The Importance of Tradition
Nearly three years ago, my wife and I were on our honeymoon and we had stopped for the day in a small town in the south of France. It was the Feast of the Epiphany. We were out for a stroll in the late afternoon when all of a sudden we stumbled upon a huge parade. There must have been hundreds of people, many of whom were children, parading through the streets, dressed in traditional attire dating back to the time of Christ. Many of those in the parade carried drums and others pulled along a variety of animals, including sheep, goats, and even camels. Everyone in this town was out to see this incredible Epiphany parade! And we were lucky enough to have stumbled upon it! A bit of online research revealed that this Epiphany parade has been taking place every year for over two centuries, having begun in the early 1800s. Airplanes and cars have been developed, World Wars have come and gone, kings and queens have reigned and perished, and yet, in this small town in Southern France, the men, women, and children of the town have come together year after year on the feast of the Epiphany to partake in this beautiful religious and cultural tradition.
To me, this parade encompasses the value and the importance of tradition. Most people will likely never know about this annual Epiphany parade in the south of France, and even fewer people will ever be fortunate enough to see it. However, we can learn a lot from the people of this quaint French town, from the people who continue to carry on the traditions of their long forgotten ancestors.
There are numerous benefits to carrying on and adhering to traditions. First, carrying on these traditions is a wonderful way to remember and honor those who came before us. Earlier this year, my wife and I had our newborn daughter baptized. There has been a baptismal gown on my wife’s side of the family that has been passed down generation to generation since the first part of the 1900s. Our daughter, born in 2024, was lucky enough to wear this beautiful, century-old gown. By adhering to this tradition, we not only honored the individual who initially made the gown, but it forced us to look with gratitude on all of those who continued to faithfully wear and pass on the gown throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. In a culture that constantly wants to tear down traditions and remnants of the past, carrying on these beautiful traditions is one way to serve as a light in the darkness. The second benefit of carrying on these traditions is that it instills in us a sense of duty. The people in this town in southern France coordinate, dress up, and parade through the streets year after year. Generations before them have carried this torch, and now it is their turn to step up to the plate, keep the tradition going, and pass it on to generations to come. Having this obligation instills in one a sense of duty, which is needed now more than ever in our isolated and disconnected society. The third benefit of beginning and carrying on these traditions is that it connects the past, the present, and the future. The buildings on the Epiphany parade route have not changed a whole lot in 200+ years; the cobble-stone streets have likely stayed the same. Only the people have changed. If someone were to go back in time to 1850, the parade would look largely the same. And hopefully, God willing, if one were to travel into the future, to the year 2150, the parade would continue to look the same. These traditions bind past generations with future generations in a way that mirrors the Beatific vision. As the mass and the sacraments connect us to our ancestors, so too do these cultural and religious traditions of our day.
As we enter the holiday season, perhaps there are traditions that our parents or grandparents started that we have forgotten to adhere to over the years. Let’s return to those! Perhaps we didn’t inherit many traditions at all from our parents. Let’s start our own traditions, and pass those down to our grandchildren and grandchildren in the years to come. With any luck, perhaps your progeny, in the year 2200, will continue carrying on the traditions started by you this year. Have an enjoyable and blessed beginning to this holiday season!
Liam
11/3/2024
