CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVES

Christmas and the Christmas Tree

W T A Leslie Fernando

Christmas is a festival that has a worldwide appeal. The Crib, Christmas Carols, Christmas Tree, Santa Claus, Christmas plays and Christmas greetings are all appreciated by non-Christian as well.

Christmas Tree is one of the most popular traditions associated with Christmas. To some Christmas has no meaning without a Christmas Tree. Christmas Tree is normally is an evergreen coniferous tree decorated with lights and colourful ornaments. During the Christmas season the Christmas Tree is a common sight in homes, shops and many other places.

The tradition is that the Christmas Tree was set up on the eve of Christmas on December 24 and removed on the feast of Ephahany on January 06. However due to commercialisation of Christmas, the Christmas Trees appear long before the Christmas eve.

In US there is a tradition to set them up on the fourth Thursday on November called the thanks giving day though some put up the Christmas Tree by the second week of December. In UK shops put up Christmas trees by October. In Australia usually the Christmas tree is set on December 1st.

Now-a-days both natural and artificial trees are used as the Christmas Tree. Usually evergreen trees are taken as natural ones Fir being the most popular. Fir trees have the added advantage of good green foliage and the scent. Less traditional trees like Cypres are also taken for the purpose.

Artificial Christmas trees have become increasingly popular as they are considered more convenient. They save the space in many homes specially in apartments. They are less expensive in the sense they could be used for several years. Today there are some artificial Christmas trees that look really natural due to the advancement of scientific techniques.

The Christmas Tree has its origin in the pre-Christmas pagan cultures. It is often described as Christianisation of an ancient pagan tradition. When the winter solistincs arrived they brought date palm leaves into the homes to symbolise the life’s triumph over death. The Egyptians treasured and worshipped evergreen trees.

The Romans celebrated the winter solistics with a festival called Satarnaila where they decorated homes with evergreen trees and lights and exchanged gifts. In UK wood priests called Druids used evergreen trees for their winter solistic rituals. Germans and Scandinavians placed evergreen trees just outride homes to signify the hope of forthcoming spring.

The Christmas Tree has evolved from these traditions and even Carols are associated with evergreen trees. The word ‘Carol’ means a dancing song. it is said that in ancient cultures people used to dance around evergreen trees singing Carols.

This practice is still continued in Sweden where they dance around the Christmas Tree singing Christmas Carols.

According to legend it was St. Boniface who used Fir trees to be associated with Christmas. In the 7th century he went to Germany to convert people to Christianity. he used triangular Fir trees to describe the Holy trinity God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The converts began to reverse the Fir tree as the God’s tree instead of the Oak. But it was not until the 16th century that the Fir tree was brought indoors at the Christmas time.

The first decorated Christmas Tree has appeared in Riga in Latvia in 1510. According to legend it was Martin Luther who began to decorate the Christmas Tree. According to this story in 1510 Martin Luther when walking through the Riga forest was taken up by the beauty of moonlight glistening on the branches of a Fir tree. He chopped down a little tree and took it home for his children. He attached to candles to branches to recreate moon light.

But according to other sources, the Riga tree reference and Martin Luther story are two distinct occurrences. The original Riga tree was a mixture of pagan and Christian customs. In central and northern Europe. Little is known about the original Riga tree except that it was attended by men wearing black hats and after the ceremony they burnt the tree. It is said that the first Riga tree with flowers and lit the bonfire after the ceremony.

Whatever the origins of the Christmas Tree by the mid 16th century there were gifts, food items, decorations and ornaments in the German market for the Christmas Tree. The early Christmas Trees were symbolic of the Paradise Tree in the Garden of Eden and many items were symbols of plenary.

From Germany the Christmas Tree spread to other parts of Europe. In the early 19th century it became popular among the nobility as far as Russia. Christmas Tree was introduced to Vienna in 1816 and the custom spread all over Australia in the subsequent years. In 1840 the Christmas Tree was introduced to France by the Dutchess of Orleans.

The Christmas Tree first came to England with the Georgian kings who came from Germany. German merchants living in England had Christmas Trees decorated in their homes. The British public were not fond of German monarch and they did not copy the fashion of Court. A few families had Christmas Trees more due to the influence of German neighbours than the Royal Court.

