TIMES PAST
With Willie White
AMERICAN author Upton Sinclair, who died aged 90 in 1968, described Christmas as a mixture of bunkum and graft, where greed and waste have turned a day intended to honour the “lowly Jesus” into a binge of overeating and pointless spending.
Of course, many would agree, but that would not take away the joy of the occasion, especially for those visited by Santa Claus.
Many Christians are now wary of saying the word Christmas for fear of causing offence to others. I find this extremely sad. We now pander to those who are not of our persuasion (or none at all). Let us not give up our festival to any other creed. This is, and has been, our most favoured season, so let no-one dictate how we spend or enjoy it. Celebrated all over the world, Christmas is the most popular of all the festive holidays. But why was it created, where and when did it begin and how was it first celebrated?
In pre-Christian times, the calendar was calculated by the date on which Rome was founded. Its years were counted like this: ab urbe condita (“founding of the city”), meaning AUC 1 was the year one. Luke 3:1, 23 states that Jesus turned 30 in the 15th year of “Tiberius’s reign”, meaning he would have spent his first 15 years under Augustus, indicating Jesus was born in 754 AUC.
However, Luke 1:5 places the birth in Herod’s reign. He died in 750 AUC, four years before Jesus was born. If that is confusing, calculations as to the date of birth only serve to make matters worse, with early scholars reckoning on 28 March, 11 September and 21 November.
Is the reason Christmas Day is celebrated on 25 December a result of the pagan festival Saturnalia, which ran from 17-25 December, when it was decreed that noone could be punished for any crime? To appease the pagans when Christian leaders were converting them, they declared 25 December the last day of the festival as the birthday of Jesus.
There are many other theories as to the date being 25 December. The changes from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian and then to today’s version add to the confusion, but it is now accepted we celebrate the birth of Jesus on on Christmas Day.
None of the Gospels confirm the date that Jesus was born. Matthew recounts the visit of the Magi, but there is no mention of a date or how many people came – three became the figure through history. He also mentions the bright star that guided them. Matthew’s Gospel is the only one recounting God warning Joseph to take the child to Egypt before the massacre of the Holy Innocents in Bethlehem. This is another uncertain date, with Catholics observing 28 December. Other religions recognise the 27th of the month, while the Syrians acknowledge 6 January. Matthew also includes the messenger telling the holy family to settle in Nazareth.
Our Christmas is taken from the old English version Christes Maesse (meaning Christ’s Mass), first records of which are dated 1038. China, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Turkey (even though John Chrysostom, the famous Archbishop of Constantinople, was adamant that Christ was born on 25 December) are some of the countries that do not celebrate the festival, but each year more and more nations and religions are joining those who do.
If we look at the 12 days of Christmas, the day itself is not included.
In most western countries, they begin on 26 December and end with the other important day, the Feast of the Epiphany on 6 January, when we take down the lights and decorations. It is said to be unlucky to do so before that day. This is also the day that many countries observe as the time to swap presents.
The song The 12 Days of Christmas has no real meaning to the festival.
Let us now have a look at the traditions and their origin. Many of us sometimes forget the origin of Santa Claus. In the fourth century, St Nicholas of Myra was a kind and generous man who was devoted to children. He was the first to wear the red cape and had a flowing white beard, and he is the patron saint of Russia. But it was Holland which kept this beloved saint in focus. Here, children would leave out their shoes and receive treats and gifts from the person known as Sinterklass. It was the Dutch who arrived in America in the 17th century and introduced this custom. It spread and the name changed to Santa Claus. Legend has it that a wealthy nobleman, distraught at the death of his beloved wife, squandered his fortune, leaving his daughters penniless. St Nicholas first left gold coins in the stockings of the three girls, who could not afford dowries. They hung their wet stockings over the fire to dry, and this is why we now have Christmas stockings.
The Christmas tree is the focal point for most families, cities, towns and businesses. In ancient times, people made sacrifices in oak and ash groves. In the 16th century, people in Germany began decorating fir trees with roses, apples, coloured paper and candles, both indoors and out.
Three years after Edison invented electricity in 1879, the first lights appeared on Christmas trees. Gloria in Exelsis Deo (Glory to God), which is included in today’s Mass, are reputedly the words that rang out as Christ was born, and it is classed as the first Christmas carol. It is St Francis of Assisi who is known as the “Father of caroling”, setting up a nativity grotto in 1223, where people would compose and sing their songs and later roam the streets still singing.
Hundreds of years before the birth of Christ, the Druids revered the mistletoe, using it in their celebrations. The plant had no roots but remained green throughout the winter season. The Celts used it as a healer for poison, infertility and warding off evil spirits, while it is said that Rome’s enemies who met under the mistletoe laid down their weapons and embraced.
Named after a United States ambassador (Joel R Poinsett) to their country is the Mexican plant Poinsettia. Here is a story of a young boy on his way to a village nativity scene who had no gift for the baby Jesus. He gathered pretty green branches, entered the church and laid them in the manger, being mocked all the time by other children. This quickly changed when a shining red star-shaped leaf appeared on top of each branch as it was placed in the crib, so it became known as the Christmas Eve plant.
The story of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer was written by Robert L May in 1939. He tested the story on his four-year-old daughter Barbara, who loved it. Unfortunately, his wife died as he was writing the story, leaving May burdened with large medical bills. However, his story would leave him financially sound for life.
By 1946, six million copies had been sold. Johnny Marks, songwriting brother of Robert, wrote words and music for the Rudolph song, but many artists refused to record it because of the Santa connection. In 1949, Gene Autry’s wife persuaded him to make the record, which sold two million copies in its first year. Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer would go on to be the second-biggest seller of all time behind Bing Crosby’s White Christmas.
Englishman Sir Henry Cole is credited with creating the first real Christmas card in 1843. He commissioned John Calcott Horsley to do the illustration, which took up three panels, showing a family enjoying the festivities and the words “A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you” inscribed.
The holly and ivy are mentioned in London records of the 15th century. The purpose of the holly are two-fold. It was a symbol of the crown of thorns used on Christ’s head the berries representing the shedding of his blood. It was also a barrier against pagans and witches, while the heart-shaped ivy is a symbol of the arrival on earth of Jesus. The traditional colours of Christmas are green for eternal life and red, another symbol of the blood of Jesus.
In Ireland, we have our traditions as well, with family members travelling from all over the world to be together on their native soil for the occasion. Midnight Mass will be jammed wherever we are in the country. We will celebrate the day from the table and the bottle, and perhaps we will shed our distress and worry about our current woes for a few days before reality returns.
Leopardstown Races will be calling on St Stephen’s Day, so too will the Wren Boys, although not as prevalent as years ago. The Epiphany (6 January), or Little Christmas, is also known as Nollaigh Na mBan (Women’s Christmas). While the men do the cooking, cleaning and take down the decorations, the women get the day off, head off for a day out, meet friends and spend their Christmas present money treating themselves and generally having an enjoyable day.
The time has come to call a halt. In these tough times, all those associated with this column wish our readers a very special and peaceful Christmas, a happy and prosperous new year, with the hope that come 2112, perhaps we may see a better future.