Christmas
Christmas | Origin | Definition | History and Facts
By Tapas Saha 05/12/2019
Christmas, the Christian festival celebrating the birth of Jesus. The English term Christmas ("mass on Christ's Day") is of fairly recent origin. The earlier term Yule may have been derived from the Germanic jōl or the Anglo-Saxon geōl, which referred to the feast of the winter solstice. The corresponding terms in other languages — Navidad in Spanish, Natale in Italian, Noël in French — all probably denote nativity. The German word Weihnachten denotes "hallowed night." Since the early 20th century, Christmas has also been a secular family holiday, observed by Christians and non-Christians alike, devoid of Christian elements, and marked by an ever-changing elaborate exchange of gifts. In this secular Christmas celebration, a mythical figure named Santa Claus plays the pivotal role.
Origin And Development
The early Christian community celebrated the identity of the date of Jesus' birth and the liturgical celebration of that event. The actual observance of the day of Jesus' birth was coming in long. In particular, during the first two centuries of Christianity, there was strong opposition to recognizing birthdays of martyrs or, for that matter, of Jesus. Numerous Church Fathers offered sarcastic comments about the pagan custom of celebrating birthdays when, in fact, saints and martyrs should be honoured on their martyrdom of the day — their true “birthdays,” from the perspective of the church.
The precise origin of the assigning December 25 as the birth date of Jesus is unclear. The New Testament provides no clues in this regard. December 25 was first identified as the date of Jesus' birth by Sextus Julius Africanus in 221 and later became a universally accepted date. One widespread explanation of the origin of this data is that December 25 was the Christianizing of the dies Solis invicti nati ("day of the birth of the unconquered sun"), a popular holiday in the Roman Empire that celebrated the winter solstice as a symbol. The resurgence of the sun, the casting away of winter and the heralding of the rebirth of spring and summer. Indeed, after December 25 had become widely accepted as the date of Jesus' birth, Christian writers often made the connection between the rebirth of the sun and the birth of the Son. One of the difficulties with this view is that it suggests a nonchalant willingness on the part of the Christian church to appropriate a pagan festival when the early church was distinguishing itself from categorically from pagan beliefs and practices.
A second view suggests that December 25 became the date of Jesus' birth by a priori reasoning that identified the spring equinox as the creation of the world and the creation of the third day, when the light was created, as the day of Jesus. 'conception (ie, March 25). December 25, nine months later, then became the date of Jesus' birth. For a long time, the celebration of Jesus' birth was celebrated in conjunction with his baptism, celebrated January 6.
Christmas began to be widely celebrated with a certain liturgy in the 9th century but did not attain the liturgical significance of either the Good Friday or Easter, the other two major Christian holidays. Roman Catholic churches celebrate the first Christmas mass at midnight, and Protestant churches have held Christmas candlelight services late on the evening of December 24. A special service of "lessons and carols" intertwines Christmas carols with script readings narrating history from the Fall The Garden of Eden to the coming of Christ. The service, inaugurated by E.W. Benson and adopted at the University of Cambridge, have become widely popular.
Contemporary Customs In The West
None of the traditional Christmas customs has their origin in theological or liturgical affirmations, and most are fairly recent to date. The Renaissance humanist Sebastian Brant recorded, in Das Narrenschiff (1494; The Ship of Fools), the custom of placing branches in the fir trees. Even though there is some uncertainty about the precise date and origin of the Christmas tree, it appears that fir trees were decorated with apples first known in Strasbourg in 1605. The first use of candles on such trees is recorded by a Silesian duchess. In 1611. The Advent wreath — made of fir branches, with four candles denoting the four Sundays of the Advent season — is even more recent in origin, especially in North America. The custom, which began in the 19th century but had roots in the 16th, originally involved a fir wreath with 24 candles (the 24 days before Christmas, starting December 1), but the awkwardness of having so many candles reduced the number on the wreath. to four. An analogous custom is the Advent calendar, which provides 24 openings, one to be opened each day beginning December 1. According to tradition, the calendar was created in the 19th century by a Munich housewife who was tired of having to answer endlessly when Christmas would come. The first commercial calendars were printed in Germany in 1851. The intense preparation for Christmas that is part of the commercialization of the holiday has blurred the traditional liturgical distinction between Advent and the Christmas season, as can be seen by the placement of Christmas trees in sanctuaries well before December 25.
