SPECIALreport on Christmas


 

By Chika Abanobi

There are many stories surrounding the Christmas celebration, all of which cannot be featured here for lack of space. But with these few focusing on how the December 25 date was determined, the origin of the Santa Claus/Father Christmas phenomenon, Christmas Carols, Christmas Cards, Yuletide and Xmas, Saturday Sun wishes our esteemed readers happy celebrations.

 

How December 25 became Christmas Day

The first recorded date of Christmas being celebrated on December 25 was in 336 AD. This was under Emperor Constantine of Rome, believed to be the first Christian Roman Emperor to turn Christianity into a state religion and stop the continued persecution of Christians by the state. But Christmas was not made an official Roman state festival until much later.

Saturday Sun investigation shows that the idea of fixing Christ’s birth on December 25 arose from the Annunciation usually celebrated annually by many Christians, especially Roman Catholics, on March 25. For those who don’t know, Annunciation is used to mark the day the angel appeared to Mary to tell her that she would have a very special baby called Jesus through the power of the Holy Ghost. It is the calculation of the nine-month gestation period that brought the date of Christ’s supposed birth to December 25.

St. Augustine of Canterbury, anointed by Pope Gregory the Great, was credited with starting the widespread celebration of Christmas in large parts of England when he introduced Christianity to the regions run by the Anglo-Saxons in the sixth century. Having introduced it as something to be celebrated on December 25, using the Roman Calendar to do his calculation from March 25 to December 25, the people of Britain and Western Europe took the celebration to other parts of the world.

 

A differing view on the actual date of Christ’s birth

But many notable scholars of Bible exegesis cast doubts on the claims about Jesus being born on December 25. They base their arguments on three developments: one, the appearance of the Star of Bethlehem (Matthew 2:1-12); two, the Augustinian Roman Census that took place around the period of His birth (Luke 2:1-7), and three: the visit of the angel and announcement of glad tidings to the shepherds tending their flock in the field (Luke 2:8-17), an event that was to later inspire the classic Christmas carol “Noel.”

They argue that those events couldn’t have taken place during the Winter Solstice that usually comes up around the December period. During this time, which is characterised by severe winter, stars hardly come out, and so there couldn’t have been any star to lead the Wise Men (The Magi) to the manger. And, of course, that wouldn’t have been the right time for shepherds to be out tending sheep. In other words, they wouldn’t have been out there keeping their sheep on the hills, as hills were usually snow-capped at that time of the year.

In the alternative, the disagreeing Bible scholars place Christ’s birth around autumn, between September and October, adding that it is the time of the Jewish festival of “Sukkot” or “The Feast of Tabernacles” when Jewish people living outside Palestine or ancient Israel come home to celebrate the festival which also marks the end of the harvest. During this time, they look for temporary shelters. Everywhere was fully booked or occupied, hence “there was no room in the inn” for Joseph and Mary to stay when they went for the census. This is because many Jews came home not only for the “Sukkot” festival but also for the census. The ruling Roman government, the scholars posit, must have used that period to fix the census knowing full well that many Jews would be coming into the city. Because of the clement weather, it would have been also the appropriate time for shepherds to tend their sheep in the field and for stars to appear in the sky in Northern Hemisphere.   

 

Santa Claus/Father Christmas

St. Nicholas, the man who later became known as Santa Claus, was a Bishop who lived in the fourth century, in a place called Myria in Asia Minor (in present-day Turkey). His parents were said to have died when he was young, leaving him with a lot of money he had no use for. But he was not only stupendously rich but also kind. He had this reputation of helping the poor and giving secret gifts to people in need. But at the same time, he courted anonymity as if his whole life depended on it. Legend has it that there was a poor man who had three daughters. He was so poor that he couldn’t pay their dowries as demanded by tradition (the money paid by the bride’s parents to the bridegroom on the wedding day). So for that reason, his three daughters continued to remain unmarried.

It was this man that St. Nicholas decided to help, and, as usual under strict anonymity. One day, he dropped down a bag of gold through the chimney into the house and it fell into a red stocking that was hung by the fire to dry. With that, the eldest daughter was able to marry. He did likewise with the second daughter. But when it came to the third daughter, the man decided to find out the person who was sending the money. He hid around the fireplace to keep a watch, and that was how he was able to catch St. Nicholas dropping the money. Though he begged him not to tell anyone, the news soon got out. From that day on, whenever anyone received a secret gift, especially around the Christmas period, they believed it came from St. Nicholas, later known as Santa Claus in Spanish. It was such that people began to look forward to receiving gifts from him during Christmas. Over the centuries, images of him, dressed in red, and carrying a big bag supposedly filled with Christmas gifts, were to emerge but with his usual anonymity completely stripped off.  

In the 16th century in northern Europe, as a result of the reformation of that period, the stories and traditions associated with St. Nicholas began to wane and later became unpopular. But not so the tradition of delivering gifts to children at Christmas. In fact, they earnestly continued to look forward to it. So, in the United Kingdom, particularly in England, the name became changed to “Father Christmas.”

 

Christmas Carols

Carols were first sung in Europe thousands of years ago. But they were not Christmas Carols as we have them today. They were pagan songs, sung to usher in the Winter Solstice. The shortest day of the year, it was celebrated around December 22by European natives. They believed that if they did not dance and sing usually around stone circles, the sun might disappear never to be seen again. But, in later years, Christians celebrating Christmas replaced the pagan festival with Christmas Carols. To support the transition, in 129 AD, a Roman Bishop composed a song titled “Angel’s Hymn.” In 760, Cosmas of Jerusalem, one of the founding fathers of the early church, added another song. Today, those hymns have been replaced by more modern and danceable ones.

