Thursday, December 19, 2013

Catholic Origins of Christmas


Well the Christmas season is definitely upon us, and as you can see… once again the media, in their way of not trying to step on anyone’s toes, is promoting their message of “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas.” We all know why they do this. Of course not everyone is celebrating Christmas at this time. Some are celebrating Hanukkah, and others Kwanzaa. But really… let’s look at this carefully. If you go to any mall, retail store or office building this season you will see Christmas wreaths, Christmas Trees, Christmas Lights, Christmas holly, and Christmas characters like Santa. Not too many menorahs, stars of David or Kwanzaa candles being set out? Yet we still don’t wanna say, “Merry Christmas”. Seems a bit odd to me. Logically if we were going to say “Happy Holidays” and try not to offend anyone who may not be celebrating Christmas… then I would think that our décor would reflect that message. Right? But at the same time, if we did put out menorahs and Kwanzaa candles… our timing would be off. Hanukkah is already over before Christmas Day… and Kwanzaa… well Christmas kinda steals its thunder the day before, and it would be pointless to keep the Kwanzaa decorations out one more day past Christmas for all the 1-5% of the population who actually choose celebrate Kwanzaa.

Basically the point I’m trying to make is that in all true logic, Christmas is what everyone is preparing for, taking vacation for, and decorating for… therefore saying “Merry Christmas” makes a lot more sense than saying “Happy Holidays”.

Now with that being said, we need to also recognize the true origins of Christmas and where it all came from. Obviously the most common understanding of Christmas is that it is a Christian holiday observed by all Christian and “Christian-like” (i.e. Mormans, Jehovah’s Witnesses, etc… who are actually not Christians because their doctrines on Jesus are completely different than that of Catholic and Protestant ones… but that’s another story). But believe it or not, not even the Protestants can claim Christmas 100%. Let me show you why by highlighting just a few of the most notable Christmas practices.

Santa Claus: Let’s start off with the Jolly ole’ St. Nick himself. Santa, a.k.a St. Nicholas historically was once the Bishop of Myra (Turkey) back in the 300’s AD. He had a reputation for secret gift-giving, such as putting coins in the shoes of those who left them out for him, and thus became the model for Santa Claus, whose modern name comes from the Dutch Sinterklaas, itself from a series of elisions and corruptions of the transliteration of "Saint Nikolaos". However, St. Nicholas had a difficult time during the 16th century Protestant Reformation, which took a dim view of saints. Even though both reformers and counter-reformers tried to stamp out St. Nicholas-related customs, they had very little long-term success. Today’s “Santa” is more commonly pictured as a magical old Elf who lives up at the North Pole with Elves and flying reindeer…  which of course is all fine and dandy, however we must remember his true origins are definitely that of a Catholic Saint.

Christmas Tree: You may have heard already from your know-it-all office coworker that the Christmas tree is actually a pagan practice that was adopted by Christians. Well, let me clear that up a bit. It is true that the Roman Pagans did worship trees at one point in time. However the origin of the Christmas tree comes from the medieval mystery and miracle plays, and in particular from the Tree of Good and Evil in the earthly Paradise.

These plays were first performed in the late Middle Ages and their purpose was to teach religion. As a rule, these religious plays were enacted for the celebration of an episode or of the saint whom they featured, and they became popular throughout Europe. A famous play was the performance put on for Christmas, celebrated on December 25th.

On Christmas Eve, Adam and Eve would be commemorated with the highly popular episode of the Garden of Eden; they would tower on the stage together with the Devil, disguised as a serpent, Eve picking an apple and Adam eating it. Original sin, amended by Jesus born on the 25th, was symbolized on the night of December 24th. The tree ought to have been an apple tree, but since an apple tree would have been inappropriate in winter, a fir tree was set on the stage and some apples put on its branches to symbolize the future coming of Redemption. And the lights on the tree were used to symbolize the genealogy of Christ stemming down from Adam.

When Catholics were under persecution in Europe, the Paradise plays were moved indoors and practice of the Christmas Tree was born.

Christmas Lights: The practice of hanging Christmas Lights in windows started in Ireland during the time when Catholics were being persecuted and Mass was forbidden. Catholics would then place candles in their windows to signify to Priests that their house was a safe place for them to come and say Christmas Mass in.

12 Days of Christmas: We’ve all heard the traditional Christmas carol, “The 12 Days of Christmas.” It’s origin goes directly back to Catholic history. Catholics in England during the period 1558 to 1829, when Parliament finally emancipated Catholics in England, were prohibited from ANY practice of their faith by law — private OR public. It was a crime to BE a Catholic.

"The Twelve Days of Christmas" was written in England as one of the "catechism songs" to help young Catholics learn the tenets of their faith - a memory aid, when to be caught with anything in *writing* indicating adherence to the Catholic faith could not only get you imprisoned, it could get you hanged.

The songs gifts are hidden meanings to the teachings of the faith. The "true love" mentioned in the song doesn't refer to an earthly suitor, it refers to God Himself. The "me" who receives the presents refers to every baptized person. The partridge in a pear tree is Jesus Christ, the Son of God. In the song, Christ is symbolically presented as a mother partridge which feigns injury to decoy predators from her helpless nestlings, much in memory of the expression of Christ's sadness over the fate of Jerusalem: "Jerusalem! Jerusalem! How often would I have sheltered thee under my wings, as a hen does her chicks, but thou wouldst not have it so..."

The other symbols mean the following:
Two (2) Turtle Doves = The Old and New Testaments
Three (3) French Hens = Faith, Hope and Charity, the Theological Virtues
Four (4) Calling Birds = the Four Gospels and/or the Four Evangelists
Five (5) Golden Rings = The first Five Books of the Old Testament, the "Pentateuch", which gives the history of man's fall from grace.
Six (6) Geese A-laying = the six days of creation
Seven (7) Swans A-swimming = the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, the seven sacraments
Eight (8) Maids A-milking = the eight beatitudes
Nine (9) Ladies Dancing = the nine Fruits of the Holy Spirit
Ten (10) Lords A-leaping = the ten commandments
Eleven (11) Pipers Piping = the eleven faithful apostles
Twelve (12) Drummers Drumming = the twelve points of doctrine in the Apostle's Creed

These are but a few of the most noteworthy practices of Christmas that have Catholic origins. But let us also remember the true reason for the season is the Birth of Our Lord Jesus Christ, who started the Roman Catholic Church in 33 A.D. Not trying to be controversial, just stating the facts.

Merry Christmas!
God love you all! Pray the Rosary daily!
 
For more interesting facts on the Catholic origin to pretty much everything, read "Why Do Catholics Eat Fish On Fridays".

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