A HISTORY OF CHRISTMAS

From time to time I get asked questions about Christmas: How did we come to celebrate it on December 25? Where did Santa Claus come from? Why do we put up trees? What about all the decorations and symbols? After fielding enough of these questions over the years, I finally decided to investigate for myself. Much of what I discovered I had already known or suspected, but I found a great deal that surprised me. I thought it might be helpful this morning to share some of what I found.

The origin of Santa Claus goes all the way back to the 4th century A.D., to a bishop by the name of Nicholas, who became legendary for his generosity. Nicholas was the bishop of Myra in the province of Lycia, in what has become modern-day Turkey. He would go out a night taking presents to the needy. Legend has it that he was a boy bishop, or at least was very young when he attained the office, and in the Middle Ages he became the patron saint of schoolboys. He died on December 6, and was so popular that a feast day was declared on that day, with a celebration that quickly spread from his small town to other areas.

In Germany, a person would be elected each to represent him, at first a child, and later an adult. He was known there by the name of Pelz Nichol, and parents would come to give him a report on their children’s behavior. If the children had been good, they would receive presents, but if they had been bad, they would receive a bundle of switches or twigs.

Dutch settlers brought the tradition to New York, with their own Dutch word for this person, “sinterklaas.” The English children had trouble pronouncing the word, and it would come out as “Santa Claus,” and of course we know this as the name that stuck. For centuries, Europeans had described him as a tall thin man. Washington Irving described him as a typical Dutch settler: broad-brimmed hat, huge breeches, and long-stemmed pipe. He rode over the treetops in a wagon, took presents out of his pockets, and dropped them in chimneys. In 1822, Clement C. Moore wrote “A Visit from St. Nicholas” for his children, and was persuaded to publish it the next year. It has come down to us now by the more familiar title, “Twas the Night Before Christmas.” And for the well-meaning souls who launch attacks at Santa Claus as anti-Christian (or worse), it is a bit ironic that the poem was written by a minister. The image he left us with is one we are more familiar with: round and jolly, twinkling eyes, cherry nose, white beard, pipe, sleigh and reindeer. The only thing left of this Santa from the original Pelz Nichol is the fur he wears from head to foot. And the red and white of his outfit probably goes all the way back to the original St. Nicholas, whose robes as a bishop at the time would have been red and white.

In 1837, Robert W. Weir painted a well-known portrait of Santa as someone friendly and tubby, with a hood, knee boots, and a bag of toys. In 1866, Thomas Nast in Harper’s Weekly filled out the rest of the picture with Santa’s workshop, the toys, the sleigh, and a record of those who had been good or bad.

For centuries, the Saint Nicholas celebration was held on December 6 and was completely separate from the Christmas Day celebration. After Luther and the Reformation, St. Nick was replaced by the Christ child—in German, “christkindl” or “christkindli.” This eventually developed into the figure of Kris Kringle, who was

sometimes accompanied by Pelz Nichol, the hairy imp, and he came at Christmastime instead.

The celebration of the birth of Christ, or Christmas, on December 25 began at Rome, and was separate from the St. Nicholas festivals entirely. When Henry VIII founded the Church of England, the St. Nicholas festivals were banned in England, as there was a decisive break from practices associated with Catholicism, among them the veneration of saints. Then when Queen Victoria married Albert, a German prince, they were resumed, probably because of the emphasis placed on the St. Nicholas festival in Germany. But in England the St. Nicholas figure reappeared as Father Christmas, with a long tailed coat and a square beaver hat—and like Kris Kringle, he also came at Christmastime. The choice of December 25 came to us through English influence, because the Dutch still observe December 6, as to all the Netherlands, Belgium, parts of Germany, and Switzerland. In each of these countries, December 25 is still observed, but it is a purely religious holiday which remains separate from the St. Nicholas day festivities.

The date for celebrating the birth of Christ goes all the way back, like the St. Nicholas tradition, to the 4th century A.D. (although there is no true connection). In the year 354, Pope Liberius of Rome set the date, probably as a deliberate counter to the Roman Saturnalia, or feast of Saturn, celebrating the birth of the sun. In an interesting parallel, we also emphasize, as did the Roman feast, the symbol of light, which represents Jesus, the Light of the world, and we celebrate the birth of the “Son.” And I would like to add just a note concerning the use of the word “Xmas” as a shortened form of the word Christmas. I have heard more than one diatribe against the practice as just one more way in which people are “taking Christ out of Christmas.” Actually, the “X” used in this way was an old traditional way of referring to Christ. The word for Christ in the Greek alphabet begins with a letter which looks much like our letter x, and was commonly used in place of the word as a symbol which stood for Christ.

