A happy feast day on this the twelfth and last day of the Long Christmas! There is a brief article about forgotten customs of Epiphany on One Peter Five, to which I shall direct you attention. I also draw you attention to another article on the same sight, explaining the custom of chalking the doors on Epiphany, and gives the little ritual for doing so. The article on forgotten customs listed and event I had never heard of before-- the Precession of the Magi on the Clock Tower of Venice. There is a decent article about the this event here, and a video at the end, that plays through serval occurrences of this event. I love the little touch of the Kings doffing their crowns to the Madonna and Child.
For this feast day, I am offering a version of What Child Is This from a concert by Apollo's Fire. Generally, this carol is sung to the tune of Greensleeves, but in this performance, it is sung to an old Irish tune called, My Lagan Love. It is very beautiful, and I like it:
Indeed, the entire Celtic Christmas Vespers performance is worth taking a listen of. For people like me who have managed to collect rather an encompassing range of carols-- including quite a number from a various Gaelic traditions-- all of this music sounds "Christmas" to me, as I have heard all of them before, mixed in with other, more common carols. Yet, even for people to whom most or all of these songs are new, it is very lovely, very joyful, and a fitting way to close out Christmas and head into the season of Epiphany.
Today is the feast of Candlemas, the beautiful feast that finishes the Christmas season. It ends as it begins, with the beautiful homage of the Light. In traditional Catholic liturgy, beeswax candles are bless on this day, and distributed, lighted, to the congregation. It is a simple ceremony, but the prayers that at said to bless the candles are very beautiful:
V. The Lord be with you.
R. And With your spirit.
1st Prayer: O holy Lord Father almighty, eternal God, who didst create all things out of nothing, and by Thy command didst cause this liquid to come by the labor of bees to the perfection of wax; and on this day didst fulfill the petition of the just man Simeon, we humbly beseech Thee, that by the invocation of Thy most holy name, and by the intercession of blessed Mary ever virgin, whose festival is this day devoutly celebrated, and by the prayers of all Thy saints, Thou wouldst vouchsafed to bless + and sanctify + these candles for the use of men, and the health of bodies and souls whether upon the earth, or on the waters; and wouldst hear from Thy holy heaven, and from the seat of Thy majesty, the voices of this Thy people, who desire to bear them with honor in their hands, and to praise Thee with hymnals, whom Thou has redeemed with the precious blood of Thy Son; who lives and reigns with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end.
R. Amen.
2nd Prayer: O almighty and everlasting God, who didst this day present Thy only-begotten Son to be received in the arms of holy Simeon in Thy holy temple; we humbly implore Thy clemency, that Thou wouldst vouchsafe to bless +, sanctify +, and kindle with the light of heavenly benediction these candles, which we Thy servants receiving desire to carry lighted to magnify Thy name; that by offering them to Thee, the Lord our God, being worthily inflamed with the holy fire of Thy most sweet charity, we may deserve to be presented in the holy temple of Thy glory. Though the same our Lord...
R. Amen.
3rd Prayer: O Lord Jesus Christ, the true light, who enlightenest every man coming into this world, pour forth Thy blessing + upon these candles, and sanctify + them with the light of Thy grace; and mercifully grant, that as these lights enkindled with visible fire dispel the darkness of night, so our hearts illumined by invisible fire, that is, the brightness of the Holy Spirit, may be free from the blindness of every sin; that the eye of our minds being purified, we may be able to discern what is pleasing to Thee and conducive to our salvation; so that after the perilous darkness of this life we may deserve to arrive at never-failing light. Through Thee, Christ Jesus, Saviour of the world, who in perfect Trinity livest and reignest God, world without end.
R. Amen.
4th Prayer: O almighty, everlasting God, who didst command the purest oil to be prepared by Thy servant Moses to keep lamps continually before Thee; graciously pour forth the grace of Thy blessing + upon these candles; they may so afford external light, that by Thy gift the light of Thy Spirit may not fail interiorly in our minds. Through our Lord Jesus Christ...in the unity of the same Holy Spirit....
R. Amen.
5th Prayer: O Lord Jesus Christ, who appearing this day among men in the substance of our flesh, and wast presented by Thy parents in the temple; whom the venerable and aged Simeon, enlightened by the light of Thy Spirit, recognized, received, and blessed: mercifully grant, that enlightened and taught by the grace of the same Holy Spirit, we may truly acknowledge Thee, and faithfully love Thee; who with God the Father in the unity of the same Holy Spirit livest and reignest God, world without end.
