Origins of Holiday Traditions Part 1

by Tanya Davis

Have you ever wondered how our holiday traditions came to be? Why do we have Christmas trees, or eat candy canes, or trade gifts? Why do we hang stockings? Where did we get the idea of a Yule log, and how is that related to “Christ’s Mass?”

The word Christmas comes from the Old English Cristes maesse, meaning Christ’s Mass. The name Christ itself has its roots in the Greek Khristos, meaning anointed one.

The date we celebrate Christmas, December 25, was not the correct date for Christ’s birth, nor was it completely arbitrary. In fact, for over 300 years Christ’s birth was celebrated on different days. The Bishop Liberia of Rome ordered people to celebrate on December 25 in AD 354.The date was originally that of a pagan celebration, the Feast of Saturn or Saturnalia. The bishop probably selected the date on purpose because it would get people to celebrate Christ’s birth since they already observed it as a celebration day. That way he could entice the pagans over to Christianity.  There are Orthodox Christians who continue to celebrate Christmas on January 7.

Let’s take a look at some of the other holiday traditions and find out where they originated.

Stockings
The legend about Christmas stockings is also one of the legends of St. Nicholas. According to the story, a nobleman lost his wife and then squandered his fortune. This man had three daughters; in those days, a daughter who had no dowry would not be able to marry.
Kind St. Nicholas was said to have ridden by the house on his white horse after hearing the man’s story. Wanting to help out anonymously, St. Nicholas threw three pouches of gold coins down the chimney. Amazingly, they landed in the girls’ stockings that had been hung by the fire to dry. Since that time, we hang stockings on the mantle in order to “catch” gifts.

Yule log
Burning a Yule log was an old tradition that was probably German in origin. Yule logs are traditionally supposed to come from red oak trees. It is bad luck to purchase your own log – for the luckiest one, use a log from the neighbor’s wood pile. The log should be lit using a scrap of last year’s log, which you have hopefully kept under the bed (to protect your home from fire and lightning through the year). The log should burn all of Christmas Eve and into Christmas Day.

Christmas Tree
Evergreen trees were celebrated in many cultures because they did not die during the winter. Egyptians celebrated the winter solstice with them, honoring Saturn (the god of the winter solstice) with the branches. Celtic Druids revered evergreens. They felt that they represented everlasting life. And a monk named Boniface took the tree tradition to Germany in the 7th century when he traveled there in order to teach the people about God. He used an evergreen tree to show how the Holy Trinity was interconnected – and the people began to worship the tree.
Despite all these non-Christian traditions concerning trees, there is one interesting story about a Christian and the “first Christmas tree.” Martin Luther, a devout religious man, was walking home on a dark, chilly winter night when he saw the beauty of starlight glowing through the branches of a fir tree. This inspired him to bring a tree inside and attach candles to its branches in order to show his children how beautiful it was. This may have been the first Christmas tree that had candles on it. Prior to this, the trees were decorated with fruit, popcorn, and colored paper.

Poinsettias
The poinsettia is a native Mexican plant which was brought to the United States in 1828. There is a legend behind the plant’s use at Christmas.  A young Mexican boy was on his way to visit his village’s Nativity scene when he realized that he did not have a gift for the Christ child, so he gathered green branches that he thought were pretty from beside the road and brought them to the church. The other children laughed when they saw his gift, but as he laid them at the manger, a beautiful star-shaped flower appeared on each branch. Poinsettias were thought to have first been used by Mexican Franciscans in the 17th Century.

Santa or St. Nicholas
Santa, as he is called in the United States, has his roots way back in the 4th century when Saint Nicholas was immortalized. This is the patron saint of children and sailors, who was said to bring gifts to good children. The Dutch name for him, Sint Nikolaas, evolved by the 18th century into Sinter Klaas. When the Dutch brought their traditions to America, the New York colonials began to use the name Santa Clause.

Nativity plays
Nativity plays in the Middle Ages were called actos. They were a liturgical celebration that honored the Christ child, depicted the Three Kings, and often had a “star of Bethlehem” hovering overhead. In 1150 A.D. a Spanish play called El aucto de los Reyes Magos, or “Reenactment of the Magi Kings” was first brought to the Cathedral of Toledo. The characters were performed by choir boys. As time went on, nativity plays became a tradition, in Spain as well as other parts of the world. Participants follow the Biblical account of the travels of Joseph and Mary from Nazareth to Bethlehem. Nativity plays vary little from one region to another. They include Mary, Joseph, Jesus, the Magi, and there may be shepherds as well as livestock. Many nativity plays now use real animals, even inside church buildings.