Nativity Façade Window, La Sagrada Família, Barcelona.
From the Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem - possibly the oldest continuously operating church in the world - to the Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família, Barcelona, Catalonia, hopefully to be finished 21 years from now.
Don’t be too surprised if the building takes longer though; Antoni Gaudí who started on the project in 1883 is said to have joked, “My client is not in a hurry”.
The Nativity façade is one of the three grand facades, the others being designated Passion and Glory. Gaudí’s style has been called modernist, neo-medieval-nationalist and biological amongst others, but it is certainly unique, often utilising strange accretions of similar, yet different, elements, reminding people of bones, vegetation, coral or drip sandcastles.
I would suggest that what makes the style so “organic” is that it wears its evolution on its sleeve, so to speak. From the macro to the micro level it is a reflection of decisions, changes of mind, false starts, solutions, new ideas, co-options, imperfect repetitions, divergent goals, strains, errors, losses, destructions, reconstructions, jokes, misunderstandings, insights, reinterpretations, compromises and elegant solutions – all grounded in the immanent, and straining for the transcendent.
The same kinds of forces act on all human societies and traditions. Gaudí started the basilica and worked on it for over 40 years, almost exclusively for the last 15 years of his life. His plans and models were destroyed in the Spanish Civil War. Though work has continued under other architects, the end result would not be as he expected. But then, had he supervised the construction through its nearly 150 year length, it would still not have been what he expected, for he had chosen an evolutionary path, not one of predestined design.
A popular Spanish tradition that displays particularly unique features in Catalonia is the ever popular Nativity Scene.
The concept of the nativity scene was allegedly invented by St Francis of Assisi.
It happened in the third year before his death, that in order to excite the inhabitants of Grecio to commemorate the nativity of the Infant Jesus with great devotion, [St. Francis] determined to keep it with all possible solemnity; and lest he should be accused of lightness or novelty, he asked and obtained the permission of the sovereign Pontiff. Then he prepared a manger, and brought hay, and an ox and an ass to the place appointed. The brethren were summoned, the people ran together, the forest resounded with their voices, and that venerable night was made glorious by many and brilliant lights and sonorous psalms of praise. The man of God stood before the manger, full of devotion and piety, bathed in tears and radiant with joy; the Holy Gospel was chanted by Francis, the Levite of Christ. Then he preached to the people around the nativity of the poor King; and being unable to utter His name for the tenderness of His love, He called Him the Babe of Bethlehem. A certain valiant and veracious soldier, Master John of Grecio, who, for the love of Christ, had left the warfare of this world, and become a dear friend of this holy man, affirmed that he beheld an Infant marvellously beautiful, sleeping in the manger, Whom the blessed Father Francis embraced with both his arms, as if he would awake Him from sleep. This vision of the devout soldier is credible, not only by reason of the sanctity of him that saw it, but by reason of the miracles which afterwards confirmed its truth. For example of Francis, if it be considered by the world, is doubtless sufficient to excite all hearts which are negligent in the faith of Christ; and the hay of that manger, being preserved by the people, miraculously cured all diseases of cattle, and many other pestilences; God thus in all things glorifying his servant, and witnessing to the great efficacy of his holy prayers by manifest prodigies and miracles.
Life of St. Francis of Assisi - St. Bonaventure
The nativity scene remains extremely popular with many Christian denominations all over the world, having been altered and adapted by different forces everywhere. Through most of Castellano-speaking Spain the nativity scene is known as the Nacimiento (birth or birthplace), or Belén (Bethlehem), but in Catalunya it is more commonly known as the pessebre (manger). The unique feature added to the pessebre in Catalonia is the caganer (literally shitter), a little shepherd figure in a red Catalan barretina cap, often hidden among the other figures, squatting and emptying his bowels. More modern versions include all kinds of famous people, local politicians, sports stars, even George Bush. See http://www.caganer.com/ for all your caganer needs.
But is this just a lowbrow joke, or, as some profess, is it a scatological Catalonian ‘where’s Wally’ to keep the kids amused. Does such a profane element serve a ‘sacred’ purpose? Or is it just a case of, to paraphrase Freud, sometimes a poo is just a poo? It is however often claimed that the caganer is a symbol of fertilization, or to return to Freud, the most elementary form of ‘gift’. A friend has suggested that it is a symbol of the full participation of the Godhead as human incarnation – a concrete example of the Athanasian Creed:
…the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ.
For the right Faith is that we believe and confess: that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and Man;
God, of the Substance of the Father, begotten before the worlds: and Man, of the Substance of his Mother, born in the world
(Church of England Book of Common Prayer, 1662).
That would be interesting, since the Athanasian Creed was specifically designed as a counter to Arianism, and the majority of early Spanish Christians were Arians. In fact, it has been proposed that Spanish support for, and ease of adaptation to, the Moorish conquest of Spain in the 8th Century was due to many Arians feeling more closely aligned with the monotheistic Islamic Moors than with their Trinitarian Visigothic overlords, whom they considered heretics. Which proves yet again that yesterday’s heresy is tomorrow’s orthodoxy (and vice versa).
Many of the distinctive features of Calatan language and culture are due to the fact that the area was only briefly controlled by the Moors, being swiftly recaptured by the Frankish kings, and retaining a loose independence as a buffer between the Franks and Moors for several centuries.
But on to today’s treat, great for the hot weather and al fresco lifestyle.
Sangria
1 bottle of red wine, young and fruity
1.25 litre mix lemonade/soda water to taste
Dash triple sec
Dash brandy
Dash dry vermouth
Dash bitters
Citrus juice of choice 1 lime or ½ lemon or ½ orange
Chopped fruit; traditionally apple and citrus but you can use others to taste
For best results allow the fruit to macerate some hours in the wine in the fridge. You can also add a cinnamon stick and/or a clove or two.
If you’ve planned ahead you can make ice cubes of wine/lemonade/sangria beforehand to keep the drinks cool without watering them down.
For a genuine Catalonian feel use Torres Sangre de Toro for the wine and go heavy on the spirits, they like it strong.
You can also use white wine for a sangria blanco. In the south they use white wine or cava (Spanish champagne) and peaches or nectarines for the fruit, for a kind of Iberian bellini known as zurracapote or zurra. Salut!
The other great scatological Catalonian Christmas tradition is the Tió de Nadal or Christmas Log. This is a log on little wooden legs, hollowed out at one end, with a face painted on and often topped off with a natty barretina. Food is left out for the log during Advent, much like the treats left out for Santa and his reindeer, this sometimes causes him to grow in size as time progresses. He is kept warm by covering his body with a red blanket.
On Christmas Day the tió is brought out (formerly placed in the fireplace) and the children beat it with sticks, like a piñata, while singing. An imperative line from the songs has given the tió its other name, Caga Tió (Poo Log). The beating forces the tió to expel turrons (nougats), dried fruit, nuts and candies. The tió sometimes indicates its exhaustion by finally producing a salted fish.
Tió tió caga turrons no cadis arangades que son masa salades caga turrons que son mes bons.
Log, log, poo turrons, not fish, because they are too salty, give us turrons, they are much better.