November 26, 2002 Christianity and Christmas

by Fr. Stephen Dominic Hayes, O.P.
The following is the notes from a talk given by Father Steven Dominic Hayes, OP on the history of Christmas and it's traditions.

Introduction

What about Christmas and it's proper celebration and meaning? This is going to be an exercise in some dusty places in history. This is the eldest liturgical feast in the history of the Church.

Whenever we celebrate a major feast in the Church we usually are celebrating an event with two qualities, one historical and one transcendent. The grace of Jesus Christ is lived in human flesh this is historical but there is also what this has a meaning for us as Christians and signs for what the lord uses to communicate His own truth.

In Zanesville while Father Hayes was teaching some young children and trying to explain the passion of the Lord, the story of the true cross was explained. He said the way they knew which one was the true cross when the early Christians went to Jerusalem looking for it is that they brought the sick and the lame to touch them and the one that healed those people was the true cross.

After recovering it part was left in Jerusalem, part was taken to Constantinople and the last part to Rome to the Pope. While explaining this a little voice says, "They cut it up?!" His answer was "Yeah, sure they cut it up." In our day we would want to keep it together for history's sake but in those days they wanted to make it easier for people to see it so they split it up. Then Father showed them a splinter of the true cross showing that was given to him.

He remembered passing it around and the one kid who was most moved by it was the one who was horrified by it being cut up in the first place, that day that thing in his hand made the death of Jesus more real for him. It's a splinter like any other except for the meaning it communicated.

This is like prayer, you don't learn to pray except for within a Christian community and that can even be just in the context of the family. As a community we learn the shape of the Church's prayer. We learn that primarily our prayers in the church are Trinitarian. The mass, it addresses the Father, we pray through the Holy Spirit and through Christ.

The liturgy has a shape that communicates that which God wants to tell us. The same is true on the shape of the calendar. Suffice it to say, each Sunday is a little Easter. First it's the celebration of the Easter mystery, as the year goes on there are different patterns and qualities.

The feasts of the Church form a Church year. Somehow every feast of the Church year references Christ himself. Even those of the various Saints and Mary.

How it all began

The first reference we have of a Church-wide celebration is 336ad. That is about as early as a public proclamation that it can be because they didn't even have authority to function until 313ad. So within 25 years we had this feast declared and celebrated formerly in the Church.

How early before this, however, was the feast celebrated? We know that feast was celebrated prior to the emancipation under Constantine, we knew that the Pascal mystery (the mass) was celebrated before this time too. We find that other feasts mentioned in the third century, one of which has a bearing on Christmas.

The origin of the feast is a matter of lively discussion among the scholars. There is widening views on how it came about. One school holds it to be the birthday of Christ, but not all authors hold it to be that. Some others celebrate it to be the mystery of the incarnation; we're celebrating not the birthday but the fact that he was born. St. John Chrysostom in the 400's held it to be the date of Christ's birth.

How did the early Church look at Jesus? They believed, as we do today, that He signified perfection in all things. As early as the year 150 an early Church author named the 25th of March as His death. That would be the day he was crucified. The notion of the day of Christ's birth is associated with the cycle of His life. He was put to death at 33 and if the date of His ending is March 25, what is His beginning? The same day, of course! This is why we celebrate the annunciation to Mary on the 25th of March, a feast which we can trace to be even older than Christmas. The historian Hypolitus mentions this in the first part of the 1st century.

If Jesus is living a perfect life and He's conceived on the 25th of March then when is His birth? 9 months perfect which would be December 25. So, if the early Church was celebrating the 25th of March then it is not inconceivable that it was celebrating Christmas on December 25.

Origins of Christmas

Some have said that Christianity has nothing to do with Christmas. It was a wicked festival taken over by the Catholic Church. Because in the year 270ad, the emperor declared a Roman festival in honor of the sun god on the 25th of December. So the conclusion has been drawn that Christians simply adopted the feast.

This has happened with other festivals, like with All Saints Day, but that is another discussion. Now if the Church was already celebrating the feast of the annunciation long before the year 270, it's conceivable that they were celebrating Christmas too so the emperor would have placed his festival on top of the Christian feast. In the 270's Christians were not a small group so the Roman emperor could have done it to combat them. The emperor, at this time, was also insisting that paganism 'tighten up it's act'.

He called it the day of the birth of the sun god. Which normally would be on the winter solstice. The thing about Christmas, if it's supposed to be a solstice festival, it would be celebrated on a moving holiday so it's not convincing that this was a solstice festival taken over by the Church. You can argue the history as much as you want, it's a matter of how you read the fragments of history.