R. Amen.
There is a procession with those lighted candles, and in theory, they are supposed to be held, lighted, throughout the entire Mass. I have had the privilege of attending Candlemas only once in my life, when I was 15, and attending a little school away from home. I loved the candlelight so very much, and I remember that it pierced me with the sharp, sweet joy of Christmas, even though it had been a month since I had been home, and celebrating. I wanted to keep my candle going all the way through Mass, but the smoke from all those hundreds of little lights set off the fire alarm, and we all had to blow them out. I was unbelievably annoyed at that fire alarm, and (not for the last time in my life) I thought a trifle bitterly how very unromantic modernity is. Who cares if flaming candles are unsafe? The glory of them is more than worth the risk.
I am posting the following video of the blessing of the candles, so that you can read the prayers along with the chant they go to. (And for any of the Tolkienists who may be reading this-- yes, this is the Birmingham Oratory which the young Tolkien attended. No I did not chose this video for that reason. It was the first video to come up, and if it happens to have a Tolkien connection to it, well so much the sweeter.)
And, I am also going to recommend that you go to this website for a full description of the blessing and procession of the candles; that you go to this website for a bit of information on the feast day itself, and the customs that go with it; and that you take the time to listen to this very short, and beautiful sermon for this feast day.
Posting that Chieftains song yesterday reminded me that they did a second Christmas album that sounds not a thing like their first. Silent Night: A Christmas in Rome has a more classical, and Italian flavour to it-- though, of course, infused with a solidly Celtic vibe; sort of pan-Celtic, as there is a Breton carol on there, and some of the musical tones sound somewhat Galician to me. (Both of those are Celtic region in Mediterranean countries: France and Spain respectively).
I have decided to highlight a song from that album tonight, the Overture for the whole recording, but it is, properly speaking, merely a traditional Italian carol, set to orchestration. You are getting it for a couple reasons. The first is that it struck me that a carol outside of the Anglo/Germanic tradition might be nice for a chance. The second is that this particular tune is a special favourite of mine.* The words and melody were written by St. Alphonsus Liguori. When sung, the titles is Tu Scendi delle Stelle, but the tune is also strongly associated with Italian pipers, and so it is also known as Canzone de Zampognari-- or the Piper's Carol. This arrangement-- lushly orchestrated as it is-- makes room for the traditional bagpipes, and the Choir of the Basilica of S. Giovanni in Laterano give us the sung version, which run as follows:
1. Tu scendi dalle stelle,
O Re del Cielo,
e vieni in una grotta,
al freddo al gelo.
O Bambino mio Divino
Io ti vedo qui a tremar,
O Dio Beato
Ahi, quanto ti costò
l'avermi amato!
2. A te, che sei del mondo
il Creatore,
mancano panni e fuoco;
O mio Signore!
Caro eletto Pargoletto,
Quanto questa povertà
più mi innamora!
Giacché ti fece amor
povero ancora!
1. From starry skies descending,
Thou comest, glorious King,
A manger low Thy bed,
In winter's icy sting;
O my dearest Child most holy,
Shudd'ring, trembling in the cold!
Great God, Thou lovest me!
What suff'ring Thou didst bear,
That I near Thee might be!
2. Thou art the world's Creator,
God's own and true Word,
Yet here no robe, no fire
For Thee, Divine Lord.
Dearest, fairest, sweetest Infant,
Dire this state of poverty.
The more I care for Thee,
Since Thou, O Love Divine,
Will'st now so poor to be
* Why is this a special favourite you ask? Well, after all it is called Canzone de Zampognari and how can a piper not like a carol associated particularly with the pipes? But there is another reason as well: when I first started playing bagpipes (the Scottish ones, of course) my Auntie Ginia (an Italian great aunt) told me that her great grandfather, back in Italy, had played bagpipes. Indeed the Abruzzi region where the Italian side of the family comes from, has a strong piping tradition, which makes me feel like I am carrying on that tradition, for all I am on Highland pipes, rather than Italian ones. Furthermore, there is an Italian legend of a Christmas piper playing for Our Lady on the night Christ was born, and while this obviously is not the tune that would have been played, it puts me in mind of that legend as well, and makes me rather proud of being a piper.
