St. Nicholas Day - Gather.com : Gather.com Today, on St. Nick's day, December 6th - a look at how Christmas has been celebrated through the ages and a look at the original St. Nicholas. Christmas is among the most celebrated holidays in the world, being the celebration of the birth of Jesus on December 25th. The reality differs from this date, but the variance of history from religious worship or contemporary custom does not detract from the awe that surrounds the birth of Jesus, one of the most powerful religious figures who ever lived.
St. Nicholas of Myra, Turkey, as depicted in a 19th-century Russian painting.
St. Nicholas from 1294. The early Christian church did not celebrate the birth of Jesus, as the date on which Jesus was born was pegged at different dates by early historians. Writers in early Christendom placed Jesus? birth at November (Clement of Alexandria) or on May 24th or April 25th, but in Egypt, early Christians marked the date as January 6th, a date evolved from Pagan rites. In 350 A.D., Pope Julius I set the date at December 25th. Early Christians celebrated the birth of Jesus on January 6th; in 525 A.D., Dionysus Exiguous calculated the year of Jesus' birth and designated that year as the Year of the Lord, Domino 1 A.D. In 250 A.D., the Roman Emperor Aurelian wanted to replace Roman polytheism with Sun worship and so declared December 25th as the Sun's birthday, lending a formal date to the Pagan winter solstice festivities practiced many centuries before Christ. Many early Christians took part in winter solstice celebrations, marked by candlelight processions.
Burning the log all night long during early Winter Solstice celebrations, from Wikipedia In the 4th century, when the Christian church moved the celebration of Jesus' birth from his baptism on January 6th to December 25th, this date coincided with the festivals of light and processions of greenery practiced during the winter solstice celebrations. It was in part the popularity of the winter solstice celebrations which convinced early Church leaders to note Jesus' birth as December 25th and the Epiphany on January 6th. December 17th marks the beginning of Saturnalia, a Roman celebration that lasted until December 25th, a time of great celebration and much licentious behavior. The Saturnalia included the Juvenilia, which was a feast for children, and which borrowed from the Pagan ritual of hanging toys upon a tree, marking an early precursor of the Christmas tree. The Roman God Saturn denoted plenty or bounty, and the Saturnalia included role reversals of Masters taking on the role of Slaves, as well as cross-dressing rituals in pantomimes. The pantomime plays continued long into the Middle Ages and beyond in Europe. On Christmas day, the modern-day British army includes an element derived from the early Saturnalia festivities, in which the officers serve the men first. The tradition of exchanging presents also dates back to the Saturnalia. During the Roman Kalends (a week after December 25th), the sun rose higher in the sky than on December 25th, and was celebrated as a time of processions of evergreens and bright lights, and marked the birth of the New Year, January 1.
The earliest written record which notes December 25th as being the celebration of Jesus? birth, was found in a Latin work, dating 354 A.D. Another early Christian record from about 400 A.D. noted December 25th as one of the three great Christian festivals, with Epiphany and Easter being the other two. Eastern rite Christendom objected to the Pagan roots of the date of December 25th as being the celebration for the birth of Jesus, and preferred to celebrate the Epiphany, or Baptism, instead, known as Little Christmas, on January 6th. Many orthodox Christians today celebrate Little Christmas as the main Christmas, rather than December 25th. By 1038, the Old English word Cristes Maesse which means the Mass of Christ, was noted; by 1131, the term was commonly used. The use of evergreens, particularly mistletoe and the wreath, also have Pagan origins. The mistletoe held miraculous powers of all heal to the Pagans, but this greenery was not allowed inside Christian churches, due to its Pagan roots.
Mistletoe in England from Wikipedia In Scandinavia, the mistletoe was considered to represent peace by which enemies reconciled, and is considered the birth of the mistletoe kiss, by which we commonly know the mistletoe today. Holly was widely used to decorate homes during the Pagan winter solstice festivities, with evergreens representing immortality.
Holly The wreath is a strongly Christian symbol, but it derives from Pagan times, with its symbolism of eternal time -- a wreath has no beginning and no end. The wreath is a full circle in which all end points return to the beginning, a symbolic representation of the Alpha and the Omega, and has been incorporated into both secular and religious celebrations of Christmas.
