Thanks John.... your input is much appreciated
OVER THE PAST NINE YEARS THESE INTROS HAVE FEATURED
VIGNETTES OF MY CHRISTMASES PAST BUT
WHEN I BEGAN TO THINK
ABOUT A TOPIC FOR THIS YEAR I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE
APPROPRIATE IF THIS TENTH ANNIVERSARY
ISSUE WERE TO
FOCUS ON
SOME OF THE HISTORICAL LANDMARKS
OF CHRISTMAS
ITSELF.
THE LITTLE TOWN OF BETHLEHEM WHERE IT ALL
BEGAN.
TODAY, A SMALL TOWN OF APP 30,000 PEOPLE
IN THE WEST BANK UNDER PALESTINIAN CONTROL BUT
OBVIOUSLY A MUCH SMALLER COMMUNITY 2000 YEARS AGO. YET IT IS THE SITE OF
THE GREATEST SOCIAL REVOLUTION THE WORLD HAS EVER SEEN. SITUATED ABOUT 10 KMS
,OR 6 MILES FOR THE OLD FOLKS LISTENING TO THIS,SOUTH OF JERUSALEM, BETHLEHEM
WAS THE BIRTHPLACE OF DAVID ,LATER CROWNED KING OF ISRAEL BUT MORE
SIGNIFICANTLY THE BIRTHPLACE OF JESUS ,SON OF MARY AND JOSEPH
WHILE THERE HAS BEEN AND NO DOUBT WILL
CONTINUE TO BE
MANY DIFFERING SCHOLARLY OPINIONS AS TO
THE EXACT DATE
AND IF
INDEED , THERE WAS AN ACTUAL DIVINE BIRTH ,TO THE
BILLIONS OF CHRISTIANS AROUND THE WORLD
JESUS IS THE REASON
FOR THE SEASON AND THE FOUNDATION FOR
THE CELEBRATION.
THE
THREE HUNDRED YEARS FOLLOWING CHRIST’S BIRTH SAW THE
GROWTH OF THE
CHRITIAN FAITH AND IN 325 AD THE ROMAN
EMPEROR CONSTANTINE
,WHO HAD RECENTLY CONVERTED TO
CHRISTIANITY
DECLARED THAT THE CELEBRATION OF
CHRIST’S BIRTH WOULD, IN
FUTURE, BE AN
IMMACULATE FEAST. IN 352 AD POPE LIBERIUS DECLARED THAT
THE DECEMBER 25TH IMMACULATE
FEAST WOULD HENCEFORTH BE
THE OFFICIAL DATE OF THE BIRTH OF CHRIST CELEBRATION.
SOMEWHERE AROUND THAT SAME TIME ,NICHOLAS
THE WEALTHY BISHOP OF MYRA A TOWN IN WHAT IS MODERN DAY
TURKEY WAS DEVELOPING A REPUTATION AS A CARING, GIVING
INDIVIDUAL. THE REPUTATION WAS GREATLY
ENHANCED BY THE
STORY THAT HE
SECRETLY, AT NIGHT, OVER SUCCESSIVE
YEARS,THREW A BAG OF
GOLD COINS THROUGH THE WINDOW OF A POOR
TAILOR WHO NEEDED
MONEY AS THE DOWRY SO THAT EACH OF HIS THREE DAUGHTERS
COULD MARRY.UPON HIS DEATH AND SUBSEQUENT
BEATIFICATION
NICHOLAS BECAME THE ADOPTED PATRON SAINT
OF CHRISTMAS AND
SO THE TRADITION OF THE NAME AND OF GIFT
–GIVING WAS BORN.
OVER THE YEARS ST NICHOLAS HAS MORPHED
INTO FATHER
CHRISTMAS,KRIS KRINGLE ,SINTER KLAAS ETC
AND THE DATE OF
GIFT-GIVING HAS VARIED AS WELL, ADJUSTED BY THE
MANY
COUNTRIES WHICH CELEBRATED THE EVENT.
