Greater Europe Mission

In Austria (and across most of Europe), Advent—the four weeks before Christmas—is known as “the quietest time of the year,” a season of waiting and reflection; as Israel waited long years for the Messiah, so Austrians replicate this time of waiting. Despite the inroads of commercialism, even today pious Austrians quietly contemplate during Advent the coming of the Christ Child and its meaning for their lives.

Christmas festivities in Spain are very religious and steeped in Catholic tradition. In the weeks leading up to Christmas, many people in small towns try to turn their villages into Bethlehem. Each evening, for the entire week before Christmas, townspeople dress up like characters that one would have seen during the time of Jesus’ birth. Many business owners participate as well, turning their small shops into shops from the time of Christ (for example, you might see a blacksmith making horseshoes). The children in the village play games that children in Bethlehem may have played, and you might even see Roman soldiers on patrol!