How do you cope with living in a pagan world? If the meat sold in the markets was meat from the pagan rituals, how can you eat this? To deal with this they would ask the Lord to bless the food which may have been used in a pagan ceremony, this is one reason why we say grace before meals today. They had to live in the midst of a pagan society. They have to learn what to accept and what not to accept.

Over time the festival become much less of a festival of Christ's birth but a celebration of the meaning/reality of it. If you look at the Christmas story all it refers ultimately not to Christmas itself but the work on the cross. In the infancy narratives in Matthew and Luke, if you set them side by side they're completely different. In Matthew the angel appears to Joseph, not Mary. So Joseph gets the annunciation in Matthew's gospel, Mary gets it in Luke. The shepherds are in Luke, not in Matthew. The wise men in Matthew, not in Luke.

In terms of the celebrating of Christmas, the scriptural meaning of Christmas came forward more and more. In the Eastern Church the solstice was in the 6th of January. The eastern church celebrated that as the birth of Christ until over time it was made into a 12-day period between the birth of Christ and the Epiphany which is celebrated on January 6.

In the west, Christmas celebrates the story of Jesus' birth, the Epiphany is more of the meaning of His birth for the world. The Epiphany is sometimes called by different groups "little Christmas", or the feast of the kings, other epiphanies include the wedding at Cana and baptism of the Lord.

Christmas as a feast

Christmas is a powerful feast that is manifest. Christmas is one pole of the Church celebration the other is Easter and, biblically, these are inseparable. Especially in the scriptural narrative with the kings, He is born into poverty and obscurity and they didn't recognize him at His death. There was no room at the inn, the first thing He feels is the wood of the manger and the last thing is the cross. The beginning in swaddling clothes and at the end, bound by the cross.

To you see the parallel?

In the hands of the Holy Spirit and Holy Church, all these symbols that are gathered together in Christmas find their origin and message in Jesus. As the Church makes her way through the world in time and space other people like the romans come in and other celebrations are brought in.

Want to speak of the celebration of Christmas. Like lent, there is a season of preparation before Christmas. It is called Advent. It means "coming of the Lord" and we celebrate that. There is a twofold celebration. The first two weeks talk about what happens when the Lord comes again, not about what happened at Bethlehem. This is the first note of Advent. It looks forward to His second coming. If you think about it, all the rest of the celebration is a view to prepare for the second coming. The second two weeks are much more emphasized on what happened at Bethlehem.

All throughout you hear about the origins of the prophets especially Isaiah. He will come as a king, but rejected; by His stripes we are healed. Isaiah is prominent over the weeks of Lent.

The Christmas Season

In the Christmas season itself there is a period of 8 days between Christmas and the Feast of Mary, the Mother of God. This is an octave. Many big feasts have octaves. They celebrate a feast that needs to be celebrated for a long time. Easter also is celebrated for 8 days. Each of the 8 days is a meaning of Christmas.

As we celebrate Christmas, His birth and manifestation in the flesh, so at the end of that day, we celebrate the saving power of that manifestation in us. What is the 8th day of Christmas? The 1st of January which is a holy day of obligation for Catholics also. There are at least three meanings which attach themselves to Jan. 1. The oldest one is the feast of Our Lady; the eldest of her feasts.

Why Our Lady? Because she is the one in whom the grace of Christ is most perfectly accomplished. Among Christians she is the one who has cooperated more fully. It is in her that we see the graces of Christ, which are revealed at Christmas, manifest in her own life.

This also was a feast of putting away of idols. A celebration of Christ's destruction of idolatry. In old testament God forbad the Jews from making idols. Idols are human representations of God and they're all liars in that sense because God had not revealed himself fully to his people. But in Jesus Christ He gives us a face and in that face we are to love and worship. The manifestation gives no excuse for any idol anymore.

The third reason for this feast was the events of our Lord's life which is the circumcision which is done 8 days after the birth. This is a perfect feast because it's a time He comes under the law and He sheds His blood for us. This is the first suffering he undergoes in obedience to His Father's will. Which is a necessary part of His progress towards the cross; His entrance fully under the yoke of the law.

There is also during the 12 days of Christmas the celebration of those saints; the companions of Christ showing the glories of Christmas. The 26th is St. Steven's day, the first martyr. He manifested the grace of Christ in his own flesh. The next day is St. John who writes of the beauties of Christ who lights the darkness. The 28th is the holy innocents who were killed by Herod and died in place of Christ and who will be saved by the blood of Christ. Their lives testify to the wickedness of the world as the soldiers pierced them.

