Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, December 8, 1994 TAG: 9412300059
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: S-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CODY LOWE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Some of these traditions - many of which are observed by non-Christians as well as Christians - are of secular or pagan origin but were adapted for use by the church decades or centuries ago.
There is no arguing that the birth of the baby who was called Jesus, almost 2,000 years ago, signaled the beginning of a movement that was to change the political, economic, cultural and religious face of the entire globe.
Yet, nobody really knows the date on which that birth occurred. Relatively few Christians and almost no biblical scholars believe that Dec. 25 is the actual birth date of Jesus Christ. A spring or summer date is favored by many now, but the debate goes back at least as far as the fourth century, and barring some spectacular and wholly unanticipated archeological discovery, we'll never know for sure.
Despite all the speculation about when Jesus may have been born, it took a while for the idea of a birthday celebration to catch on. Actually, the holiday didn't take on many of its modern trappings until the 19th century, and, of course, we continue to add elements that will be the traditions of the future.
Following is a far-from-exhaustive look at the background of some cherished Christmas traditions. A more detailed look at many of them is available in a book called "All About Christmas" by Maymie R. Krythe.
Christmas Day
The name comes from the Old English "Christes Maesse," the Mass celebrated for Christ's birth.
Many early Christians, up to the third century, thought Christ was born at the time of the spring equinox, which they believed fell on March 25.
Because the Earth was reborn each spring, they figured, God must have created the world at that time of year. They then assumed that Christ's birth - signaling the new birth of creation - would have come then, too.
The first written account of a Feast of the Nativity of Christ is found in a Roman almanac from the year 354.
The Roman Emperor Constantine may have helped establish the festival after his conversion to Christianity in 312. Another tradition says that Pope Julius I recognized the Dec. 25 date in 350.
Conventional wisdom is that the church took over the pagan Roman festival to the god Saturn. It was a veritable orgy of eating, drinking and celebrating that included many of the traditions we now associate with Christmas, such as giving gifts, playing games and decorating with evergreens.
In other parts of the Western world, people also held feasts at the winter solstice to celebrate the lengthening days - to encourage the sun and the fertility it brought.
One theory is that the church decided to make new converts feel at home by co-opting their festivals and affixing them with Christian symbolism. The more dominant theory is that the new Christians celebrated the festivals anyway and the church was more or less forced to adapt the pagan celebrations to retain its converts.
Issues of overindulgence and secularization of the holiday were evident even in the early centuries of the church when its leaders were
encouraging the faithful to avoid gluttony, dancing, drunkenness and other excesses.
Much of our modern celebration in the United States comes from the British Isles, though there are elements from other places.
Christmas was a major festival in England prior to Oliver Cromwell's coming to power in 1642. Obliging the Puritan leaders of the day, Cromwell outlawed Christmas celebrations - Parliament even met on the day. In 1660, the restored monarchy recognized the holiday again, but it failed to regain is previous gusto.
Disdain of the holiday came to the Americas with the Puritans, who briefly outlawed its celebration in the Colonial settlements they dominated.
In other colonies, though, the holiday was observed by the earliest European settlers. Capt. John Smith and his men feasted on wild game, fish and oysters for Christmas in Tidewater Virginia. Many of the traditions we continue to preserve - bell-ringing, feasting, dancing, games, Yule logs, evergreens and carols - were brought with them by those sons of the English cavaliers.
Over time, though, the season slipped again from clerical favor and the traditions began to fade.
That changed in 1842 with the publication of "A Christmas Carol."
Charles Dickens is widely credited with almost single-handedly reviving the celebration of Christmas with his tale of the reclamation of miserly Ebenezer Scrooge through the wonders of the Christmas story. Though it has few overt religious references, the story represents a melding of religious and secular elements, celebrating the holiday as the best time of the year.
Its romantic description of the miraculous nature of the season is as popular now as it was when it was written.
Christmas cards
Even in a world where the telephone call, the fax and e-mail largely have replaced the letter as the primary means of communicating with family and friends, the Christmas card has survived as an annual rite of writing.
The custom began shortly after the publication of "A Christmas Carol."
Initially, the hand-painted cards were so expensive only the very wealthy could afford them. It wasn't until about 1870 that their use became widespread as printing costs went down.
By 1881, one U.S. printer was turning out more than 5 million cards a year.
The Wise Men
The second chapter of the Gospel of Matthew includes this account: "Behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, `Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.'"
From a total of only 16 verses has grown an elaborate tradition, complete with biographies.
The biblical account doesn't even say how many wise men there were, but tradition has assumed three, based on the number of gifts - gold, frankincense and myrrh.
Tradition also gives the three men names: Melchior, Balthasar and Kaspar.
The men sometimes are called "Magi," which means "august" and was a title of the priestly caste among Medes and Persians. Later, they also were described as "kings." They usually are understood to have been astrologers because they followed a star to find the baby Jesus.