Toward the end of the 18th century, the practice of giving gifts to family members has become well established. Theologically, the feast day reminded Christians of God's gift of Jesus to humankind, even as the Wise Men, or Magi, to Bethlehem suggested that Christmas was somehow related to giving gifts. The practise of giving gifts, which goes back to the 15th century, contributed to the view that Christmas was a secular holiday focused on family and friends. This was one of the reasons why Puritans in Old and New England opposed the celebration of Christmas and in both England and America succeeded in banning its observance.
The tradition of celebrating Christmas as a secular family holiday is splendidly illustrated by a number of English "Christmas" carols such as "Here We Come A-Wassailing" or "Deck the Halls." It can also be seen in the practice of sending Christmas. cards, which began in England in the 19th century. Moreover, in countries such as Austria and Germany, the connection between the Christian festival and the family holiday is made by identifying the Christ Child as a giver of gifts to the family. In some European countries, Nicholas appears on his feast day (December 6) bringing modest gifts of candy and other gifts to children. In North America the pre-Christmas role of Christian saint Nicholas was transformed, under the influence of the poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas "(or" "Twas the Night Before Christmas"), Santa Claus is the source of Christmas gifts for the family. While both name and attire — a version of the traditional dress of the bishop — of Santa Claus reveals his Christian roots, and his role in questioning children replicates his past behaviour about St. Nicholas, he is seen as a secular figure. In Australia, where people attend open-air concerts on Christmas carols and have their Christmas dinner on the beach, Santa Claus wears red swimming trunks as well as a white beard.
In most European countries, gifts are exchanged on Christmas Eve, December 24, keeping no baby that Jesus was born on the night of the 24th. The morning of December 25, however, has become the time for the exchange of gifts in North America. In the 17th- and 18th-century Europe the gifts of the modest exchange took place in the early hours of the 25th when the family returned home from the Christmas mass. When the evening of the 24th became the time for the exchange gifts, the Christmas mass was set in the late afternoon that day. In North America the centrality of the morning of the 25th of December is the time for the family to be open to the church, with the exception of the Catholic and some Lutheran and Episcopal churches, to hold the virtual end of church services that day. A striking illustration of the way societal customs influence liturgical practices.
Given the importance of Christmas as one of the major Christian feast days, most European countries observe, under Christian influence, December 26 as a second Christmas holiday. This practice recalls the ancient Christian liturgical notion that the celebration of Christmas, as well as that of Easter and of Pentecost, should last the entire week. The weeklong observance, however, was successfully reduced to Christmas day and a single extra holiday on December 26th.
Contemporary Customs in Eastern and Oriental Orthodoxy
Contemporary Customs In Other Areas
With the spread of Christianity beyond Europe and North America, the celebration of Christmas was transferred to societies throughout the non-Western world. In many of these countries, Christians are not the majority population, and, therefore, the religious holiday does not become a cultural holiday. Christmas customs in these societies thus often echoed Western traditions because people were exposed to Christianity as a religion and cultural artefact of the West.
In South and Central America, unique religious and secular traditions mark the Christmas celebration. In Mexico, on days leading up to Christmas, the search for Mary and Joseph is reenacted, and children try to break a piñata filled with toys and candy. Christmas is a great summer festival in Brazil, including picnics, fireworks, and other festivities, as well as a solemn procession celebrating the church to celebrate mass.
In some parts of India, the evergreen Christmas tree is replaced by the mango tree or the bamboo tree, and the houses are decorated with mango leaves and paper stars. Christmas is largely a Christian holiday and not otherwise widely observed.
Japan serves as a different sort of illustration. In that predominantly Shintō and Buddhist country, secular aspects of the holiday — Christmas trees and decorations, even singing of Christmas songs such as “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” or “White Christmas” —are widely celebrated instead of the religious aspects.
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