Christmas vignettes from John McC

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 READING 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 CHRISTIAN 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 25^TH 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 25^TH DATE SOME(NOTABLY HOLLAND) ADOPTED ST NICHOLAS’ BIRTH DATE (DEC 6^TH) 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

YEARSAND 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” IN 1843 IN BRITAIN 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 .

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

Thanks John McC