There will be no carolers ringing the doorbells this year. However, the parishes have found solutions how to keep the custom alive.
Every year on January 6th or just before that, the carol singers come to Catholic places to collect for needy children in the world and to write blessings on the front door. The corona regulations make it impossible this time. The parishes, however, have found solutions for maintaining the custom – the Kandern-Istein pastoral care unit, for example, with blessing stickers and a video.
In an interview with the BZ, Julian Kiffe made it clear to all coordinators that the carol-singing campaign had to be organized differently this time. He had taken on taking care of the carol groups in the Isteins area. Pastor Martin Karl was responsible for their coordination in and around Kandern, Annemarie Weiß took care of the carol singers in Huttingen. The idea was initially that the carolers would bring the blessing signs for everyone to stick on themselves together with an explanatory letter. However, this has been shattered with the stricter regulations. The sponsors of the campaign – the children’s mission organization “Die Sternsinger” and the Bund der Deutschen Katholischen Jugend (BDKJ) – canceled all star singing tours due to the contact restrictions.
The blessing stickers
Now you can find envelopes with the stickers, which by the way are all blessed, to pick up yourself in the Catholic churches in Istein, Huttingen and Kandern, as well as in the Istein town hall, as Julian Kiffe informs. The work the children had already done in their preparation for the event was also used. The explanatory flyers that are now on display in the churches carry a picture from the carol singers’ painting competition. A collage of several works was also created, says Kiffe, for whom the positive memory remains how good the response to the campaign was. Even if it was no longer possible to judge and distribute the blessing letters, he is pleased how many people wanted to help, “some children with the whole family,” he says.
The Youtube video
Last Saturday in Istein, the idea of a short video with a digitally distributed star singing visit was born quite spontaneously. On Epiphany, it will be published on Youtube, reports Julian Kiffe, who shot the little film in Istein – in a three-minute and a 14-minute version. The 23-year-old won the Weber family as an actor. The three children, disguised as carolers, ring the doorbell of the Istein rectory and their mother Marion opens the door – so the shoot also complied with the Corona rules. By the way, Julian Kiffe came to the drone that was used for filming in Istein through friends. In Kandern, too – with the help of Armin Bierer – something was created that can be accessed on YouTube: carol singers with songs and pastor Karl can be heard alongside the statue of the ceramic crib in the church.
Donations for the carol singers campaign
This year the Dreikönigssingen campaign supports children in Ukraine who are separated from their parents because they work abroad. Under the motto “Give children support – in Ukraine and worldwide”, the Dreikönigssingen campaign shows how project partners of the carol singers help children. Donations for the campaign can be sent to the account of the Rom. Catholic parish of Kandern-Istein must be paid into the Volksbank Dreiländereck, with the note “Sternsinger-Spenden”, if you wish to receive a donation receipt with your name and address under DE75 6839 0000 0000 1711 07.
–
