This ornament is about 4½ inches tall and 3¾ inches wide. The background shows a country scene with a church and winding road leading up to it. The scene is framed by a gold archway with two Angels hovering near to protect all mankind. Select this link to view our Nativity Ornaments.
Angels.
Angels are emissaries of God who play an important role in the Nativity and subsequent Christmas celebrations through the ages. It is the angel Gabriel, who begins the Nativity story by his appearance in ancient Palestine to announce a remarkable pair of births. To an elderly couple, beyond the normal years of parenthood, he announces that they will have a son who is to be called John (later known as the Baptist). To a young virgin, Mary, kin to the first couple, Gabriel announces that she has found favor with God and will bear a child engendered by the Holy Spirit. In order that Joseph, Mary’s betrothed, does not repudiate her, the angel fills him in on the divine secret. When, at length, the child is born in Bethlehem, a great host of angels announces the news to shepherds in nearby fields. When the local ruler, Herod, appears bent on murdering the child, an angel warns the family to flee to Egypt and advises them later that it is safe to return. Select this link to view our Nativity Christmas Ornaments.
Angels have long been symbols of Christmas in the form of ornaments, especially as tree toppers. Christmas cookies are baked in angel shapes. In Lithuania the traditional wafer is termed bread of the angels. They have always been a popular theme on Christmas cards and are indispensable in manger scenes where they hover over the stable. Henry Suso dreamt that angels came to comfort him, took him by the hand and led him in a dance while one sang “In Dolci Jubilo.” When he woke he wrote the music down in the form of a carol which became “Good Christian Men Rejoice”. Angels have been the subject of Christmas music in many lands, particularly in their role as annunciators of the birth of Jesus to the shepherds. From France came Les Anges Dans Nos Campagnes, which has been translated into English as “Angels From The Realms of Glory.” From Moravia we have “Angels and Shepherds.” From England, “Angels We Have Heard on High“, “Hark The Herald Angels Sing“, and “While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks By Night.” American angel carols include “It Came Upon The Midnight Clear.” Select this link to view our Nativity Scene with Angel.
Angels.
Christmas pageantry would not be nearly so colorful without the presence of angels. Countless girls and boys have been clothed in white robes for their part in the seasonal dramas staged by churches and schools. Angels accompany street processions reenacting the journey to Bethlehem in Latin America and the Philippines. In Europe they are part of the Star Boy groups, which go from door to door. Select this link to view our Nativity Figurines.
According to an Irish legend the Virgin Mary sends angels each Christmas Eve to awaken children and take them to heaven to sing a carol to the Christ Child. Such children are then returned to their beds and are accounted lucky for the rest of their lives. In Europe angels often accompany the gift bringer and advise which children have been naughty or nice. Select this link to view our Nativity Scene Sets.