Our angels playing the tambourine are 3.5 inches long. The angels playing the tambourine hang from a 3 inch loop of gold cord. The angels playing the tambourine have white wings with iridescent glitter. The angels playing the tambourine are wearing a white, long sleeved dress with gold around the cuffs of the sleeves and the hem and iridescent glitter. The angels playing the tambourine are playing a tambourine as she stands on a cottony white cloud with two small gold stars. The angels playing the tambourine have golden brown hair with a gold halo.
The Little Drummer Boy.
A song written in 1941 as “Carol of the Drum” by Katherine Kennicott Davis who was a composer of hymns and operettas. It was taken and slightly altered by another publisher and became a hit in 1959 under its now widely accepted title. Davis later sued and won authorship.
St. Lucia.
Saint Lucia was a Christian virgin of Catania, Sicily, who was martyred in the persecutions of the late third century. After various travels, her relics ended up in Venice, where the song Santa Lucia is in the repertoire of singing gondoliers to this day.
Angels.
Literally messengers, these emissaries of God 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.
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.”
The Star.
The star symbolizes the star that appeared, quite miraculously, in the eastern sky on the birth of Jesus Christ. The star is believed to have guided shepherds and the magi, who were the three wise men from the East, to the newborn king.
One wonders whether the star that shined that night was any different from those of today.
The star was indeed a strange star and people continue to believe that a miracle occurred at the birth of Christ.
The Christmas star continues to adorn the churches and houses as part of the traditional Christmas celebrations. The star stands for high hopes and ideals, a hope for a good fortune and to reach above oneself.
The Christmas Rose.
Christmas Rose is an English plant that is regarded as a true Christmas flower. It is sometimes called the Snow or Winter Rose. It blooms in the depths of winter in the mountains of Central Europe. Legend links it with the birth of Christ and a modest shepherd maiden named Madelon. As Madelon tended her sheep one cold and wintry night, wise men and other shepherds passed by the snow-covered field, where she was, with their gifts for the Christ Child. The wise men carried the rich gifts of gold, myrrh and frankincense and the shepherds, fruits, honey and doves. Poor Madelon began to weep at the thought of having nothing to offer, not even a simple flower for the Newborn King, as she was very poor indeed. And as she stood there weeping, an angel saw her sorrow, and brushed aside the snow at her feet to reveal a most beautiful white flower tipped with pink, the Christmas rose.