La Madonnina, La Befana & Babbo Natale

~ The holy trinity of present bringers ~

    As I sit here sipping on limoncello and nibbling biscotti, I am thinking to myself that it’s time for another blog post. So why not tell you about la Madonnina, la Befana and Babbo Natale?… this time of year in Italy you’d hear quite a few people name-dropping these illustrious personages… but just who are these three characters, and what do they have to do with an Italian Christmas?

     While they certainly are not the holy trinity, we could perhaps group them together as a trinity of Christmas gift bringers — that’s at least one thing that they do all have in common.
     La Madonnina, meaning little Madonna, is the nickname of the Virgin Mary, especially common in Milan. La Madonnina is also the name of the golden statue of the Virgin Mary that adorns the top of Milan’s majestic Duomo cathedral, both characteristic symbols of the city.

     La Madonnina, or the Virgin Mary, has her own special national holiday — L’Immacolata Concezione (the Immacolate Conception) — on December 8th, observed throughout Italy. Though this day is not actually associated with Christmas, it ushers in the holiday season, much like Thanksgiving does in the U.S.

    La Befana is a character of a much less saintly appearance. A much-loved icon of Italian folklore, she is depicted as a grandmotherly figure riding a broom, wearing a shawl and covered in soot. Lore has it that la Befana zips in and out of chimneys on the eve of the Epiphany (Jan. 6) delivering little presents (candy, fruit, etc) to good children and coal to the naughty ones.

     The advent of  Babbo Natale in Italy, known as Santa Claus in English (and translating literally to Daddy Christmas), was likely inspired by American GIs dressed up as Santa in Italy during WWII. This makes Babbo Natale a relatively new player on the Italian Christmas scene. Prior to Babbo Natale, the main bringer of presents in Italy was la Befana, and the goodies were delivered after Christmas, on January 6th*. Many older Italians in fact, only recall presents being brought on Epiphany, when they would hang up their calze (stockings) for the old lady to fill during the night.

(*Epiphany is when the three wise men are to have arrived in Bethlehem. This holiday ushers out the Christmas season in Italy.)

     Babbo Natale therefore is somewhat of an interloper… and while the tradition of la Befana is alive and well in Italy, the Babbo has certainly supplanted her in many homes, where only Babbo Natale comes on the night between the 24th and 25th. Though some lucky kids get regali (gifts) from both Santa and la Befana… kind of  the way some kids in the U.S. hang up a stocking for St. Nicholas on the 6th or 7th of December and also get presents from Santa.

     And there you have the three Italian Christmas gift bringers: La Befana brings the sweets and the treats, Babbo Natale brings the regali, and la Madonnina brings perhaps the most important gift of all — il Gesu Bambino (the Baby Jesus).

     Oh, and I almost forgot … another really cool thing that they all have in common is that they all have songs dedicated to them!

“Oh Mia Bella Madunina“

(Video with nice pictures of Milano, subtitles in Milanese)

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“Santa Claus Is Coming to Town“, Michael Bublé

“La Befana Vien di Notte“ is nursery rhyme Italian children  learn.

La Befana vien di notte
Con le scarpe tutte rotte
Col vestito alla romana
Viva, Viva La Befana!

English translation

The Befana comes by night
With her shoes all tattered and torn
She comes dressed in the Roman way
Long live the Befana!

     I wasn’t able to find a video of the Befana song, but I did find this entertaining storyteller recounting the “Befana’s Italian Christmas Story,” filmed at Epcot in Disney World.

Had you heard of la Befana before? Got any good Befana stories? Who’s più simpatico (more charming), la Befana or Babbo Natale? Love, love, love your comments!

Buone feste e buon Natale! (Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas!)