History is the study of the past events. The past
remains very indispensable in life. This is because the knowledge of the past
enhances a good relation with the present in preparation for the future. The
importance of history can never be overemphasised; for without it, we cannot
claim to fully know about our lives in general. Bringing it to a specific
aspect of the human life, relating with such may not be possible without
adequate knowledge of it. And knowledge of such a thing is never complete until
its past is revealed. The only means through which the past is known is by
studying the past. This study is no other but History. Arguably, the past of
some things may not be needed at the moment. Yes this may be true. But
supposing beyond this moment such information is needed and one lacks it, what
then happens? If the sincere thought of this kind of situation will lead in one
way or the other into regrets either at the short run or at the long run,
suffice it to be enough to have the history of everything in life as much as
one can. It is on this psychological atmosphere that I briefly present the
history of Christmas. The mkpụrụ ihe of this work is simply to
tell us about the childhood of Christmas in a concise manner.
Christmas is the Christian feast of the
commemoration of the birth of Jesus Christ. It is based on the Biblical story
of the birth of Jesus Christ described in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke (cf.
Matthew chaps. 1&2; Luke chaps 1&2). In the Catholic Church, this is
preceded by the Advent season which aims at preparing the faithful for this
commemoration of the birth of Jesus Christ and a further preparation for the
Second Coming of Jesus Christ as he promised. Having developed from several
languages, the term “Christmas” entered the English
language sometime around 1050 as the Old English phrase Christes maesse, meaning
“festival of Christ.” Scholars believe the frequently used shortened form of
Christmas—Xmas—may have come into use in the 13th century. The X stands
for the Greek letter chi, an abbreviation of Khristos (Christ),
and also represents the cross on which Jesus was crucified.
Talking about the date of the
celebration, the precise origin of
assigning December 25 as the birth date of Jesus is unclear. Historians are unsure exactly when Christians first began
celebrating the Nativity of Christ. However, most scholars believe that
Christmas originated in the 4th century as a Christian substitute for pagan
celebrations of the winter solstice. Before the introduction of Christmas, each
year beginning on December 17 Romans honoured Saturn, the ancient god of
agriculture, in a festival called Saturnalia. This festival lasted for seven
days and included the winter solstice, which usually occurred around December
25 on the ancient Julian calendar. During Saturnalia the Romans feasted,
postponed all business and warfare, exchanged gifts, and temporarily freed
their slaves. Many Romans also celebrated the lengthening of daylight following
the winter solstice by participating in rituals to glorify Mithra, the ancient
Persian god of light. These and other winter festivities continued through
January 1, the festival of Kalends, when Romans marked the day of the new moon
and the first day of the month and year.
Although
the Gospels describe Jesus’ birth in detail, they never mention the date, so
historians do not know on what date he was born. The Roman Catholic Church
chose December 25 as the day for the Feast of the Nativity in order to give
Christian meaning to existing pagan rituals. For example, and as noted above, the
Church replaced festivities honouring the birth of Mithra, the god of light,
with festivities to commemorate the birth of Jesus, whom the Bible calls the
light of the world. The Catholic Church hoped to draw pagans into its religion
by allowing them to continue their revelry while simultaneously honouring the
birthday of Jesus. The Eastern Orthodox Church took a slightly different
course. However, ancient historical sources have it that Catholics first
celebrated Christmas, then known as the Feast of the Nativity, as early as Ad 336. By the end of the 4th century
the Eastern Church in Constantinople had also begun to acknowledge December 25
as Jesus’ birthday, but it emphasized the celebration of Christ’s baptism on
January 6 as the more important holiday.
Another
source has it that December 25
was first identified as the date of Jesus' birth by Sextus Julius
Africanus in 221 and later became the universally accepted date. One
widespread explanation of the origin of this date 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 of the resurgence of the sun, the casting away of
winter and the heralding of the rebirth of spring and summer.