This post is later than I intended, as matters (both weighty and enjoyable) intervened, and I was not so efficient with my day as I meant to be. I have an Italian's priority: when I ventured out into the mad,frozen, treacherous world (we had snow, followed by rain, followed by a wee bit more snow, and then a hard freeze) to brave the crowds of ski-crazy visitors to our fair city, I remembered basil and tomatoes, apple cider and chestnuts. I forgot the sand bags, which can be got for free, and which I should have grabbed in anticipation of yet more rain, on top of yet more snow, in a place already half-flooded from the first taste of such a mix.
But ah well. It is the last day of the Long Christmas, and it seems good to finish off with another quote from The Christmas Chronicle, this time concerning the Magi:
The ancient "Calendar of Saints" from Cologne offers, for the year 54 AD, the following interesting account of the Magi who visited the Infant Jesus at Bethlehem: "After thy had undergone many trials and fatigues for the Gospels, the three Wise Men met at Sewa in the year of Our Lord 54, where they celebrated the feast of Christmas in common; whereupon, after the celebration of the Mass, they died."
Tradition ascribes their deaths to martyrdom. That excellent website, "Hymns and Carols of Christmas" has a good deal of information concerning the Magi in the notes for "We Three Kings." You should definitely scroll down and read it.
Lastly, this antiphon from the Christmas Mass, in the Byzantine Rite:
Your Nativity, O Christ our God, has shed the light of knowledge upon the world. Through it, those who had been star-worshipers, learned through a star to worship You, O Sun of Justice, and to recognize in You the One who rises and who comes from on high. O Lord, glory to You!
I very seldom buy things on a whim. Generally, if I am spending money on something, it is because I need it, or (after a good deal of thought) have decided that I would like to own the thing. Books are one of the few exceptions to this - especially of they are selling for a good price. A Christmas Chronicle by Aloysius Horn was one such impulse buy. It was for sale for $7.00 and I figured it was worth that to have some Christmas reading. It was an excellent investment - a rather delightful mishmash of legends, traditions, and historical tidbits about the celebration of Christmas, from the early days of Christendom, to fairly modern times. They are all short little articles - seldom more than a page, often merely a few paragraphs, but they make for fascinating reading. One of the little stories concerned a certain Saint Romanus the Melodist. (First of all - the Melodist?!? How cool a title is that? How can you not like Saint Romanus right off, with that title attached to the end of his name?) I shall give the story in full:
To the last part of the 5th century and the first part of the 6th belongs St. Romanus the Melodist, who has been called the greatest of the Greek hymn writrs. 80 of his hymns have survived to our day. He was a Syrian Jew who when quite young, converted to the Christian faith. Later, he became a decon in the church of Beirut, and during the reign of Emperor Anastasius I (491-518) he moved to Constantinople. It was here on Christmas Eve that Our Lady appeared to St. Romanus in his sleep and gave him a roll of paper, saying, "Take this paper and eat it." From what the saint could later recall, it seemed to him that he did what h had been directed to do. Then he awoke and in great exaltation of spirit went to the Church of the All-Holy Mother of God to assist in the Christmas Liturgy. When the Gospel-book was about to be carried solemnly into the sanctuary, he went up into the deacon's ambo or pulpit and extemporaneously recited his new Christmas hymn:
This hymn, said to be the first of its kind, is still sung in the Christmas Offices of the Byzantine rite, and until the 12th century, it was solemnly sung on this festival at the banquet in the imperial palace by the combined choirs of the greatest churches in Constantinople, Santa Sophia and the Holy Apostles.
I can only imagine how incredible that must have sounded, and what a beautiful tradition that was. There is something delightful about hearing a song of such antiquity, composed as it was, in a fever of inspiration, and with such a tradition associated with it, and knowing that it is still sung at Christmas Mass.
Well, clearly my good intentions regarding the Great 'O' Antiphons came to naught. Such a pity. It is amazing how Life can be such a passionate mishmash of Joy of the Season, and Irritation of So High A Degree That One Wants to Punch Things and Possibly People... And further, how such a mishmash, even when Joy is the predominate emotion, renders one incapable of sincere and coherent blog posts.
However, this is the season of the Christmas - the Great Christmas, or the Long Christmas as it has also been called - and however high Irritation might occasionally wax, it is a season of Joy and Good Will, of Music and Merriment, and Wonder at the God-made-Infant. And as such, it is unfitting not to mark it in someway here on this space on the Internet that attempts to devote itself to such glorious matters. (My how grandiose and self-important we have become!)
