service was usually
held in German and
English for outside
visitors. That afternoon
prayer services were
held for individual
choirs. Around evening
time a service for the
whole congregation was
held. This included
choir music and the
Christmas sermon.
On Christmas Day the
church was decorated
with a few precious
figures which were set
up along with
illuminations of scenes
of Christ’s birth and
beautifully written lines
of scriptures. It has
been concluded that, in
Wachovia, this was the
first “putz” (from the
German word putzen
which originally meant
to decorate and was
usually applied to the
decorating churches.)
With the coming of the
Christmas seasMi, Old
Salem, Inc. has been
busy decorating the
restored area and
planning seasonal ac
tivities depicting the old
time Moravian
Christmas. It will be fun
to imagine ourselves
back in the 18th century
as we walk through
decorative Old Salem
and early await the
Holidays.