AMERICAN MINUTE
THE ORIGIN OF OUR CHERISHED CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS
Bill Federer recounts both long and short histories behind celebration
Seeking U.N. sanctions against Iran, Dec. 21, 1979, President Jimmy Carter stated in a speech: “Henry Longfellow wrote a Christmas carol in a time of crisis, the War Between the States, in 1864. Two verses of that carol (‘I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day’) particularly express my thoughts and prayers and, I’m sure, those of our Nation in this time of challenge. … I would like to quote from that poem:
‘And in despair I bowed my head.
There is no peace on earth, I said.
For hate is strong and mocks the song
of peace on earth, good will to men.Then pealed the bells,
more loud and deep,
God is not dead,
nor does he sleep.The wrong shall fail,
the right prevail,
With peace on earth,
good will to men.'”
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow not only wrote popular books and carols, but he was also a professor at Harvard, where he taught a student named Phillips Brooks.
Phillips Brooks, born Dec. 13, 1835, became the Episcopal bishop of Massachusetts. While on a trip to the Holy Land in 1865, Phillips Brooks wrote: “After an early dinner, we took our horses and rode to Bethlehem. … It was only about two hours when we came to the town, situated on an eastern ridge of a range of hills, surrounded by its terraced gardens. It is a good-looking town, better built than any other we have seen in Palestine. … Before dark, we rode out of town to the field where they say the shepherds saw the star. It is a fenced piece of ground with a cave in it (all the Holy Places are caves here), in which, strangely enough, they put the shepherds. … As we passed, the shepherds were still ‘keeping watch over their flocks or leading them home to fold.'”
Phillips Brooks returned to Massachusetts in September of 1866 and wrote the carol “O Little Town of Bethlehem”:
O little town of Bethlehem!
How still we see thee lie;
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep,
The silent stars go by;Yet in thy dark streets shineth,
The everlasting Light;
The hopes and fears
of all the years,
Are met in thee tonight.
“Go, Tell It on the Mountain” is one of the most popular Negro spirituals. It was first published in 1865 in a collection complied by John Wesley Work, Jr. It was recorded by notable singers, including Mahalia Jackson, who once stated: “I sing God’s music because it makes me feel free. … It gives me hope. With the blues, when you inish, you still have the blues.”
Go, tell it on the mountain,
Over the hills and everywhere;
Go, tell it on the mountain,
That Jesus Christ is born.While shepherds kept their watching
o’er silent flocks by night,
Behold, throughout the heavens
There shone a holy light.Go, tell it on the mountain,
Over the hills and everywhere;
Go, tell it on the mountain,
That Jesus Christ is born.The shepherds feared and trembled,
When lo! above the earth,
Rang out the angels chorus
That hailed our Savior’s birth.Go, tell it on the mountain,
Over the hills and everywhere;
Go, tell it on the mountain,
That Jesus Christ is born.Down in a lowly manger
The humble Christ was born
And God sent us salvation
That blessed Christmas morn.
In 1865, William Chatterton Dix wrote the Christmas carol “What Child Is This”:
What child is this, who, laid to rest
On Mary’s lap, is sleeping?
Whom angels greet with anthems sweet,
While shepherds watch are keeping? (Chorus)This, this is Christ the King,
Whom shepherds guard and angels sing:
Haste, haste to bring him laud,
The Babe, the Son of Mary!Why lies he in such mean estate
Where ox and ass are feeding?
Good Christian, fear for sinners here,
The silent Word is pleading. (Chorus)So bring Him incense, gold, and myrrh,
Come peasant king to own Him,
The King of kings, salvation brings,
Let loving hearts enthrone Him.Raise, raise the song on high,
The Virgin sings her lullaby:
Joy, joy, for Christ is born,
The Babe, the Son of Mary!
In 1885, “Away in a Manger” was published in a Lutheran Sunday school book. It was edited in 1892 by Charles H. Gabriel and set to music in 1895 by William J. Kirkpatrick:
Away in a manger,
No crib for His bed
The little Lord Jesus
Laid down His sweet head
The stars in the bright sky
Looked down where He lay
The little Lord Jesus
Asleep on the hayThe cattle are lowing
The poor Baby wakes
But little Lord Jesus
No crying He makes
I love Thee, Lord Jesus
Look down from the sky
And stay by my side,
‘Til morning is nigh.Be near me, Lord Jesus,
I ask Thee to stay
Close by me forever
And love me I pray
Bless all the dear children
In Thy tender care
And take us to heaven
To live with Thee there.