So first and foremost: A most merry and blessed Christmas to all of you! Please take a minute to enjoy this beautiful card, which I received from the Tolkien Society on Christmas Eve and which went a long way to putting me into the proper spirit of the great and holy Season:
I find it a particularly poignant picture, as it is based on a little sketch Tolkien appearing on this sheet of doodles, made during the time between his marriage to Edith, and being called up for active duty in the First World War. (There is also a wee kilted Scot in the corner. This pleases me.)
I also had every intention of sharing this St. Stephen's Day carol yesterday, when it actually was st. Stephen's Day, but alas, I was inefficient. Still it is a goodly song, and one that makes for good listening, so I am sharing it anyway, with apologies for my tardiness:
I also have a more timely carol to share - one in honour of St. John the Evangelist, whose feast day is today, and for which I have manifestly been unable to find an appropriate recordings of until today, though I first came across mention of it several years ago. This is a tune alternately known as To The Now, Crystys Der Derlyng or Prey for Us, Though Prince of Pes.
I shall now close, as it is half past ten, and I should like this to go up when it is still St. John's Day, properly speaking, and not flirting with being the Feast of the Holy Innocents. Merry Christmas to us all, my dears, and God bless us, everyone.
Today marks one week until the Vigil of Christmas, and the beginning of the recitation of the 'O' Antiphons. I have mentioned the Antiphons before, but in the interest of thoroughness, I offer you this short history, from that most excellent website, Hymns and Carols of Christmas.
I always think I am going to mark this Advent posting each of the Antiphons on this blog, on their respective days. I have yet to manage it, but this year, I am off to a decent start by providing not only a link to O Sapientia, but also a little sketch of my own creation, to go along with the hymn.
Normally, of course, I would post a bit of plain chant for your enjoyment, however, the idea of a being flashmobbed with a bit of Advent-tide polyphony so tickled my sense of delight, that I decided to post this one instead. Enjoy:
Today is the last day of twelve days of Christmas. It goes by various names - the Epiphany, Three Kings Day, Little Christmas. In many cultures, this is the traditional gift-giving day of the Christmas season, as this is the day commemorating the visit of the Three Kings to the Child Jesus.
Fisheaters.com has a whole page dedicated to traditional observances of the Epiphany.
Generally, the Wisemen are credited with leaving gifts, but in Italy, La Befana is said to do so. She was a good witch who provided lodgings for the Wisemen on their way to Bethlehem, They asked her to accompany them on remainder of the journey, but she declined, being too busy. She had a change of heart later on, however, and attempted to find the Child of Whom they had spoken.
My family has always celebrated Little Christmas. On Christmas morning, we all choose a gift to set aside for the Epiphany, and the Wisemen always come a leave another small gift or two as well. We have a dinner very similar to our Christmas dinner, and it is, in every way, a Little Christmas for us. It is rather a lovely way of keeping the spirit of the season throughout the entire season.
It is rather late in the day to be posting this, I know, but this medley seems like a good way to end out the Long Christmas:
From the Propers of today's Mass: Alleluia, alleluia.We have seen His star in the East, and are come with gifts to adore the Lord. Alleluia.
"Good King Wenceslas looked out, on the Feast of Stephen..."
That's today - the second day of Christmas, commonly known as St. Stephen's day. In Ireland, this is the day that crazy young lads and lasses dress up eccentrically and go wrenning. I have mentioned this tradition here before, and even posted the Clancy Brothers singing The Wren Song. I didn't mean to mention the wren boys this year, but when I was browsing about in pursuit of a St. Stephen's Day carol, I came across this very brief and quite intriguing bit of interview, mentioning that tradition being kept alive.... in Butte, Montana, of all places:
I also did manage to find a carol appropriate for the day, which delights me excessively, because the last time I attempted this feat, I came up dry. Here is Magpie Lane, singing St. Stephen
Today is the feast of the Epiphany, the last day of the twelve days of Christmas. It marks the day of the visitation of the Three Kings to the Infant Jesus, and the first time that our Lord revealed Himself to the Gentiles. The Liturgy for Epiphany is very like to that of Christmas day itself. You can read about some of the traditions particular to this feast day here.
