Christmas stories seen through children's eyes Christmas in the countries of Europe | Page 5

(Holy Evening or Heiliger Abend). [69]:68–79 The Christkind is invisible; thus he is never
seen by anyone. However, he rings a bell just before he leaves in order to let children
know that the Christmas tree and the presents are ready.
It is a tradition to lavishly decorate a Christmas tree in the days directly before Christmas
or on the morning of Christmas Eve. On late Christmas Eve, after the bell rings, the tree is
shown to the children and presents are exchanged.
In Protestant churches, there is a service in the late afternoon intended to immediately
precede the Christmas Eve meal and the exchanging of gifts. This service,
called Christvesper, consists most often of scriptural readings, the Christmas Gospel from
Luke 2, a Krippenspiel(nativity play), favourite Christmas carols and festive music for
organ and choirs. In some regions the tradition of Quempas singing is still popular. Some
Lutheran churches also celebrate a candlelight service at midnight besides the Christmas
Vespers in the afternoon or early evening.
Many Catholic churches also have a first Mass of Christmas, called Christmette, on
"Heiliger Abend" about 4 p.m. for the children and parents to attend before the families
return home for their meal. The crib is a very important part of the celebrations in Catholic
areas especially Bavaria.
I
n the largely Roman Catholic Poland, Christmas Eve begins with a day of fasting and
then a night of feasting. The
Christmas
meal
as Wigilia ("The Vigil"),
is known
and being
traditional
invited
to