In 1846 popular Royalty and her consort Prince Albert were depicted in the ‘Illustrated London News’ standing round the Christmas Tree with their children.

This helped the Christmas Tree to be popular not only in Britain but also with the fashion conscious American society in the East coast.

By 1860 Christmas Tree had taken root in England and the English Christmas Tree became more innovative than the delicate one of the earlier decades. Small toys were hung on most of the branches and most of the gifts were placed under the Christmas Tree.

It was the Hessain soldiers who introduced the Christmas Tree to America. The Pennysylavinan German settlements had the community Christmas Trees as early as 1747. When the Christmas greetings by post became a popular practice.

Christmas Tree too got a boost as it was an item often depicted in Christmas cards. By the beginning of the 20th century the Christmas Tree spread all over Europe and America and became inseparable with Christmas.

From the time of the British the Christmas Tree has become a popular feature during the Christmas in Sri Lanka. You could see thousands of Pine trees transported from the up-country and distributed all over the island to be used as Christmas Trees. There are others who use artificial Christmas Trees as well.

The Christmas Tree is given prominence in all our Christmas parties, nites and celebrations. In these functions Christmas presents are placed at the floor of the Christmas Tree. It is also featured in the term-end parties in offices where the Christmas party and farewell party to officers going on transfer are held together.

Like all the Christmas traditions at times Christmas Tree is also demeaned. There are some use glittering Christmas trees to show off their pride and splendour, in contrast to the theme of Christmas.

There are also some Christmas parties where they distribute a few gifts from the Christmas Tree and spend many more times for the entertainment of others with abundant liquor and for the advertisement of the event.

Whatever it is the Christmas Tree has become a part and parcel of Christmas all over the world.

(The writer is a former President of Newman Society Alumni Association)

Where is true Santa ?

Lenard R Mahaarachchi

Christmas is the celebration of the Holy Birth of the Jesus Christ, Son of God, taking human flesh in the womb of Mary, His Virgin Mother. It is a holy feast that must be celebrated in a holy way. Christmas was not celebrated during the early centuries, as the early Christian community thought that the Second Coming of Jesus was imminent.

But in the third decade of the third century, the Pontiff of Rome seeing that Christians too joined in the winter Solstice feast of the Sun god Ra, a fest strictly pagan in character, replacer the birth of Jesus, the Sin of Righteousness, with the feast of Saturnalia, hoping to wean away the interest the Christians had in the pagan feast. Thus came Christmas to be celebrated as a Christian feast.

Since then it may be assumed that the birth of Jesus,as Son of God, has been uninterruptedly kept by the entire universe, commencing from Rome. As the feast came to be universally celebrated, it came to be associated with different Christmas customs unique to such countries.

But sad to say, today Christmas has become a pantomime so much so that how it is celebrated by the so called Christians, it depicts a negation of the true ideals of the holy feast.

One such corrupt practice is the prostituted manifestation of Santa Claus, as the be all and end all of Christmas. The internet, which I dub as the de vil incarnate, displays Santa in such crude ways that the holy feast is made out to be another negative show of its deep significance.

Browsing through the ‘devil incarnate’ Santa has become a sales gimmick, and a sex symbol. Today few know that St. Nicholas of Turkey who through love for Christ, lavishly parted the wealth he inherited with the poor, has been “womanized” -if I may use the word - and presto we have not only a Christmas Papa, but a Christmas Mama or in Sinhala a Naththal achchi”. “Lest the non Christian world mistake it, Santa Claus originated with a holy saint, whose benevolence the church wanted to perpetuate, by introducing him during Christmas, otherwise called, the season of Good will, so that Christian may imitate his attitude of selfless giving to make others happy. St. Nicholas lived in Turkey in the third century and became popular due to his lavish distribution of wealth, specially to the poor children, widows and unmarried young women.

But today’s open market has made a sex symbol, of this holy man, not only insulting him, but Christ Himself, whose birth is celebrated at X’mas.

It is sad that such has been the happenings for some time now, and strange as it may seem the Catholic church at local and international level seems to be unconcerned. With the dirty trend of merchandising the image of this holy saint, in their search for filthy lucre.