Also, one account has it
that December 25 became the date of Jesus' birth by a priori reasoning that
identified the spring equinox as the date of the creation of the world and the
fourth day of creation, when the light was created, as the day of Jesus'
conception (i.e., March 25). December 25, nine months later, then became the
date of Jesus' birth. For a long time the celebration of Jesus' birth was
observed in conjunction with his baptism, celebrated around January 6.
In all these accounts, we can say that the date of
Christmas as 25th December is connected with some pagan celebrations
and a Christianization of them. This is because after December 25 had become
widely accepted as the date of Jesus' birth, Christian writers frequently made
the connection between the rebirth of the sun and the birth of the Son. The official
Christmas season, popularly known as either Christmastide or the Twelve Days of
Christmas, extends from the anniversary of Christ’s birth on December 25 to the
feast of Epiphany on January 6. This season extends up to the feast of the
Baptism of our Lord in the Catholic Church. In the Catholic Church, a
significant feature of this season is the construction of the Christmas crib
which represents the place and early events of the birth of Christ. This crib
is visited by the faithful throughout the season where they offer prayers to
God either as individuals or groups.
Although Christmas is a religious
feast, the holiday attached to its period has made it to be observed as a secular
festival. For most people who celebrate Christmas, the holiday season is
characterized by gatherings among family and friends, feasting, and gift
giving. When it comes
to the nature of the celebration, the bible did not explicitly define such.
Nevertheless, the nature and character of the celebration has been developed by
human beings who know what serves them best and are ready to go for it. Christmas
celebrations have been shaped by the religious and popular traditions of each
culture that celebrates the holiday. Traditionally, the sacred Christmas season
starts with Advent, which begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas and
continues to Christmas Day. It ends on the Christmas Eve as Christmas begins
with the Vigil of 24th December. During Advent, Christians especially
Catholics make preparations for the commemoration of Jesus’ birth on December
25, and also look forward to the Second Coming of Christ. The Catholic midnight
Mass was first introduced by the Roman Catholic Church in the 5th century.
Christmas Masses are sometimes solemn and sometimes buoyant, depending on the
particular culture that conducts them.
Do
you know about the Christmas tree, ornamentals and cards? I will tell you. The
Christmas tree has evolved from German Culture. Although it was traditionally a
symbol of fertility, they transformed it into a Christian symbol of rebirth.
According to legend, the Christmas tree tradition began with the founder of
German Protestantism, Martin Luther. While walking through the forest on Christmas
Eve, Luther was so moved by the beauty of the starlit fir trees that he brought
one indoors and decorated it with candles to remind his children of God’s
creation. In 1841 Prince Albert of Germany gave his wife, Queen Victoria of
England, a gift of a Christmas tree. This was reputedly the first Christmas
tree in England, but the custom spread quickly. German immigrants took the
Christmas tree to other parts of Europe and to the United States and Canada,
where it soon became a popular tradition. This Christmas tree has been made with some
other materials to make it look better.
The practice
of exchanging Christmas cards also became a widespread custom in the 19th
century. Europeans had distributed wood prints of religious themes for
Christmas during the Middle Ages (5th century to 15th century). In 1843 English
illustrator John Callcott Horsley created the first modern Christmas card. The
card depicted a family celebration and its caption read, “A Merry Christmas and
a Happy New Year to You.” In the United States, German-born printer Louis Prang
made advances in colour lithography that enabled him to mass-produce a
colourful Christmas card in 1875. The card sold extremely well, and soon the
custom of exchanging Christmas cards spread throughout the country. Flowers and
other objects like the Christmas lights, objects etc. have been made to make
the celebration wonderful.
Christians
traditionally and till today exchange gifts as a reminder of God’s gift of a
saviour to humankind. Gift-giving also recalls an ancient Roman custom of
exchanging gifts to bring good fortune for the New Year. This history remains
brief. Perhaps a further research on the matter will enlighten us the more. We
need to know very well and knowing very well has no limit. Mine is only
a step to know the more.
Nwanyanwu Chris
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