A cathedral in Germany boasts that the remains of the Magi reside there, drawing tourists from around the world.
Epiphany
The date of the wise men's visit is the foundation for another important date on the church calendar: Epiphany, or Twelfth Night, Jan. 6.
Epiphany means "manifestation" and is associated with three occasions of the revelation of Christ's deity: the adoration of the Magi; his baptism; and his first miracle, turning water into wine at Cana. It also is symbolic of the extension of the Gospel to gentiles as well as Jews.
Church leaders encouraged celebration of Epiphany as early as the second century. It appears not to have suffered from negative associations with pagan festivals, although it apparently fused some of those practices with its own.
Drinking the "wassail" toasts - earlier associated with pagan prayers for the fruitfulness of apple trees - came at Epiphany.
Gift-giving
Christians obviously link the giving of presents to the wise men's gifts to the Christ child.
The custom of gift-giving at the winter solstice predates the Christian era, however. The Romans gave gifts of laurel, olive and branches - symbolizing health, happiness and affection - to their rulers. They also gave "sweet" presents, lamps and gold to friends for good luck.
Santa Claus
There was a real St. Nicholas - a bishop of Myra in Asia Minor who died about the year 340. His feast day was Dec. 6, when he was believed to visit children with gifts in preparation for the gift of the Christ child at Christmas.
Clement Moore, in his 1822 poem "A Visit From St. Nicholas," gave us our modern description of Old St. Nick. Cartoonist Thomas Nast refined that picture in an 1863 magazine illustration that gave Santa his red coat trimmed in fur.
Known variously as Pere Noel, Father Christmas, Petit Jesus and Kriss Kringle, we call him Santa Claus based on his Dutch name, Sinter Klaas.
Christmas trees
Decorating evergreen trees to honor the gods also predates Christianity. Ancient Egyptians, Romans and Druids decorated trees with gifts for the gods and sometimes included lighted candles as tributes.
With the spread of Christianity, customs changed to honor Christ and the message of eternal life inherent in the new religion.
Martin Luther is credited with spreading the idea of bringing a tree indoors and lighting candles, to simulate the night sky over Bethlehem.
Chrismon trees
This special type of Christmas tree has its beginnings here in Virginia. In 1957, Mrs. Harry W. Spencer persuaded the members of her Lutheran congregation to decorate a tree with the monograms early Christians used to recognize each other. Made out of white Styrofoam and gold trim, the symbols decorate a green tree, usually lit by pure white lights.
The Chrismons - a name coined by joining the words Christ and monogram - can come in dozens of different shapes. Some fairly common ones include a fish, an early secret sign among Christians; a chalice, symbolizing the communion cup; a five-pointed star, representing the star the wise men followed; a seven-pointed star, symbolizing the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit; a butterfly, representing the Resurrection; and a shepherd's crook, recognizing Jesus' description of himself.
Chrismon trees now are erected annually throughout many parts of Virginia and some surrounding states.
Winter greenery
Romans believed exchanging green branches with friends brought good luck. At the winter solstice feast of Saturnalia, Romans garlanded their temples with green branches.
Even before the Christian era, evergreens - which did not go dormant during the winter - were associated with eternal life.
Celtic and Nordic peoples believed pine, spruce, holly, box, bay, mistletoe, ivy, juniper, rosemary and other greenery protected them from evil spirits.
One legend held that a holly bush hid Christ from his enemies on one occasion and was rewarded by retaining its leaves all year.
Yule log
The custom of burning a great Yule log is sometimes ascribed to ancient Scandinavian mythology of a "Tree of the Universe" that had three roots: one in heaven, one in hell and one on Earth. Serpents were continually eating away at the roots, and when the tree eventually fell, the universe would be destroyed.
One yule log theory says that converts to Christianity burned a great log, symbolically destroying their old beliefs and taking on the new "light of the world."
In England, the entire household helped drag the log in a bid to attract good luck.
Manger scenes
St. Francis of Assisi began the annual re-creation of the manger scene in 1244 to educate churchgoers about the nativity story.
The practice of creating live nativity scenes eventually spread throughout Europe. Statues or other figurines later were substituted for the live players; miniature versions adorned churches and homes.
In some places, tradition says that domesticated barnyard animals - like those that might have been housed in the stable where Jesus was born - are able to speak like humans on Christmas Eve. Children sometimes would try to slip into a barn or stable to hear the animals talk.
Candles
Candles represent Christ - the "light of the world."
In some places, a lighted candle was kept in a window as a guide to travelers. Because the homeowners believed Christ might come disguised as a stranger, no one was turned away during the season.
During Advent, many churches have a weekly candle-lighting ceremony in preparation for the coming of Christ that culminates in the Christmas Eve lighting of a final huge centerpiece candle representing the light of Christ.
by CNB