The symbols with which we have become familiar in connection with the season come from a variety of traditions. Hanging stockings by the chimney goes all the way back to the St. Nicholas legend, which says that Nicholas went out one evening and threw a bag of gold into the window of a poor family’s home, and it landed in a stocking. The tradition became popular in England, where children would hang them by the fireplace and Father Christmas would come and fill them.

The origins of hanging mistletoe are a little uncertain. We do know that the early Druids used mistletoe in some form associated with magic, but it is unlikely that the tradition arose from them. A stronger possibility is that it developed from French traditions which held that mistletoe brought good luck. Also, many traditions hold to the idea of a “kiss for luck.”

The tradition of the yule log came from Scandinavia, where care is taken to be sure it keeps burning. In France, it must burn until New Year’s Day. The tradition of putting up a tree also came from Scandinavia, where trees had been worshipped in ancient times. Legend says that when St. Boniface came to Scandinavia, he found the largest “blood oak” (oaks were the most common objects of worship) and cut it down. The legend says that when the tree fell, a fir tree sprang up in its place. Boniface called the fir tree an appropriate symbol for Christ, the “ever-living one.” The idea of decorating the tree arose in Germany, at first only with lights. Martin Luther was the

first, hanging a star as a symbol for the star over Bethlehem, and the smaller lights to represent the other stars in the sky.

The tradition of holly and ivy comes from the old Roman custom of exchanging evergreen branches on New Year’s Day as a sign of good luck. The manger scene was first created by St. Francis of Assisi. St. Francis also traditionally was the one responsible for bringing the singing of Christmas carols to the common people, as they had traditionally been sung only by church officials. The ringing of bells comes to us from Norway, where the bells would begin ringing in the holiday beginning at 4 p.m. on Christmas Eve. Norway also gives us the tradition of Santa Claus coming down the chimney.

The giving of gifts was a very early tradition, from both the St. Nicholas day celebration and Christmas: on St. Nicholas day in honor of Nicholas’ generosity, and on Christmas in remembrance of the wise men who came bearing gifts. Christmas cards were first sent in London in 1843, and became a tradition which spread rapidly, becoming a common practice in this country by 1875.

Of all the traditions and symbols of the season, there appears to be only one which is universal wherever you may go: the star, which represents both the bright star over Bethlehem and Christ, the Light of the world.

In the final analysis, both Christmas and Santa Claus are thoroughly Christian at their roots, and began as two separate celebrations. St. Nicholas Day became paganized, until the reformers tried to reclaim it by moving the date of its celebration to December 25. Christmas did NOT have pagan origins, as some have tried to claim, but arose separately and was deliberately placed on the same day by papal decree, probably as a deliberate challenge to the Saturnalia celebration.

But the fact still remains that Christmas was paganized to some degree, was reclaimed, and at this point in our history, has been strongly commercialized. We as Christians have our work cut out for us to continue to witness to the world the true meaning of Christmas. Personally, I am not one of those who see a demon under every rock when they look at the traditions which are non-Christian which have become mixed with the celebration. And in fact, I believe many who feel that way tend to see a demon because they are looking for one. I believe we will see God and Jesus Christ in Christmas to the extent to which we look for them. For instance, in reference to the Santa tradition, we ought to consider how well St. Nicholas obviously lived out the truth of the statement, “It is more blessed to give than it is to receive.” And think about this: who else do we know besides God who “sees you when you’re sleeping, knows when you’re awake,” and “knows when you’ve been bad or good?” And didn’t you, even as a child, recognize that it was far beyond human powers for someone to be able to go everywhere in the world and get all those presents to every house overnight? Let’s face it, if you want to go looking for demons, I have a lot more problems with the Easter bunny than I do with Santa Claus.

Let me suggest this to you: make it your business to learn which traditions are, and which ones are not, truly Christian symbols. I have heard so much criticism about Christmas trees, because “the Bible says not to worship trees.” But I have yet to see anyone bowing down to one, and if I read the tradition right, it arose from the actions of one who was fighting AGAINST tree worship, and in the process found a beautiful

symbol for Christ. We need to know that. Others need to know that. And if we can learn these things, and let them enrich our tradition and our worship, then we can teach others, and teach our children, and make this an even more meaningful celebration of Christ.