I missed posting yesterday, because I was too busy to sit down and do it properly, so I am finishing off with two songs today. The first is from Handel's Messiah, and is far more fitted to Christmas-time than the more popular Hallelujah Chorus. Besides, I have posted a lot of old, very traditional and largely folk-ish carols this year, so it seemed fitting to include this quite magnificent classical piece:
And to complement it, here is a beautiful, timeless carol, based on Christina Rosetti's poem. It has some of the most lyrical descriptions of winter you are likely to find - I particularly like the phrase "snow had fallen, snow on snow" because, as people in snowy climates know, that is exactly what it is like. The ending verse seem particularly fitting for today:
Today is also Sherlock Holmes' birthday - at least, according to this article. So, many happy returns of the day, Sherlock! You are not expected to come for dinner, as there are likely going to be people there, but hopefully someone will provide you with a cake that looks like this:
Since today is New Year's Eve, and since the New Year was one of the times given to wassailing, I am posting a song that falls, at least part way into that tradition. It is actually bits of three songs, arranged as one by Peter, Paul and Mary, and which they call A Soalin'.
There are actually three traditions combined here, as well as three songs - there is an old custom, of which I was completely unaware, called souling, in which people would go from door to door on All Souls Day (November 2nd), to sing and pray for the dead, and in return, they would be giving a soul cake The modern custom of trick-or-treating is thought to come from this older tradition. It is very similar to the wassailing traditions, which could take place any time between harvest, to just before early planting, which would be around February, although, it was strongly associated with the New Year. And with God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman tagged on at the end, we've come to the familiar caroling tradition, which we practice now. There is a bit more information to be found here.
Today is Holy Thursday, also called Maundy Thursday, the first day of the most solemn and sacred time in the Church's year. It was on this day, during the Last Supper that Jesus Christ instituted the Blessed Sacrament. And today His Passion began with the dreadful agony in the Garden of Gethsemane.
Tomorrow is Good Friday, the day of His suffering and died, to free the us poor sinners, and win for us our salvation.
Holy Saturday is the last day of Lent, a day of sorrow for the death of the Hero Christ, and of expectation of His glorious resurrection.
My sisters and I were busy earlier this week, weaving the palms we received on Sunday into various shapes and designs:
ROSES
CROSSES AND A CROWN OF THORNS
I WAS PARTICULARLY PLEASED WITH THE CROWN OF THORNS.
During Christmas, I checked out a CD of Christmas music, sung by Julie Andrews. It was a lovely album, and rather different from the general run of Christmas CDs. Amongst other things, it had a haunting little song called the Lamb of God Carol. I had never heard it before. Nor can I find much information in it at all. It is, I think, more of a New Year's carol, than a Christmas carol. But the words are particularly suited to Passiontide, so I am posting it here. As a bit of a digression, it was not uncommon for older Christmas carols to make reference to the death of Our Lord - the middle verse of What Child Is This is an example. After all, He came into this world to die for us, so it does make sense. Furthermore, there was time when the new year was celebrated on March 25th, which falls during Lent, so the references to the Passion would have been natural. However, the beginning lines of the Lamb of God carol, definitely fit more into the Christmas tradition, so this song is just a bit of an oddity to me.
Today is Palm Sunday, and the beginning of Holy Week. This is my favourite time during the Church's year, because the liturgy for this week is absolutely beautiful. During the Mass today, St. Mark's account of the Passion will be recited. If you are fortunate enough to be able to attend a High Mass (which, alas, we are not), it will be sung - with voices taking the part of Christ, of St. Peter, of Pilate, and of the crowd. It is long, but it is extremely moving. The Mass of Palm Sunday is full of beautiful antiphons, including Hosanna Filio David:
The translation is as follows: Hosanna to the Son of David. Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord. King of Israel! Hosanna to the Son of David.It is, in fact, the words with which the crowd saluted Jesus, as they lay palms before Him as he rode into Jerusalem.
We might have had to make do with minimal singing, but we all received palms to hold during the Last Gospel, and to take home with us afterward. I have a particular fondness for palms. There is something of a heady glory about the imagery of Palm Sunday - Jesus Christ riding upon a donkey, triumphantly, while people hail His as King, and strew His way with palm branches and flowers, singing Hosannas as He passes through their midst. And there is a corresponding glory to all the picture and statutes of early confessors and martyrs who won their own palms by dying for the King of Glory Who had died for them. I brave and inspired when I get my palms.