Wreath of Red Rowan berries The Christmas tree itself has early origins. The fir tree was widely used during Roman times during
winter solstice celebrations, and remains one of the most popular woods used in Europe and North America for Christmas trees. The use of Christmas carols dates back to early French carol, which was a circle dance; even the Latin choraula and Greek choros referred to a circle dance often used during religious celebrations and fertility rituals. With such Pagan roots, the early and medieval Christian church frowned upon the ever-growing popularity of such song-dance performances and banned them in the 7th century. In 1209, the Christian church banned the songs themselves. But within two hundred years, the use of carols enjoyed a brief resurgence in England, before the Puritans suppressed these popular song forms.
It was not until Charles Dickens story, A Christmas Carol, was published in 1843 in England that carols began to enjoy the popularity they would eventually enjoy in our contemporary world. Dickens' A Christmas Carol also spawned the birth of celebrating Christmas as we know it today, minus the immense commercialism that attends the celebration of Christmas.
Frontispiece for Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, 1843, public domain Mincemeat pies were popular in the 16th century and were originally made of minced mutton and spiced raisins. Long a modern favorite, the Mince pie derives from Pagan consecrated cakes used during the Saturnalia, and were frowned upon by the Puritans. The contemporary mince pie is now made up of spiced raisins and other fruit. In 567 A.D., the Church declared the 12 days between the Nativity and the Epiphany as one cycle of festivity, and retained the custom of gift giving. Even though the Church regarded gift giving with disdain, the practice proved too popular among the peoples, and the Church was forced to acquiesce. The actual day for gift giving was held at January 1st during the Medieval period and onwards. Boxing Day a custom practiced in the British Commonwealth, originated in the 17th century, with the term boxes, first referring to cash gifts. During Queen Victoria's rule, Boxing Day was fixed at St. Stephen?s Day on December 26th. This writer was also told that in feudal times, Boxing Day was when the Lords would 'box' up their leftovers and give them to the serfs. Boxing Day remains a work holiday today in the British Commonwealth. In the U.S., of course, December 26th is back to work for many, and is a day in which customers begin to return gifts they do not want. Saint Nicholas is the patron saint of children. He was born in Myra, Turkey about 300 A.D., as the only child in a wealthy family. He was orphaned as a small child when his parents died of the plague, and was raised in a monastery. When he was 17, he became one of the youngest priests in history. Nicholas was regarded as extremely generous, and away much of his wealth as gifts to the neediest children. Legends arose around Nicholas in which he dropped bags of gold down chimneys, or in which he threw bags of gold through windows, wherby the bags of gold then landed in stockings that had been hung from fireplaces to dry. In America at New Amsterdam, the Dutch tradition of ?Sinter Klaas? (pronounced Santa Claus) continued from the Nederlands. Sinter Klaas was the Dutch saint of children who, on December 5th, filled shoes that had been left outside on the steps with candy. This was a tradition that quickly proved immensely popular with the early British settlers.
Sinterklaas, Netherlands, 2005 The problem of early British settlers paying homage to a Catholic Saint (St. Nicholas) was genuine for many as the settlers were Protestant. And so the Dutch figure of St. Nick who visited children on December 5th eventually became reborn as the Santa Claus who dropped bags of toys down chimneys on December 25th. Throughout Europe, the figure of Santa was celebrated variously. England celebrated Father Christmas, France knew this figure as Pare Noel and Germany celebrated this personage first as Weihnachtsmann, and then as Christkindlein and Kriss Kringle. in the U.S., the personage of Santa Claus changed, as well. In 1821, William Gilley wrote a poem about Santeclaus, a man dressed in fur who drove a sleigh with one reindeer. By 1841, J.W. Parkinson, a Philadelphia merchant, hired a man to dress in ?Criscringle? attire and to climb the chimney outside his store. The contemporary image of Santa, in part, dates back to 1863, when Thomas Nast, a cartoonist for Harper's Weekly, drew the image most closely resembling the one we commonly see today: a man dressed in fur from head to boot, with whiskers and a long beard.
Thomas Nast's Santa, 1863, cover of Harper's Weekly. Nast's cartoon three years later (1866), known as Santa's Works, was probably the first reference to Santa and a toy shop. This image included a reference to Santa Claus as a toy maker; a book appeared a few years later with Nast's drawings, which stated that Santa's home was at the Click here for more. North Pole.
Thomas Nast's Santa and his Works, 1866
Cover by Jessie Wilcox Smith of Clement Clarke Moore's "Twas the Night Before Christmas". This cover is from 1912, but Moore's original poem was published in 1823. The poem was originally called "A Visit from St. Nicholas" but is better known by "Twas the Night Before Christmas" and is regarded as the main image of Santa Claus in the popular mind.
"Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house, Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there..." Enjoy this most marvelous season. Copyright © 2007-2013 Kathryn Esplin-Oleski
