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By Kiri Christina Hyatt
Christmas was first officially celebrated in 356 AD when Pope Julius fixed the date of Jesus birthday to be December 25. This date was chosen in part, to replace the Roman pagan holiday Saturnalia (a winter solstice festival honoring the sun god, Saturn). Though this decision was an excellent move toward evangelizing the Roman Empire, it did not rid the people of their pagan traditions. In rural farming communities, mid-winter is always the time when there is little work needing to be done and plenty of time for merrymaking. The church attempted to stamp out the pagan traditions but failed. Over time new meanings were simply attached to the old traditions. At one time evergreens were symbols of continuing life and fertility. Once holly protected people against witches, now it would represent Christ's crown of thorns and the berries, his blood. Straw went from being an appeal to the spirits for a good harvest and a way to keep the ghosts of the dead away, to representing the manger. Candles and fires once kept the evil spirits away and welcomed the rebirth of the sun, now they represented the Son. Feasting occurred after the annual slaughter of animals that couldn't be kept through the winter and even the giving of presents can be dated back to when the Romans gave gifts to the emperor.
During the middle ages, Christmas celebrations often looked like the pagan celebrations, with the lower clergy even participating in the disorderly revel. As part of one pagan feast, The Feast of the Fools, Children would be elected to be priests, slaves and masters would change places, and all law and order would be put aside. Noise making to frighten away evil spirits, lighting the Yule Log (for fertility and to honor the dead), ghost stories and general disorder would take place. The upper, educated clergy did attempt to bring order by banning some customs and the Church attempted to replace them with holy days and Saint's days. These holidays began with advent (a time to prepare for the coming of Christ) to Plough Monday (first Monday after Epiphany). Each holiday was given spiritual meaning and/or was to prepare for the coming of the Lord. The last Sunday before Christmas was called Dirty Sunday as the people spent the week thoroughly cleaning their homes and took their annual bath.
For the average person though, Christmas was entirely pagan until St. Fancis of Assisi and the Fanciscan monks helped bring the true meaning of Christmas home to the ordinary person. The world's first nativity scene was erected in 1223 by St. Francis of Assisi and in 1225 the Fanscian monks composed the first carols. Caroling became a seasonal tradition in the 1400's when English night watchmen would sing the carols while making their rounds at holiday time.
The reformation brought still more changes to the holiday season. Under the leadership of Puritan Oliver Cromwell, Christmas was banned in England. When the Pilgrims came to the New World, they brought with them their hatred of the holiday and it's pagan heritage. On December 25 1620, Thomas Jones, master of the Mayflower, officially banned Christmas day. In 1659 the Puritans of the American colonies passed a law. Anyone caught observing Christmas was fined five shillings. Over time, the immigration of people from other denominational and ethnic traditions, diluted the Puritans dominace and Christmas slowly made it's way into the New World. In 1863, Alabama became the first state in the Union to declare December 25 a legal holiday and in 1885 U.S. President Chester Alan Arthur declared Christmas a legal holiday for federal workers. The banning of Christmas was somewhat successful in ridding the holiday celebration of the worst of the pagan debauchery.
Though evergreen has been part of winter decorations since long before Jesus was born, the Christmas tree in it's present form is rather a recent addition to the season. Legend says that one Christmas Eve, Martin Luther, was so moved by the sight of star-light filtering through the fir trees, that he ran home to place candles on a tree in an attempt to reproduce the sight for his children. The Christmas tree was an established decoration in Alsace by 1605, but unknown to the rest of the world until much later. It's popularity outside of Germany first began to take root in the 1840's when Queen Victory and Prince Albert set up a tree for their children at Windsor Castle. Princess Helene of Mecklenburg introduced the tree to Paris around the same time. The tree was first introduced to the US by the Pennsylvanian Germans and first mentioned in 1821. In the first half of the 19th century, Christmas trees were still a novelty and churches would charge admission to see elaborately decorated versions. The nations first Christmas tree lot was erected in New York City in 1851 by Mark Carr, a logger from the Catskills. By the 1870's there was an ornament industry to keep up with the booming tree industry and in 1963 the first polyvinyl chloride (PVC) Christmas tree hit the market.
Information for this article was obtained from the following books:
History of Christmas Wreaths
The History,
Folklore and Origins of the Christmas Tree
Christmas Eternal
- looks at the meaning and history behind Christmas customs and symbols from
a traditional Christian perspective, including the Legend of
the Candy Cane
History of the Twelve
Days of Christmas and Other Christmas Legends
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