The holy innocence were considered martyrs and saints but they were not baptized and could not make an act of will because they were under 2 years old. This is what we mean by Christmas grace.

Adopted/Current Practices

If you look at the kind of things that the church has brought in to the feast. The Christmas tree is said to have pre-Christian origins, it doesn't, however, there is no such thing as a medieval Christmas three, the first one was in 1605 and it was meant as the tree of paradise, the tree of Christmas represents the tree of knowledge of good and evil and it represents the tree of the cross itself green now but dry and bare at the death. Evergreens to strew the house were used.

Candles, the light of Christ shining in the darkness.

There are a few customs like mistletoe which never were part of Catholic tradition. To understand why it was hung, there is an ancient Norse legend about the god balder who was put to death by the god Lokey who used an arrow dipped with mistletoe to put him to death, because mistletoe drank in the blood of this god, it is the source of everlasting life. It ended up as part of Christmas stuff. I don't think those who kiss under the mistletoe care about the god balder.

Some are just basic symbols of the fundamental mystery of God's appearance among us in flesh. For instance, in Christian circles, the holly represents the crown of thorns sprinkled with blood.

Question: I always thought the death and ressurection of Christ was the most essential thing that ever happened to mankind. If I think of the stuff the Church does surrounding Christmas, it doesn't make sense to me. Isn't Easter much more important?

If He hadn't been born, He couldn't have died. This is a child who came to die, we give Him royal honors because He has come to die. The pomp of Christmas is the manifestation and shadow of the glory of Christ in our lives. It's a magical time even for those who aren't Christian and can be corrupted by the spirit of the world.

Question: Baptism, if a child is born without baptism and he dies, what the church believe?

If the child dies without baptism, the problem with it is that Jesus says if you not born of the water and the spirit, you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. There are some people who have the baptism before the water is poured. If a man has a heart attack and dies before he is baptized as he is walking up to receive the sacrament, is he baptized? Yes, it is called a baptism of desire. Same thing for the Roman who was moved by the Christians in the coliseum and he joined the martyrs to die with them, that is the baptism of blood. The problem with the child is that they cannot make the grasp, it is not a problem for Christian parents.

You have to trust the mercy of Jesus. In the case of God giving the child to Christian parents and they do everything they can then you have to trust. The hard one is the child with no connection to the gospel at all, pagan parents. But I would say trust the Lord. But a feast that gives hope is the holy innocents since they were born of those who did not know Jesus. Who knows.

Question: Listening to CNN you hear pat Robertson and they say something about Muslims and Christ said nobody comes to the Father except through me. I have wondered how that affects Muslims.

If the person truly seeks God, Christ would not refuse that person because it would make Him cruel. The second thing is that the mistake that we intend to say is that all religions are alike, that is false. If they find Islam all their life and were faithful and truly sought God they could go to heaven, but not because they were a faithful Muslim. There is grace for those who did not have the opportunity before they die.

Question: Is the correlation between the Old and New Testament, between the birth of Christ and the book of Revelation.. I was talking to someone about the end times, she said, "Revelation is an allegory" where is she coming from?

There is much that is allegorical, there is, but Old Testament is similar to the Revelation. What happens in Revelation has to be fully done, it must. Christmas is the celebration of the end times for His second coming.

Question: Was the angel who appeared to the Sheppard Gabriel too?

The Bible doesn't say, you may believe whatever you like.

Question: Angels are all species under God they all look the same, so do they look the same when the appear?

I don't know, there's no description other than that they appeared. In the old testament they appeared with animal heads or as fire. In the new testament they always appear in terms of humanity because God had revealed His son as humanity. I don't know what they looked like but I know he said, "don't be afraid' to Mary.

Question: Is it true that more graces are released at Christmas than at Easter?

I have not heard that, I would think it would be the other way but these are beliefs of good Christian people that have no founding in doctrine.

Question: We know from the gospels that there was a census. Aren't there historians that say this is when it was taken then this is when He was born?

There is no record of a census at all. For a while Pontus pilot was merely a figure and not real, there is barely mention of him at all.

This is what we mean by opinion of the historical facts. In terms of the shape of your belief, I'd stick with the Holy spirit and the Church's celebration. If you stick with the meanings made bright and shining through the life of the prayer of the church you're not going to get historical squabbles.