by The Ghost of Yule Past
How can anybody not like Christmas? The decorations, the colored lights, the gifts, the wreaths with the red bows and bells, being off work, food, friends, family… and little Jesus lying there amongst the ignoble manger trappings two thousand years ago ~ the “hopes and fears of all the years” …
‘Course Jesus wasn’t actually born on December 25th, nobody knows exactly when He was born. In the fall, probably. But the 25th of December, the day right after Christmas Eve, is the day they came up with to celebrate the birth of our Lord and it’s been working just fine for many, many centuries. Christmas isn’t about a day anyway. It’s about salvation and fellowship and good will. It’s hope for a world that’s hopeless. An affirmation that things are, in fact, not hopeless, thanks to that sweet, low birth so long ago (on a specific night that’s lost to time) when God took on flesh and became the inviolate surrogate for the sin of man. Is it any wonder the day designated to celebrate His birth is sacred to the over two billion Christians around the world?
The quote, unquote reason for the season. And God bless us all, Tiny Tim.
So in celebration of this most festive and joyous time, I would like to briefly share with you the origins of some of our Christmas traditions, secular and otherwise. Use them at Christmas parties to impress people with your knowledge.
The Name “Christmas”
The name itself ~ Christmas ~ is a combination of “Christ” and “Mass.” Literally, the Mass of Christ.
The Date December 25
While it’s true no one knows the exact date of Christ’s birth, most scholars believe it was during the autumn of the year. The date of December 25th was chosen because early Christians (including the Roman emperor Constantine, who converted to Christianity) wanted to combat a proliferation of pagan festivals that took place during the winter months. They appropriated the date of December 25, as well as many of the pagan practices of the day, and put a decidedly Christian spin to the whole thing. Eventually, the rituals of Christmas assimilated and/or overwhelmed the heathen associations and has endured to this day.
Christmas Carols
The first Christmas carol, per se, had to have been the angels singing about the birth of Jesus ~ “Gloria in Exelsis Deo …” Beyond that, one ancient historian recorded that the Bishop of Rome began encouraging people to sing hymns in “celebration of the birthday of our Lord” around the year 100 AD. By 400 AD, it was commonplace for priests to stroll through their parishes on Christmas singing hymns. This was the earliest example of street?caroling.
Nativity Scenes
In 1223, St. Francis of Assisi put together a small scene in a hermitage at Greechio, Italy depicting the birth of Christ. This was the first Nativity scene. Other churches saw it, liked it and started setting up their own Christmas Nativities.
Christmas Cards
A British painter named John Callcott Horsley came up with the first Christmas card in 1840. The card was a gift for a friend of his and featured a picture of a family celebrating Christmas. The inscription read, “A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to You.” The card was so well?received in England that it quickly became part of their yuletide tradition. It didn’t take long for the custom of sending Christmas cards to spread to the United States and other countries around the world.
Santa Claus
The legend of Santa Claus has its roots in 4th century Turkey. A wealthy and kind?hearted bishop named Nicholas of Smyrna enjoyed donning his red and white bishop’s robes and riding a donkey through the community giving out gifts to the poor children. He later became Saint Nicholas, the patron saint of children and seafarers. In England, the kindly bishop was reinvented as Father Christmas. In China he became Dun Che Lao Ren (Christmas Old Man), in Germany he became Der Weinachtsmann (Christmas Man), and in the States he became Santa Claus (from the Dutch, Sinter Klaas). He first appeared in the American media in 1773, as Saint A Claus. “Santa” could well be a phonetic mispronunciation of “Saint A.”
The Elves
Santa’s elves are a carry?over from old Scandinavian legends when they believed gnomes were helpful little guys who protected their homes and families from evil forces. They were a natural for the Santa legend.
Gift Giving
Gift?giving goes back to when the Magi traveled to Bethlehem to see baby Jesus, bringing exotic gifts of gold (a gift for a king), incense (a gift for a priest) and myrrh (a burial ointment and gift for the Savior who would die for the world). But St. Nicholas of Smyrna popularized the custom of giving out gifts at Christmas (see “Santa Claus,” above).
Christmas Trees
Trees have pretty much always been a symbol of life, but the first mention of a fir tree being decorated for Christmas dates back to 1510 in Riga, Latvia. A decorated Christmas tree made its debut in Paris in 1521, at the wedding of Princess Hlne de Mecklembourg and the Duke of Orleans. Decorated Christmas trees were popular in Germany in 1531. In fact, it was German settlers and Hessian mercenaries who introduced the concept of decorating Christmas trees to the Colonies. During Christmas of 1804, U.S. soldiers at Fort Dearborn, Chicago went out into the woods, cut down a tree and set it up in their barracks.
Christmas in the U.S.
In the United States, Alabama was first to recognize Christmas as a legal holiday, back in 1836. Washington, D.C. followed suit in 1870, and within 23 years, Christmas was recognized by every state and all U.S. territories.
Political Correctness Christmas
Every year, extreme secular, atheist and political factions in this country have been actively trying to diminish or eliminate the religious nature of Christmas. They want to turn it into some politically correctfest. That’s ironic because it’s exactly what the early Christians did to them. They got all up in the pagans’ faces, took their holidays, turned them all around and called them Christmas. What goes around comes around, huh?
Meanwhile …
Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.
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