For Italians, Christmas has always been something more than just a party. It is a time full of the scent of home, family and traditions that persist over the years. And for those who live abroad, this feeling becomes even more intense: Christmas is transformed into an emotional anchor, a way to remain tied to its roots even when it is located thousands of kilometers from Italy.
This is why this year, as the Italian Community of New York, we will be celebrating in the warm and familiar spaces of the Basilica of Old St. Patrick, a place that for many of us has become over time a second home. At the centre of everything will be the traditional Midnight Mass in the Italian language of the Christmas Eve, celebrated inside the historic sanctuary that for generations silently watches over our community.
Before Mass, Old St. Patrick will open its doors for a shared dinner on the Vigil, especially for those who will stay in the city instead of returning to Italy. It will be a simple, intimate and deeply Italian evening: a long table, everyone who brings something from their own kitchen, and the time spent together with children and young people. There will be the tombola, the songs of once and all those little rituals capable of bringing the warmth of Italian Christmas in the heart of Manhattan.
And the celebrations won’t end here. On 6 January we will return to Old St. Patrick for the Epiphany Mass. A few days later, on January 11, we will host the Cantata dei Pastori, interpreted by artists who arrived directly from Italy, which will bring to New York a piece of our popular tradition. There is also a Christmas meeting dedicated to young adults, an opportunity to get to know each other, rediscover and share the beauty of our community in one of the most significant periods of the year.
But all this does not want to be just a sequence of events. It is an invitation to rediscover the authentic heart of Christmas: a God who comes close, who enters our history and reminds us that no one is really alone, not even in a big and fast city like New York.
My wish is that every Italian who lives here can find in Old St. Patrick a place he knows about the house. And that this Christmas time helps us to find that simple and constant light that keeps us united, wherever life has brought us.
L’articolo Christmas in New York: a tradition that unites us comes from IlNewyorkese.
