Christmas traditions in Ghana

The U.P. Catholic

As Catholics prepare their hearts and homes this Advent for the coming of our Savior on Christmas, familiar and beloved traditions fill homes and parishes as families and communities gather to celebrate the season. Check out the following story to learn about some of Fr. Dominic Agyapong’s favorite Christmas traditions in his homeland of Ghana, Africa.

Fr. Dominic Agyapong was born and educated in Ghana, where he also attended seminary. He was ordained in 2008 and celebrated 15 years of priesthood earlier this year. Fr. Agyapong came to the Diocese of Marquette in 2015, where first he was associate pastor of St. Peter Cathedral, Marquette, and was then assigned to St. Sebastian, Bessemer nine months later. Fr. Agyapong is currently pastor of St. Sebastian, Bessemer, Immaculate Conception, Wakefield, and St. Catherine, Marenisco.

“I certainly moved from warm weather to cold weather!” Fr. Agyapong joked when reflecting on his transition to the Upper Peninsula from Ghana. “When my Bishop told me I was to come to the Diocese of Marquette, I didn’t know anything about Michigan,” he explained. “So, I called a friend in New York to learn about Michigan for me, and the first thing he said when he called me after learning about Marquette was, ‘Dominic, you are dead! They get so much snow and 8 months of winter!’”

Thankfully, Fr. Agyapong was not discouraged upon hearing the results of his friend’s findings. Upon arriving in Marquette, Fr. Agyapong attests that he adjusted well to life in the Upper Peninsula but shares that there are some special Christmas traditions back home in Ghana that differ from the typical experience of Christmas in the Midwest.

“Christmas in Ghana is different, because of the difference in culture,” he explained. “As a little boy growing up, on Christmas night we go to Mass. And Mass begins at Midnight, and it is 2 to 3 hours long – we sing, we allow everyone to dance, and all to let everyone adore the Baby Jesus.” Fr. Agyapong explained that the singing and dancing can sometimes go on for 20 to 30 minutes before the liturgy even begins. Christmas morning Mass follows the same pattern of lasting around 2 to 3 hours. “We like to do a little singing and dancing a lot!” he said. Fr. Agyapong expressed that he misses the experience of song during the Mass as he experienced in Ghana. “The Church is a community, and there is more celebration,” he expressed.

Before attending Christmas Mass, families in Ghana present their children with new clothing and shoes as a new outfit to wear for the Christmas Mass, according to Fr. Agyapong. “And what was so special, too, is we have these little Christmas hats, little Christmas glasses, and Christmas balloons for the children,” he explained. A Christmas dinner follows the morning Mass, with the main course typically a local chicken or goat dish. After the meal, families go from house to house, to friends and relatives, stopping to give Christmas greetings and presents and gifts to the little children.

“For the children, Christmas is a lot like what you do here for Halloween. The children move through the different neighborhoods with their friends and get their Christmas gifts,” he explained. Fr. Agyapong emphasized the distance that children will cover in this tradition, equating that it would be like children from Marquette going to Negaunee to visit grandparents and relatives. Children are often given a small palm tree to decorate with their Christmas balloons, rather than the typical evergreen tree seen in the United States, “and it’s so very fun,” attests Fr. Agyapong.

As for his experience of American Christmas traditions, Fr. Agyapong shared that seeing houses and city streets decorated with Christmas lights brings him great joy. “We don’t have that in our country,” he explained, “and yet here many towns have Christmas lights all down the street! I appreciate that so much. Bessemer has lights on the street poles, and it is just beautiful. Even if all people don’t go to church, it shows still that Christmas is important to our community, and I love that.”

In the time of Advent and Eucharistic Revival, Fr. Agyapong also expressed what a privilege it is to not only receive and adore the Eucharist, but to share in the ministry of Jesus Christ as a priest. “[The Eucharist] is a privilege. It is a privilege and a blessing for me to share in the ministry of Jesus Christ. I’ve been selected and consecrated to be His instrument, so it is a joy for me, to be a minister of the sacrament that saved the world. The Eucharist, for me, is my strength. It is a source of joy, and is the source of who I am, it is my purpose and meaning in life.”

Fr. Agyapong also wished to share a special message with his parishioners as we approach the Christmas season:
“I want to thank my parishioners; I am so grateful to them. The parish employees, the volunteers, and all parishioners for their love and their kindness as we have lived in community for all these years. I pray that God will bless them and bless their families and descendants, and may God continue to bring us together as one family to worship Him.”

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