To take a few saplings Santa today is a sales agent and locally we have him holding a bottle and enticing non alcoholics to take a drink in the name of Baby Jesus. But elsewhere it is worse. The internet shows santa in semi nude and fully naked poses advertising women’s underwear and asking women to “Have a sexy Christmas”.

While prostitutes who don the santa kit pose him as a ‘pimp’ who invites customers to sleep with the female santa, thus inventing a X’mas mum deviating from the traditional X’mas papa. Then there is the sexy santa candle & the sexy santa mug, with santa’s male organ.

The sadists have not forgotten the children in their perusal to mock the holy saint. They have a X’mas game for kids titled “killing santa” where you shoot him in a computer game till he is killed in the end.

Then there is the santa smoking a cocaine cigar. A worse ad is santa advocating paedophiles to have a “Gay X’mas”. Beverages companies, pharmacy agents, mobile phone sellers, Night clubs and what not, all sell their items courtesy santa. One even shows a hunter with a gun in hand, trampling santa’s body aiming at the rein deer.

One can have access to a web site that shows different women’s wear designs where santa is a women, titled “Miss Santa” which endangers the very gender of St. Nicholas alias Santa Claus.

It is good for everyone to know that after all Nicholas of third century Turkey has been sainted by the Catholic church and his moral remains are still lying incorrupt, which goes to show that he is still a holy personage though dead.

Let the church awake to the danger of one its Saints being belittled, nay desecrated, in the name of Christmas which is the Holy Birth of the Son of God, lest God’s wrath on the profanation of one of His saints not by non Christians but by the very adherents of Jesus, will not cause His ire like it did via the tsunami of half a decade ago, which cannot be forgotten by this generation.

Birth of Christ

J I Rosairo

As a prelude to that great day of Christmas, the parishioners in association with the Kala Haula of the parish of St. Sebestian’s in Katuwapitiya, staged a Christmas Drama captioned “Kithu Upatha Purana”, depicting the Birth of Jesus Christ, where the story takes on from the Creation as vividly expounded in the Old Testament of the Holy Bible.

The narratives, scripts, lyrics and music inter-woven with song and dance is the brainchild of the veteran director and producer, Cecil Joe Perera, who has to his credit a host of dramas based on both religious and non-religious themes. Among his not so recent was the dramatisation of the life and times of St Sebestian where he had incorporated the latest techniques in lighting and sound, also staged in Katuwapitiya way back.

The Parish Priest of St Sebestian’s Church, Katuwapitiya and his indefatigable assistant, Fathers Sri Kantha and Jude Suresh Respectively, had all along given moral and unreserved support, guidance and blessings towards the success of this monumental venture, which promises to be a major hit during the season.

The earlier Christmas Story likened to that which is to be presented on the sprawling grounds at the Katuwapitiya Church was earlier staged at Holy Cross College, Gampaha, in December, 2008, also under Cecil’s direction. This year’s show at Katuwapitiya, was staged on December 19, with more glamour and authenticity added. The presentation began with the Story of Creation depicting Adam, Eve and many of the early patriarchs are presented in sequences, all these as forerunnes to the ultimate birth of Jesus on Christmas Day.

In between the Acts, carols in both Sinhala and English, songs and dances, hosts of angels and of course the unforgetable Santa Claus making his debut at the end of the show with toys and goodies for the little ones and with it the day’s proceedings came to an end with a joyful note.

Son of God was Born

In the midnight
Shone a star bright
From the heaven afar.
Snow was falling
Breeze was blowing
Sing hallelujah.

In the cold night
From a cow-shed
Heard a cry of a child.
Came the shepherds
Brought Him presents
Son of God was born.

See the heaven up
Hark the hymns that
Angels sing from above.
Make you merry
Day the holy
Son of God was born

Christ the Saviour is Born

Snow-flakes are falling on the ground,
A comet is shining in the sky,
Sleeps the child in a manger
In the holy city of Bethlehem.

See the shepherds and the Magi
Come from far away land
To see the holy child Jesus
In the night of Christmas day.

Hark the silver bells chime
Over the stable that night.
Praise Him with heavenly hymns,
Christ the saviour is born to the world.

- Ivan Kiriella