Christmas Symbols, Traditions and Their Origins

What do they mean? How did they become symbols of celebrating Christmas? Is Santa real? How did they start using "X" in Xmas? 

Have you ever wondered these questions? All our lives, we celebrate the season with many traditions and symbols that comfort us and make us think of Christmas, the most celebrated of all holidays. Even non-Christians acknowledge Christmas as a celebration of peace, goodwill and humanity. In this time of good cheer we share with our neighbors and loved ones, all of our best that life has to offer, yet many of us have no idea why we partake in these traditions. This is to help you to understand a bit of the reasons for our use of these in many religious ceremonies and celebrations around the world. Facts and Legends: They all add to the celebration and encourage LOVE of one another. This brings Glory to Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Savior. 

What wondrous love is this that God should come to live among us, to be born as a human being, to experience all that we have experienced?  What wondrous love is this that came down from heaven?  This love of God in Jesus Christ is unique in all the world, and when we celebrate the birthday of Jesus, the love of God comes into us in a unique and special way.

What is the Advent?	In the book of Isaiah it is written: “Here is my herald whom I send and he will prepare your way.” Advent is a Latin word that means “Coming.”   Prepare the heart to receive. Prepare the way. Christ, the Messiah is coming. We prepare for the Advent; the coming of the Christ Child.  We prepare with hope.  We prepare with faith.  For the light will come into this world, as God has promised. There are many symbols of waiting, of preparation.  There are many practiced customs to hail the Advent; The Coming
Placing of the Evergreens:	When all the earth is brown, when the leaves have left the trees, when all other plants appear dead and bare, evergreens stand in lonely vigil until the earth once again is green. Evergreens shout to us about the hoped-for coming of green again in the spring.  Evergreens stand ever ready to remind us of joyous everlasting hope.    Wellspring Church begins the Advent celebration with our "Hanging of the Greens" on the first Sunday of the Advent. (approx. 25 days before Christmas)
Foremost among the symbols is the Advent Wreath.  It is a symbol of hope; the circle of the wreath has no end.  A wreath is like the Eternal One with no end and no beginning.	For our service at Wellspring Church, it is presented as follows: Four candles light the wreath.  Three are purple; a color associated with repentance.  Each purple candle is a symbol of the different elements of waiting and preparing for our Savior; on the third Sunday, Faith, Hope and Love.  The rose candle is set aglow to symbolize joy.  The center candle is white.  Pure symbolic white, it is called the Christ candle. We light a candle each week leading up to The Glorious event. Mistletoe symbolized Christ the everlasting.  So in the Advent wreath, we symbolize our faith and hope in the coming of Christ, our joy in the victorious Christ, our love for the Eternal Prince of Peace, and . . Christ the revelation of God and light of the world
Mistletoe	When all other trees were bare, mistletoe was green.  Thus it came to be in Christian legend a symbol of eternity; Christ the everlasting, Christ the Eternal. (Mistletoe is also placed in the advent wreath.) Why do people kiss under the mistletoe?  There are several stories to explain this tradition. One tale out of Scandinavia is that mistletoe was considered a plant of peace, under which enemies could declare a truce or warring spouses kiss and make-up. Whenever enemies met under the mistletoe in the forest, they had to lay down their arms and observe a truce until the next day. So, what better time of year to use this peace-bringing tool, than at Christmas?
THE LEGEND OF THE CHRISTMAS TREE, THE LIGHTS AND THE STAR AT THE TOP.      The Christmas tree is widely used in our celebration of Christmas. Green trees, blue trees, frosty snow-covered trees, inside a warm room.  Lighted trees, living trees, all are trees of Christmas.	Seven hundred years after the birth of Christ, Pope Gregory wanted to send a Christian missionary to the pagan tribes of Northern Germany.  He called on Winfred of England (later known as Saint Boniface) to go to Germany for a three-year period to teach Christian ways to the pagan tribes who lived there.  One day, as Winfred was traveling among the people there, he came upon a gathering for a pagan ceremony in the forest.  With the ritual about to take place, the spirit of the forest was being worshiped with a human sacrifice.  The usual ceremony involved the blood of an innocent child sprinkled around an oak tree to please the god of the forest.  Winfred begged that the ceremony be stopped, but his words were ignored.  In a desperate act to stop the ritual, Winfred grabbed the ceremonial ax and cut down the oak tree.  The people were furious, but their anger turned to amazement as they saw a small fir tree spring up to replace the fallen oak. A shaft of light caused each twig on the fir tree to glisten and the people listened and believed when Winfred told them the tree was a symbol of the birth of life through Christ. Thus, began the custom among German people of using a fir tree as a symbol to acknowledge the birth of Christ. It was another seven hundred years before Martin Luther put lighted candles on his tree to recapture the glistening twigs of the tree in the forest, which Winfred had seen.  He also topped his tree with a star to commemorate that star which was in the Bethlehem sky as recorded in scriptures: “Wise-men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews?  For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.” (Mt 2:1-2)
