Untitled Essay, Research Paper

Christmas HistoryThe word Christmas comes from the old English “Cristes maesse” meaning Christ’s

Mass. The Holiday celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. The actual birthday

of Jesus is not known; therefore, the early Church Fathers in the 4th century

fixed the day around the old Roman Saturnalia festival (17 – 21 December),

a traditional pagan festivity. The first mention of the birthday of Jesus

is from the year 354 AD. Gradually all Christian churches, except Armenians

who celebrate Christmas on January 6 (the date of the baptism of Jesus as

well as the day of the three Magi), accepted the date of December 25th.In American/English tradition, Christmas Day itself is the day for opening

gifts brought by jolly old St. Nick. Many of our current American ideals

about the way Christmas ought to be, derive from the English Victorian Christmas,

such as that described in Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.”The caroling, the gifts, the feast, and the wishing of good cheer to all

- these ingredients came together to create that special Christmas

atmosphere.The custom of gift-giving on Christmas goes back to Roman festivals of Saturnalia

and Kalends. The very first gifts were simple items such as twigs from a

sacred grove as good luck emblems. Soon that escalated to food, small items

of jewelry, candles, and statues of gods. To the early Church, gift-giving

at this time was a pagan holdover and therefore severely frowned upon. However,

people would not part with it, and some justification was found in the original

gift giving of the Magi, and from figures such as St. Nicholas. By the middle

ages gift giving was accepted. Before then it was more common to exchange

gifts on New Year’s Day or Twelfth Night.Santa Claus is known by British children as Father Christmas. Father Christmas,

these days, is quite similar to the American Santa, but his direct ancestor

is a certain pagan spirit who regularly appeared in medieval mummer’s plays.

The old-fashioned Father Christmas was depicted wearing long robes with sprigs

of holly in his long white hair. Children write letters to Father Christmas

detailing their requests, but instead of dropping them in the mailbox, the

letters are tossed into the fireplace. The draft carries the letters up the

chimney, and theoretically, Father Christmas reads the smoke. Gifts are opened

Christmas afternoon.From the English we get a story to explain the custom of hanging stockings

from the mantelpiece. Father Christmas once dropped some gold coins while

coming down the chimney. The coins would have fallen through the ash grate

and been lost if they hadn’t landed in a stocking that had been hung out

to dry. Since that time children have continued to hang out stockings in

hopes of finding them filled with gifts.The custom of singing carols at Christmas is also of English origin. During

the middle ages, groups of serenaders called waits would travel around from

house to house singing ancient carols and spreading the holiday spirit. The

word carol means “song of you.” Most of the popular old carols we sing today

were written in the nineteenth century.The hanging of greens, such as holly and ivy, is a British winter tradition

with origins far before the Christian era. Greenery was probably used to

lift sagging winter spirits and remind the people that spring was not far

away. The custom of kissing under the mistletoe is descended from ancient

Druid rites. The decorating of Christmas trees, though primarily a German

custom, has been widely popular in England since 1841 when Prince Albert

had a Christmas tree set up in Windsor Castle for his wife Queen Victoria,

and their children.The word wassail is derived from the Anglo-Saxon phrase “waes hael,” which

means “good health.” Originally, wassail was a beverage made of mulled ale,

curdled cream, roasted apples, nuts, eggs, and spices. It was served for

the purpose of enhancing the general merriment of the season. Like many of

the ancient customs, wassailing has a legend to explain its origin. It seems

that a beautiful Saxon maiden named Rowena presented Prince Vortigen with

a bowl of wine while toasting him with the words Waes hael. Over the centuries

a great deal of ceremony had developed around the custom of drinking wassail.

The bowl is carried into a room with great fanfare, a traditional carol about

the drink is sung, and finally, the steaming hot beverage is served.For many years in England, a roasted boar’s head has been associated with

Holiday feasting. The custom probably goes back to the Norse practice of

sacrificing a boar at Yuletide in honor of the god Freyr. One story tells

of a student at Oxford’s Queen College who was attacked on Christmas Day

by a wild boar. All he had in his hand to use as a weapon was his copy of

Aristotle, so he shoved the book down the boar’s throat. Wanting to retrieve

his book, the student cut off the animal’s head and brought it back to the

college where it was served for Christmas dinner with much pomp and

ceremony.It is from Scandinavia that most of our Yule log traditions derive. The dark

cold winters inspired the development of traditions concerned with warmth

and light. Yuletide, meaning the turning of the sun or the winter solstice,

has traditionally been a time of extreme importance in Scandinavia – a time

when fortunes for the coming year were determined and when the dead were

thought to walk the earth. For a long time, it was considered dangerous to

sleep alone on Christmas Eve. The extended family, master and servant, alike

would sleep together on a freshly spread bed of straw.The Yule log was originally an entire tree, carefully chosen, and brought

into the house with great ceremony. The butt end would be placed into the

hearth while the rest of the tree stuck out into the room. The tree would

be slowly fed into the fire and the entire process was carefully timed to

last the entire Yule season.The Christmas tree has never been particularly popular in France, and though

the use of the Yule log has faded, the French make a traditional Yule log-shaped

cake called the “buche de Noel,” which means “Christmas Log.” The cake, among

other food in great abundance, is served at the grand feast of the season,

which is called Le reveillon. Le reveillon is a very late supper held after

midnight mass on Christmas Eve. The menu for the meal varies according to

regional culinary tradition. The traditional Christmas dinner is made of

turkey with chestnuts puree, and the buche de Noel as desert. Oysters are

eaten on New Year’s Eve only because New Year’s is more an adult celebration

and usually children are not very fond of oysters. The tradition in Paris

is to eat grilled chestnuts in the streets during the month of December and

part of January.The popularity of the Nativity scene, one of the most beloved and enduring

symbols of the holiday season, originated in Italy. St. Francis of Assisi

asked a man named Giovanni Vellita of the village of Greccio to create a

manger scene. St. Francis performed mass in front of this early Nativity

scene, which inspired awe and devotion in all who saw it. The creation of

the figures or pastori became an entire genre of folk art.