This year, I am going to do fancy things with my palms. I am going to braid them, and make crosses and crowns of thorns of them. There is a very handy Italian website, featuring tutorials of some of the more common palm weaving patterns. If my efforts turn out well, I just might post pictures of them within the next couple days.
As some of you might remember, I did a post on this holiday last year. I will, of course, be wearing plaid again - it is not quite tartan, but it is very similar to Dress Stewart, though with a bit more black to it, rather than green. I am wearing white roses in my hair, and I bought a little bush of miniature white roses, which are temporarily in a little pot inside, but which I will plant as soon as the Sierra summer arrives properly, and we stop having the occasion freeze at night. There is actually a strain of white roses - quite an old strain too - whose proper Latin title is Alba Maxima, but is also known as the Bonnie Prince Charlie Rose, and the Jacobite rose. If I ever get to be a reliable gardener, I would love to have an Alba Maxima in my garden.
Alba Maxima; Jacobite Rose; Bonnie Prince Charlie Rose
This year, for celebration, I am going to partake of a bottle of Traquair Jacobite Ale, which I have been saving for today. I bought it at Traquair House in Scotland, where it is brewed. Traquair House is the oldest inhabited house in Scotland, according to their website, but more to the point, for the purpose of this post, it is as staunchly Catholic and Jacobite house. There is a little semi-hidden room in the attic, that was where the priest lived, and a secret stair case, that descends from it, and empties one out the back of the building, where one can scarper off to the woods for cover. There is a lovely little family chapel there - with the original altar, no less, and no sign of any modernisation. Traquair House is particularly interesting because it is still owned by the family, and receives no funds from Historic Scotland for its maintenance. Therefore, there has not been any restoration per se done on it. It is simply kept up, so when you tour it, you get a much better idea of what a historical house was like, than you do at other places.
Furthermore, I have made a wee small cockade to wear upon my lapel. It was quite easy: two loops of white ribbon, stitched into a cross shape. In the center is a wee pin featuring the rampant lion. The lion is an old symbol for Scotland, and the red lion on a golden field was long used in the Royal Standard, so it seemed particularly suitable to wear today.
I shall finish by posting quite an old video of the Corries singing The White Cockade. It is charming:
Yesterday, December 17th, marked the first day in which the Great O Antiphons of Advent are sung. Do I hear you ask, oh Reader, “what are the Great O Antiphon”? I am glad you do, for I had never heard of this beautiful liturgical custom until this year.
The Great O Antiphons are a series of seven special antiphons which are sung before the Magnificat at Vespers each day from December 17th through December 23rd, begging our Lord to make haste and come. Each of the antiphons begins by addressing the Messiah by one of His titles. The first begins, O Sapientia – that is, O Wisdom - and the others follow suit: O Adonai – O Lord; O Radix Jesse – O Root of Jesse; O Clavis David – O Key of David; O Oriens – O Rising Sun; O Rex Gentium – O King of Nations; and finally, O Emmanuel – O, God with us
The Antiphons are of great antiquity. The sixth century philosopher, Boethius, makes mention of them, and by the 8th century, they were a tradition part of the Roman Liturgy. The Antiphons are singular to Christmas. No other feast in the Church – not even Easter – has anything similar preceding the feast. Given their venerable age, and their unique standing, it seems a pity that they are not better known. Therefore, I am posting a clip of the antiphon for today, O Adonai:
For an brief history and explanation of the O Antiphons, this site is a good place to start.
Today, my family and I spent the day baking and cooking for Christmas - sugar cookies, snowballs, chocolate-covered pretzels, chocolate chip cookies, truffles, biscotti, pizzelles, until the fragrant smell of the baking, mixes with the savoury smell of the meat sauce I made for my part of Christmas dinner. We are a very tradition-minded family, and Christmas dinner menu is unalterable: gnocchi and ham. Gnocchi is a lesser-known pasta, made out of potato, with a bit of egg, olive oil and flour, kneaded out like bread, and cut into wee little dumplings. Does that sound complicated? It isn't really, and for proof, I present The Crazy Gnocchi Guy for your education and amusement.
We do not bother with the grater to roll out the gnocchi, as he does, and our meat sauce is a fantastic concoction, with chunks of pork and beef in it. Served over the gnocchi, and with a side bit of ham, and it is the very essence of festivity. We are quite smug about our Christmas dinner, and firmly believe that no one has such a dinner as we do!
