ABOUT THE ART
A young child stairs into a lit candle during a Christmas Eve service at First United Methodist Church of Pensacola. Founded in 1821, First United Methodist Church in Pensacola is the oldest Methodist Church in Florida and the oldest protestant church in the region. Photo taken by Jeb Hunt.
Christmas Eve – December 24th
Christmas Eve, December 24th, is the last day of Advent. Because it is a penitential season, Christmas Eve Day has always been one of fasting. The fast is broken with Christmas Eve Communion during a candle lighting service. The rhythm seems strange, but Christian holidays always begin with the evening prior. So Christmas begins on Christmas Eve and All Saints begins on Halloween (All Saints Eve). This comes from the ancient Hebrew way of keeping time. The creation story in Genesis 1 lays out the pattern saying, “It was evening, it was morning; the first day.”
The ancient custom for the last seven days of Advent was to sing and pray the O Antiphons. They are introductory prayers to the Magnificat (Mary’s Prayer, From Luke 1) that call on Christ with different names. The names are: O Wisdom, O Lord, O Root of Jesse, O Key of David, O Dayspring (dawn), O King of Nations, and O Emmanuel (God with us). These prayers were eventually used to write the verses to the most famous Advent hymn: “O Come, O Come Emmanuel.”
For Christmas Eve, we recommend the coastal Italian tradition—The Feast of Seven Fishes. This tradition embraces the fasting practice. It is not a feast proper, but it is still festive. While not originally tied to the seven O Antiphons, we find that the seven seafood dishes are a great way of sharing the meaning of the heart of Advent and the longing for Christ.
Our family loves singing, so we like singing each of the seven verses as each of the seven platters of seafood are presented. In order, to serve so many different kinds of seafood, it is important to make as many of them easy. Anchovies and sardines and other easy seafood may help. Here are seven of our recommendations.
Feast of the Seven Fishes
The Feast of the Seven Fishes, also known as Festa dei Sette Pesci in Italian, is a traditional Christmas Eve meal that originated in Southern Italy and is now celebrated by Italian-American families throughout the United States. As the name suggests, the meal typically includes seven different seafood dishes, although the number of dishes can vary depending on family traditions.