In 1829, the first U.S. Ambassador to Mexico was Joel R. Poinsett. He brought back a plant called “Flower of the Holy Night” (Flores de Nochebuena) which supposedly sprang up as a poor boy knelt to worship Jesus. Joel Poinsett planted it in South Carolina where it began to be called “Poinsettia.”
Beginning with Alabama in 1836, all 50 states came to recognize Christmas Day as a legal holiday. In 1856, President Franklin Pierce put up the first Christmas tree in the White House.
In 1862, Thomas Nast, illustrator for Harper’s Weekly Magazine known for the “Republican elephant” and “Democrat mule,” included a “North Pole” sign behind an illustration of St. Nicholas visiting Union troops. It was meant as a political jab at the South to imply St. Nicholas was associated with the North. Prior to this, St. Nicholas came from heaven, the celestial city, the New Jerusalem.
In 1862, President and Mrs. Lincoln visited soldiers in Washington, D.C., hospitals on Christmas Day. On Dec. 26, 1864, Lincoln gave a Christmas reception at the White House.
On Christmas Day, 1868, President Andrew Johnson proclaimed full pardon and amnesty for all who had participated in secession, without reserve or exception.
In 1870, President Ulysses S. Grant signed a bill making Christmas Day a federal holiday. In 1893, Christmas Day was recognized as an official holiday in the U.S. states and territories.
In 1895, President Grover Cleveland placed the first “electrically-lit” Christmas tree in the White House.
The Christmas tree’s origins can be traced back to the 200 A.D.s, when the early church father Tertullian wrote: “You are the light of the world, a tree ever green, if you have renounced the heathen temple.”
St. Boniface (680-755), also called Wynfred, was apostle of the Germans, being sent forth by Pope Gregory II as a missionary to heathen Germany. In the year 716, St. Boniface confronted the Chieftain Gundhar, who was about to offer the little Prince Asulf as a “bloody sacrifice” to Thor, their pagan god who supposedly lived in the huge “donar” oak tree at Geismar. St. Boniface boldly took an ax and after a few swings at the mighty “blood” oak, an enormous wind blew the tree over. The heathen throng was in awe and converted to Christianity.
Then pointing to an evergreen tree that was next to it, or that had miraculously grown up, St. Boniface said:
“This is the word, and this is the counsel. Not a drop of blood shall fall tonight, for this is the birth-night of Saint Christ, Son of the All-Father and Saviour of the world.
This little tree, a young child of the forest, shall be a home tree tonight. It is the wood of peace, for your houses are built of fir.
It is the sign of endless life, for its branches are ever green.
See how it points toward Heaven!
Let this be called the tree of the Christ Child; gather about it, not in the wild woods but in your homes; there it will shelter no deeds of blood, but loving gifts and lights of kindness.”
Lights at this season can be traced back to the Jewish Festival of Lights, or Feast of the Dedication, in Hebrew called “Hanukkah.” Candles are lit to celebrate the driving out of the heathen army of the Syrian king Antiochus Epiphanes from Jerusalem in 165 B.C. by Judas Maccabaeus. Antiochus Epiphanes desecrated the temple by using it for idol worship. When the Temple was cleansed of all the pagan defilement, the oil lampstand, known as the menorah, was to be relit.
There was a problem, though, as there could only be found enough holy olive oil to burn for one day, and it would take a week before more could be made. The decision was made to pour the small amount in the lamp, and miraculously, it burned for an entire week!
The feast of the dedication of the Temple was mentioned in the New Testament, John 10:22: “And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication, and it was winter. And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon’s porch.”
The person credited with putting lights on a tree was Martin Luther. In 1520, Martin Luther was walking home on Christmas Eve under the cold December sky and noticed the countless stars illuminating the night.
He returned home, and to the delight of his wife and children, set up an evergreen tree placing a great number of small candles on its branches.
He then set up a creche scene under the tree so that the lights would appear as the stars above Bethlehem on the night of Christ’s birth.
Luther shared how all gifts come from the Christ Child, which in old German was pronounced “Kris Kindl” (Christkindl), later pronounced “Kris Kringle.”
Lighting the national Christmas tree, Dec. 24, 1952, President Harry S. Truman stated: “Shepherds, in a field, heard angels singing: ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.’ … We turn to the old, old story of how ‘God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.’ … Let us remember always to try to act … in the spirit of the Prince of Peace.
He bore in His heart no hate and no malice – nothing but love for all mankind. We should … follow His example. … Let us also pray for our enemies. … Through Jesus Christ the world will yet be a better and a fairer place.”
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http://www.wnd.com/2017/12/the-origin-of-our-cherished-christmas-traditions/?cat_orig=education
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