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| Tuesday, 21 December 2004 |
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Soon it will be X'mas by Derrick Schokman Soon it will be Christmas! Time to dust off the crib, put up the tree and wrap up the gifts. Year after year, Christians go through the same preparations to celebrate the nativity of Jesus Christ, seldom stopping to enquire how these customs came into being. The X'mas festival was introduced to Sri Lanka by the Portuguese in the 16th century. With them came the Franciscan Friars of the Order of St. Francis of Assisi. They introduced the crib. Crib The crib is a model of the nativity of the Christ child in a stable in Bethlehem, the parents having failed to find any room in the crowded inns. It shows the child lying in a manger with the animals grouped around, the mother and father looking on, joined by the Shepherds who had been advised of the event by the angels. Ever since Christianity was accepted in Europe by the 4th century, models of the crib were produced and distributed among the Christian fraternity. It was however a Franciscan, St. Francis, who popularised it as an important part of the cult of Christmas. He realised that the most human thing in life is birth. We are all born the same way, although we might die in a hundred different ways. So in order to teach people's minds by means of their eyes he initiated the cult of the divine birth. He acted a live representation of the nativity to celebrate X'mas in 1224 in a small village in Italy. That night in a forest glade made radiant with lights, solemn masses were celebrated over the manger. Later it became the practice for devotees to sing carols and dance around the crib in churches. Tree The Christmas tree originated in Germany. It was the practice in Europe during the middle ages to celebrate the winter solstice at the end of December when the sun returned to its northern course. Houses were decorated with branches of fir, holly and ivy - all evergreens - to symbolise the undying nature of the sun. With the spread of X'mas in Europe, the paradeisbaum or "Paradise Tree" was introduced to German Mystery Plays to represent the Garden of Eden. This became the German X'mas tree (Tennabaum). The tree was ringed with lighted candles, and hung with gingerbread men and angels. It was introduced to England by Princess Lieven in 1829. Prince Albert, the German Consort of Queen Victoria, had a tree for the royal children at Windsor in 1841. The English X'mas tree was decorated with gilded nuts, sweets, oranges, tinsel, tiny lanterns and candles. A model representing the Holy Infant, a golden angel, or a star representing the Star of Bethlehem adorned the top of the tree. The tree became so popular in England that in 1850 Charles Dickens wrote of the "pretty German toy which adorned the festive table." This miniature was decorated with sweets and fruits, which were left until the twelfth night after X'mas when they were distributed to the children. Bon-Bons A more modern X'mas tree decoration and a popular item at the festive table to be enjoyed after the festive fare has been consumed is the Bon-Bon. It is a French contribution to X'mas via the English. In Paris, confectioners were known to wrap sugar almonds in twists of coloured paper to make them more attractive to customers. They were called Bon-Bons. Tom Smith, an English pastry cook and confectioner, borrowed the idea to put trinkets in the same sort of packaging, with a strip of gunpowder that gave a shot gun like explosion when pulled. And there was born the modern X'mas cracker or Bon-Bon. Santa Claus A Christmas without Santa Claus would be unthinkable. The jolly white bearded, red robed character is a mixture of old and new world traditions. He originated in Holland as Saint Nicholas, who used to visit the children at X'Mas, rewarding those who had been good with gifts. When the European migration started to the New World, the Dutch took with them the cult of Saint Nicholas. The English settlers there readily adopted St. Nicholas with a few alterations, changing his name to Santa Claus and endowing him with a reindeer-drawn sledge and the jingle bells that are associated with it today. From English America, Santa Claus, in his new form, was exported to the rest of the world via the British Empire. He has however taken on a much more universal role than St. Nicholas, the patron saint of children. He has become the very personification of paternity, or more privately daddy or thaththi tip-toeing quietly on the night before X'mas to hang his children's gifts on the tree. Crib, tree, bon-bons, decorations, fireworks and Santa Claus add to the charm of Christmas. Yet at no time should they be allowed to mask the quintessential message that the Angels brought when the Christchild was born: Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace and goodwill to men. |
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