To be born in days gone by

Birth in Times Gone By

Birth Rites and Folklore in the Ardennes and Luxembourg

Pregnancy, birth and early childhood forge a deep connection between the extremes of life within our rural communities. The stages of human birth are drawn in parallel with the Nativity and the Childhood of Jesus, a theme that features prominently in Luxembourg’s religious art heritage. The liturgical rites for welcoming a newborn into the Church, as well as the rites of the Jewish community in Arlon, have been included in this book. In days gone by, birth was accompanied by joy, often by sorrow, and sometimes by early death.