THE LEGEND OF THE POINSETTIA       In the past two hundred years, a new element has found its place in our Christmas celebration.  It is from the Christian practices and symbols in Mexico that we have adopted this tradition.	In the very early part of the 19th century, an American who served the United States as an ambassador spent a tour of duty in Mexico.  He admired the dramatic beauty of the bright red poinsettia that grew rooftop high and bloomed profusely at Christmas.  He was awed when Mexican Christians told him why the bright red poinsettias were a part of the celebration of the birth and life of Christ. In Mexico, the story goes like this: The Bethlehem star shone over the manger where Jesus was born.  Its light was so bright the earth responded, reflecting that star light, receiving that star light, mirroring that star light with a beautiful flower.  Star shaped, radiant shaped, pure white petals, golden star centers.  In Mexican lore, it was always the Flower of the Holy Night. It grew on earth as a creation to glorify and commemorate that Holy Night – as the bible says, “For the star shout forth the glory of God.”  Then came the tragic day when Jesus died on the cross and the blossoms changed.  Pure white petals remembered the sacrifice of the Christ born when the star was over Bethlehem.   Flower of the Holy Night, star shaped, radiant shaped, blood red petals, star flowers for the Holy Night.  Now, everywhere, on cards and tables and trees, in churches and in our homes, the poinsettia takes its place; reminding us of a Holy Night, pointing to a Good Friday.
THE LEGEND OF SAINT NICHOLAS   For many Americans, Christmas is Santa Claus, that jolly old elf.  But, who is Santa Claus?  Does Santa Claus belong? He has many names: Santa Claus, Kris Kringle, Father Christmas, St. Nick, St. Nicholas.	Once upon a time, there was a real Saint Nicholas.  Saint Nicholas was the most human of the early Saints.  Saint Nicholas was remote, elusive, mystical, and reflected the hopes and needs of people since earliest time. Born in the country of Turkey in the fourth century, St. Nicholas was very pious from an early age, and became bishop of Myra while still a young man.  Historical records of the fourth and fifth centuries say that he calmed a stormy sea and became the patron saint of sailors.  He saved three boys from death and became the patron saint of children.  He gave a dowry to three young women and became the patron saint of the poor. He convinced the captain of three ships carrying grain to give part of their cargo to the poor.  They gave and gave to feed the hungry, but their ships remained full.  He became the patron saint of the hungry. He became the symbol of giving.  Giving to those in need, sharing with others, a symbol of human longing and fulfillment of human need. Those who remembered Saint Nicholas kept the tradition of giving and sharing alive.  From father to son, from sailor to shopkeeper, from priest to alter boy, the story was told. Then - Santa Claus is real.  He’s not just American, created by Madison Avenue, packaged and marketed along with Christmas merchandise. Santa Claus, as we know him, was revived in Holland in 1508, on December 6, the anniversary of the birth of Saint Nicholas.  The Dutch were at war with Spain; fighting a long hard war for their independence.  The Spanish blocked their seaports and destroyed their fields.  The people were hungry – in fact, they were starving.  A terrible famine fell over the land Bishop Nicholas, Bishop of Spain, came to Holland on a boat.  Leaving his boat at the dock, he rode over the countryside on a white horse, directing his Moorish servants to give potatoes to the people.  He gave potatoes to the starving Dutch.  He gave figs and raisins to the children.  . (To symbolize this act of generosity, we pass out raisins during this part of our Wellspring Church Advent service.) In the Dutch language, Saint Nicholas is Sint Nikolaas, which became corrupted to Sinterklaas.  Each year since that day, December 6 is Sinterklaas  Day: a day for giving, to meet all human needs.  When Dutch settlers came to America, they brought this tradition with them. Changing with the years, Santa Claus now comes with reindeer from the North Pole, and is a secular, jovial, jolly St. Nick.  But the symbols of giving, giving to the needy, giving of self where there is want, is the true meaning of Santa Claus. Saint Nicholas; From Myra, to Spain, to Holland, to America, every Christmas for seventeen hundred years.  The spirit of Saint Nicholas lives when we give – give of ourselves, to meet the needs of others.  So, Yes. Santa Claus is real. He is within each of us and we celebrate the Gift that God has bestowed on us in Jesus Christ by sharing of ourselves and giving gifts on the day set aside to Honor His birth.
X-MAS: So where did the term “X-mas” come from? Are we really too lazy to write out CHRIST in Christmas? Does it show a lack of respect?	Some of us might feel that “Xmas is Crossing the Christ out of Christmas”. But in reality, this abbreviation is of Greek origins. The Greek word for Christ is Xristos. Europeans used the first initial in the place of the word Christ as a shorthand form of the word Christmas. Those who did/do not understand the Greek language mistook/mistake the word “Xmas” as a sign of disrespect. So, the next time you see the word Xmas, remember that it meant to Honor His Name: We celebrate the diversity of God’s children in all nations. Jesus is Lord, no matter what name is given for Him. (Jesus Xristos: Sounds nice, doesn’t it?)       Next Page under constuction >>>