How the nativity scene appeared, symbolized by the candy cane and other little-known facts about Christmas

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Among all Christians, Christmas has been one of the main holidays of the year for thousands of years. Considering how many people are celebrating a holiday that will come in a few days, here are some interesting facts about Christmas.

1. Date

During the early days of Christianity, Christmas was not celebrated as a major holiday. The first evidence that the Church attempted to set a date for the feast of Christ's birthday dates back to AD 200, when theologians in Alexandria decided it was May 20. By the 380s, the Church in Rome was trying to introduce a universal holiday of December 25 in various regions, and in the end it was this date that took root among all Catholics and Protestants around the world.

Despite the fact that Jesus was most likely born in the spring, as was often the case in the early Church, the officially accepted date was influenced by the pagan holidays of Rome (it was December 25 that was the holiday of the birth of the sun). Saint Cyprian mentioned this.

2. Nativity scene

Francis of Assisi is a famous saint who possessed the gift of controlling animals and who went to the Middle East to convert Muslims to Christianity (he offered to throw himself into the fire to prove a divine miracle). Few people know about this, but it was thanks to him that "Christmas nativity scenes" appeared - a reproduction of the Nativity scene using volumetric figures. Saint Francis invented the nativity scene in the 13th century.

3. Gifts

Gift sets, Christmas drinks, Christmas cards, and many other Christmas traditions are by no means a modern invention. In fact, for this tradition, thanks to the ancient Romans who exchanged all these things on New Year's (Strenae, named after Strenia - the goddess of New Year's gifts). Initially, this practice began to be suppressed by the Church, but old habits are extremely difficult to eradicate, and in the end they were transferred to Christmas.

4. Prohibition

In England, Christmas was banned by a decree of Parliament in 1644. This day was supposed to be a regular trading day, so merchants were forced to open their shops, and plum puddings and stuffed pies began to be denounced as pagan traditions. Naturally, the conservatives opposed this, and blood was shed in Canterbury.

Following the Protestant Reformation, groups such as the Puritans strongly condemned the celebration of Christmas as a Catholic invention and a "papal whim." For example, in Boston, the celebration of Christmas was outlawed in Boston from 1659 to 1681.

5. Misconceptions

As is often the case with very ancient traditions, many myths have arisen around Christmas. The most popular myth is that the entire Christmas holiday took place and is based on the pagan character Mithra (the sun god). Many aspects of Mithra's life in this case are presented as evidence of this.

The theory appeared relatively recently, but, in fact, many of its postulates were borrowed from Christianity, which swept the world at the height of the cult of Mithra. They say that Mithras was born exactly like Christ, but in fact the pagans believed that he was born on the top of the mountain.

In addition, the story of the shepherds who came to the birth of Mithras did not appear until the science of Jesus became known throughout the world. This is the case when paganism borrowed something from Christianity, and not vice versa.

6. Clapperboards

In the UK and many Commonwealth countries, Christmas crackers are an integral part of the celebration at Christmas. These are small cardboard tubes with a gift inside and a strip of paper that “pops” when it breaks. All this is covered with decorative paper and looks like a big candy.

The content of the crackers is most often a joke written on a piece of paper, a small toy, or a colored paper hat. The clapperboard is pulled by the ends by 2 people, and its contents go to the one who has most of the cracker in his hands.

7. Christmas tree

Most people have heard the story of how Martin Luther, the famous Protestant reformer, "gifted" the world with a Christmas tree (or, in some versions of the story, candles on a tree). This is not true. The first association of trees with Christmas comes from Saint Boniface in the 7th century AD, when he cut down a tree dedicated to Thor to prove to the locals that the Norse gods are false.

By the 15th century, people were already actively cutting down ate and bringing them home, decorating with candied fruits, sweets and candles. During Luther's time, this was already an ancient tradition.

8. "Xmas"

In English-speaking countries, the phrase "Merry Christmas" is often shortened to "Merry X-mas". This provokes anger among many people, as most Christians consider it disrespectful to replace the name of Christ with a simple “X”.

However, the abbreviation "Xmas" is almost as old as the holiday it refers to - "X" is actually a Greek letter, which is the first letter of the Greek name for Christ. Therefore, Xmas is quite a religious word.

9. Santa Claus

The image of Santa Claus is actually based on the early church bishop Nicholas the Wonderworker. He was born in the third century (about 270 AD), in the village of Patara in Turkey, and was known for secretly giving money to the poor.

The modern image of him as a cheerful man in red most likely comes from the 1823 poem "The Visit of St. Nicholas", also known as "The Night Before Christmas."

10. Candy cane

In the late 1800s, a candy maker in Indiana came up with a way to convey the meaning of Christmas with a candy symbol. The idea was to bend a white mint caramel stick in the shape of a shepherd's cane (a reference to the shepherds worshiping baby Jesus).

White symbolizes the purity and sinlessness of Jesus. Three thin red stripes on it symbolize the Holy Trinity, and a wide red stripe is the blood that Jesus shed for humanity. And if you turn the cane upside down, then it looks like the letter J, symbolizing the first letter of the name Jesus (Jesus).