Happy Berchtoldstag!

Berchtoldstag is a holiday celebrated in Switzerland and Liechtenstein on Jan. 2. It celebrates Duke Berchtold V and the founding of Bern. 

Beyond its historical meaning, the feast day may allude to the word “berchten” which means to walk around asking for food. It’s also possible that it alludes to a word from the Middle High German “berhttac,” which means epiphany. The holiday seems to have taken hold in areas where Protestantism abolished the traditional celebration of Epiphany. So Berchtoldstag can serve as a sort of a replacement New Year / Epiphany celebration.  

Gatherings, folk dancing, and feasts are traditional ways to celebrate. There is also a large focus on eating nuts and nut-based activities. Children make hocks, four nuts placed together with a fifth placed on top.

In Hallwil, there is a parade which includes characters: the jumpfere dressed in white, the spielchärtler wearing a robe of playing cards, a character wearing holly or fir branches or straw, an old woman who sprays water from a pan, and the schnäggehüüslig wearing a snail shell.

I had never heard of this holiday until about a month ago. It sounds like a light-hearted, fun holiday.

Seasonal Sarum Blue

Around Advent, you see lots of purple, with a streak of pink. That’s the liturgical color, and Advent wreaths with their purple/pink candles are the to-go symbol of the season.

But not everyone uses purple. Liturgical colors somewhat varied for centuries, as local meanings and available colors greatly differed. Purple, now liturgically associated with penance, was often associated with royalty because it was so expensive to produce. Worthy of the Kings of Kings, but hard to acquire for parish celebrations.

In the sixteenth century, Pope Pius V made some reforms, including streamline the colors: white, gold, red, violet, purple, green, black. But even as purple for Advent/Lent became more adopted, there was a wide range of shades used, based on what was available in different areas. Some were reddish violent and others were blueish indigo.

In medieval England, blue was very common. Salisbury Cathedral used a distinct dark blue, named Sarum blue after the Latin for Salisbury. In the nineteenth century, there was a revival of pre-Reformation traditions, and some Anglicans, Episcopalians, and Lutherans adopted the Sarum blue.

The dark blue represents the night sky, waiting from the light of Christ. Blue is also traditionally associated with Mary, so having a blue for Advent is a reminder that the season focuses on Mary and her bringing Christ into the world in the flesh.

I think the use of a different liturgical color is fascinating (it probably helps that it’s a pretty shade). The meaning attached to colors affects how we see the season: blue reminds us of Mary where purple reminds us of the King; blue reminds us of the coming Light where purple reminds us to prepare from that Coming. Color can affect our understanding and our attitudes. Our worship should be deliberate and have meaning. Often it’s unconscious, but liturgy should affect us—teach us, guide us, help us to worship.

Monday Motivation: Advent's Intention

 "Advent is concerned with that very connection between memory and hope which is so necessary to man. Advent’s intention is to awaken the most profound and basic emotional memory within us, namely, the memory of the God who became a child. This is a healing memory; it brings hope. The purpose of the Church's year is continually to rehearse her great history of memories, to awaken the heart's memory so that it can discern the star of hope." - Pope Benedict XVI