Tacky

I hate "Christmas" - I hate what it has degenerated to : schmalzy, commercial nonsense - totally unrelated - even totally opposed - to its religious origin.

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I hate the carols, the glühwein, the christmas trees and lighting, the tacky decorations, the markets and dinners and the false cheer : peace on earth today and kill again tomorrow. Above all I hate father christmas and everything he stands for.

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For four years now, I have been lucky enough to flee the tasteless spectacle and spend Christmas in Lourdes, France. The trip is organised by the KWB and every year around 25 people participate in the initiative.

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During most of the year, the religious meaning of Lourdes is somewhat obscured and dimmed by the extreme, kitschy commercial environment which invades everything as soon as one leaves the domain of the grotto. There are masses of people everywhere from early morning until late at night, and their behaviour is not always what might be expected from pilgrims ...

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But come Christmas time, almost all the hotels and shops are closed down for winter, and the religious meaning of Christmas takes full priority again for the very few people who are around. Everywhere else Christmas is about commerce : in Lourdes it is about the Christmas message : "Gloria in excelsis Deo et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatis" !

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This year the midnight mass was celebrated at the grotto - the icy cold notwithstanding, it was attended by a couple of thousand locals and a couple of hundred pilgrims (at the very most).

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In Lourdes, I find the deep religious meaning of the Christmas of my younger years, not the Americanised bullshit which has taken over almost everywhere.

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Most of the people who go there at Christmas do it only once in their lifetime - it is not exactly a cheap trip and working people do not have that much time to go on a pilgrimage. But for all of them it is a unique and never to be forgotten experience.

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Come Christmas time, I plan to keep going there as often as possible.

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Peace !