WHILE SOME RETAINED
THE DEC 25TH DATE
SOME(NOTABLY HOLLAND) ADOPTED ST
NICHOLAS’ BIRTH DATE (DEC 6TH)
AS THE DAY FOR DOLING OUT
GOODIES,PIECES OF COAL AND EVEN SOME
MINOR PUNISHMENTS. AS
THE
TRADITION OF CHRISTMAS CONTINUED TO GROW IN THE YEARS
AND CENTURIES FOLLOWING IT WAS NOT UNTIL APP THE YEAR 1500 THAT
MARTIN LUTHER ,THE FOUNDER OF THE
PROTESTANT REFORMATION TOOK A FIR TREE
INTO HIS HOUSE AND
DECORATED IT WITH CANDLES AND THUS BEGAN
ANOTHER
TRADITION THAT IS NOW AN INTEGRAL
COMPONENT OF THE
CELEBRATION
ALONG WITH THESE MORE SECULAR
DEVELOPMENTS ,THERE WAS A
PARALLEL DEVELOPMENT OF RELIGIOUS HYMNS
AND CAROLS AND
HEREIN LIES A LITTLE –KNOWN CANADIAN
CONNECTION. IN 1643 THE
JESUIT PRIEST FATHER JEAN DE BREBEUF ,A
MISSIONARY TO THE
HURON TRIBE IN AND AROUND CENTRAL
ONTARIO WROTE THE
WORDS , IN THE HURON LANGUAGE, THAT WE KNOW TODAY AS “THE
HURON CAROL”.
WHILE THE TRADITIONS CONTINUED TO
GROW,THE NEXT GREAT
SURGE OCCURRED IN THE MID 1800’S WHEN A
GERMAN PRINCE BY THE
NAME OF
ALBERT MARRIED HIS COUSIN QUEEN VICTORIA AND
BROUGHT WITH HIM THE GERMAN TRADITION OF
THE CHRISTMAS
TREE. BECAUSE THE GREATEST WAVE OF
IMMIGRATION, AT THAT
TIME, WAS
GENERALLY FROM BRITAIN TO NORTH AMERICA
THE CONCEPT WAS
VERY QUICKLY TRANSPORTED TO THE NEW COUNTRIES.
ALTHOUGH CHRISTMAS WAS CELEBRATED IN
MANY COUNTRIES IT
WASN’T UNTIL THE PUBLICATION OF CHARLES
DICKENS “A
CHRISTMAS CAROL” THAT IT BECAME A LEGAL
HOLIDAY AND A LITTLE LATER ALABAMA
BECAME THE FIRST U.S.
STATE TO DO THE SAME.
AS IN MOST CASES THOUGH, THE CHRONOLOGY
DID NOT ALWAYS
FOLLOW A STRAIGHT LINE AND SO IT IS WITH
THIS STORY.
ALTHOUGH THE TRADITION OF THE CHRISTMAS
TREE ONLY CAME TO
BRITAIN AND THENCE TO NORTH AMERICA IN THE 1840’S AND 1850’S
CLEMENT CLARK MOORE OF CHELSEA NEW YORK
JUST OUTSIDE NEW
YORK CITY HAD ALREADY WRITTEN IN 1822 “A VISIT FROM ST.
NICHOLAS” OR AS WE KNOW IT TODAY “T’WAS
THE NIGHT BEFORE
CHRISTMAS” AS A SPECIAL CHRISTMAS GIFT
FOR HIS CHILDREN .
AND
FINALLY TO THE CHARACTER OF SANTA CLAUS
HIMSELF. THE BIG
FELLOW WITH THE RED SUIT ,BUSHY BEARD ,
BLACK LEATHER BOOTS
AND BELT AND TINY SPECTACLES THAT WE
KNOW TODAY WAS
CREATED IN 1865.
THOMAS NAST,AN AMERICAN CARICATURIST ,
EDITORIAL
CARTOONIST FOR HARPERS WEEKLY AND WIDELY
ACKNOWLEDGED
AS THE FATHER OF AMERICAN CARTOONISTS IS
GENERALLY
CREDITED WITH THE ICONIC PORTRAIT OF THE
SANTA CLAUS THAT
IS, TO THIS DAY, THE STANDARD WHICH HAS
CHANGED ONLY VERY
LITTLE IN THE PAST 144 YEARS. AND THERE
IT IS FOLKS, THE READERS
DIGEST VERSION OF THE HISTORY OF
CHRISTMAS BOTH SECULAR AND
SPIRITUAL. A COMINGLING OF THE SPIRITUAL
ESSENCE OF FAITH HOPE AND CHARITY WITH THE SECULAR DECORATED TREES AND FEASTS
AND GIFTS AS IT HAS BEEN FOR SOME 1700 YEARS.
OVER THOSE 1700 YEARS THE CELEBRATION
HAS SURVIVED A VARIETY OF BANS AND CHALLENGES,INCLUDING MOST RECENTLY ,THE PUSH
BY SOME TO MAKE IT A GENERIC HOLIDAY,HOWEVER THAT TOO, AS OTHERS IN THE
PAST ,HAS FAILED.
AND SO WITH A HEARTY HO,HO,HO FROM OUR HOUSE TO YOURS WE WISH YOU
ALL ,
MERRY CHRISTMAS ,MERRY CHRISTMAS ,MERRY
CHRISTMAS AND MAY 2013 BE A HEALTHY AND PROSPEROUS ONE
JOHN AND DIANE MCCONACHIE
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