 

Christmas gifts/presents

All over the world, families, and friends celebrate Christmas with gifts. Most children around the world look forward to these which they had been taught to believe come from St. Nicholas, Santa Claus or Father Christmas, depending on which part of the world they come from: Belgium, Latin America, or United Kingdom. These presents are left in different places: shoes, boots put outside by the children. In Italy, the UK, and the USA, the presents are left in stockings, often left hanging by a fireplace. Of course, the custom of hanging stockings comes from the story of St. Nicholas. In other countries, the presents are left under the Christmas Tree and are often opened on Christmas day morning with all members of the family present.

 

Christmas cards

The custom of sending Christmas cards to friends and families, which nowadays, is being done electronically, was started in 1843 by Sir Henry Cole. A senior civil servant, he helped to set up the Public Record Office, later known as the Post Office. As an Assistant Keeper, he wondered how it could be used more by ordinary people, and that was how the idea of sending Christmas cards through it came about. But, as shown by the following facts and figures, the Christmas card idea preceded him. Moo.com in its “The Anatomy of a Christmas Card” shows the timelines and other facts and figures

Timelines

1700s – English schoolchildren write Christmas messages to their families on bordered paper.

1820s – Colour is added to engraved borders

1840s – Official Christmas card tradition, initiated by Queen Victoria. comes into existence.

Related News

1843 –   First commercial Christmas card is commissioned by Sir Henry Cole

1870 –   One penny post practically allows anyone to send a Christmas card.

1875 –   Louis Prang brings Christmas card production to America

1881 –   Louis Prang is printing more than 5 million Christmas card per year

1900s – The Royal Mail deals with 11 million cards during the festive season.

1915 – John Hall and two of his brothers creates Hallmark Cards in Kansas, USA.

1949 – UNICEF launches their world-famous charity Christmas Card programme.

1953 – First official White House Christmas cards issued by President Eisenhower

1987 – One of Sir Henry Cole’s early Christmas cards is sold for 2,000 pounds (about

 N1,104,000), at an  auction in London.

2001 – Another of Sir Henry Cole’s early Christmas cards is auctioned for 22,500

 Pounds (about N12,420, 000).

2010 – 1.5 billion Christmas cards are sent in the United States each year

 

Facts and figures

1.5 billion cards were sent in the US in 2010 compared to 678.9 million in the UK.

Forty-five per cent of all cards sent every year are Christmas cards.

Each year in Finland, Santa Claus receives 600,000 cards.  At 10 seconds a card, it will take one person working non-stop from Christmas Day until mid-March the following year to open them, and on 80 km long mantelpiece to display them all. 

Only 15 per cent of cards are bought by men; the rest 85 are bought by women and children.  And 72 per cent of eight to 24 year olds send Christmas cards, compared to 91 per cent of over 55-year-olds.  

The most cards sent by one person in a year is 62, 824, nearly enough to cover a football pitch. In the UK, an estimated $80 million dollars (50 pounds), is raised from the sale of Christmas cards for charities each year.

In 2008, the average US family spent $32.43 on Christmas cards compared to 14 pounds ($22.50) for UK families. 

The most expensive card was sold at auction $35,800 dollars (22, 500 pounds). It was one of the first-ever commercial Christmas cards, commissioned by Sir Henry Cole in 1843 and sent to his grandmother. The artwork was by John Callcott Horsely.

Smallest Christmas card would fit into a UK 1st Class stamp 8,000 times.

 

Between Christmas and Xmas, which is correct?

There had been debates over the correctness of the latter. Both are correct, depending on what you are trying to portray. But you need to know how Xmas came about. In the early years of Christianity in Rome, adherents were few and were hated and persecuted by citizens, strongly encouraged by the state, particularly under the despotic Roman Emperor, Nero Claudius Augustus Germanicus (AD 37-68), simply known as Nero. Although deeply resented by the aristocrats, he was popular with the lower-class commoners who saw him as their hero and took his word as law. To save themselves from his wrath, Christians not only went into hiding but also took to communicating with one another through codes to avoid being betrayed.

Whenever the first century Christians met in secret, they would use the first two letters of Christos (meaning Christ in Greek) in the Greek alphabet to create a monogram (symbol) to represent the name of Jesus. This looks like an X with a small p on the top. When two Christians met, one person drew half a fish shape in the dust on the ground, often using their foot, and the other drew the other half. The Greek word for fish is ‘ikthus’ or ‘ichthys.’ But the second letter of this five-letter word is X or Christos. Over time, Christians began to join the Greek “X” to the English word “mass” and before anyone could say, Feliz Navidad, it became a fanciful usage.

 

How about Yuletide?

The Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English defines “Yule” as the old use of “Christmas” and Yuletide as “Christmas.” It also tags Yuletide as an uncountable noun; in other words, it is wrong English to write or say: “Yuletides.” The Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary defines “Yule” as the “festival of Christmas” while it defines “Yuletide” as “the period around Christmas Day.” For example: “Yuletide food and drink.” But the surprising thing about the expressions “Yule” and “Yuletide” that found their ways into English Language usage is, they are not English words but Scandinavian. 

In Scandinavia and some other parts of northern Europe, the time around the Winter Solstice (December 22) is known as Yule. But the word never came into existence and into common usage until about 300 AD. In later years, it later found its way into the English lexicon.