Considering The Christmas Book, by Fr. Francis Weiser
I finished reading this book recently - it was a pretty solid comfort read for a woman who is, surprisingly, craving all things Christmas much earlier than usual.
While it was just what I needed, it's not necessarily a book I'm itching to purchase and have in my possession forever more. There were quite a few things that I found interesting or wanted to remember, so I figured I would do a deeper dive into it here and record those thoughts.
Introduction
I appreciated that the first thing that the author did was start off the book with Bible passages describing the story of Jesus' birth. Weiser put first things first.
Chapter 1: Gospel and History
The author shared a number of interesting facts in this chapter, including that the B.C./A.D. dating system probably is off by a few years and that Christ was born in one of the caves around Bethlehem - something that is reflected in Ben Hur, a fictional book predating this one that I finished recently. He discussed the term "firstborn" as being one applied to the first child of a couple, even if "he might be the only child the couple ever had" (pg. 21).
There were also some quotes I took especial note of:
"The expression 'good will' in the Gospel does not primarily mean the good will of men toward God or each other, but the good will of God toward men, that is, His love, benevolence, kindness and mercy. The exact sense therefore is, 'and on earth peace to men possessing Divine good will.'" (pg. 22)
"The Gospel does not report that the shepherds brought presents to the Christ Child." (pg. 24) I think this quote struck me because there's something about the idea of coming to Jesus with nothing to offer him, but he still loves us anyways and desires to give himself to us.
"What is the original meaning of our popular greeting, 'Merry Christmas'? When this greeting was originally used, the word 'merry' did not mean 'joyful, hilarious, gay,' as it does today. In those days it meant 'blessed, peaceful, pleasant,' expressing spiritual joys rather than earthly happiness. It was thus used in the phrase, 'Merry England.' The well-known carol, 'God rest you merry, gentlemen,' is an excellent example of the original meaning of 'merry.' The position of hte comma clearly shows the true meaning (that the word is not an adjective describing 'gentlemen'), and therefore is not 'God rest you, joyful gentlemen,' but 'God rest you peacefully, gentlemen.'" (pg. 30)
After this chapter, I didn't write down any other particular quotes. But there is still lots to mull over!
Chapter 2: Origin of the Feast
There's no official record of the actual day of Jesus' birth. So, we ended up with the 25th after persecution of the early Christians stopped and the Church decided on that date. It appears that Jesus' birth had been celebrated on different days in different places previously. Something interesting: "The fact that December twenty-fifth was chosen, does not seem to rest so much on historical findings, as in the great desire to replace the popular pagan celebration of the winter solstice by the festivities of a truly Christian holiday." (pg. 32) So, if you hear someone say that Christmas is just a Christianized pagan festival, that person is wrong. It seems the date of celebrating Jesus' birth was intended to overshadow pagan festivities, but it didn't somehow grow out of it. It was always its own celebration and always distinct from pagan cults. Now, the term "Yule" does have pagan origins, as it refers to "solstice", but as the book states,
" While it is certainly true that some popular features and symbols of our Christmas celebration had their origin in pre-Christian Yuletide customs, Christmas itself - the feast, its meaning and message - is in no way connected with any pagan mythology or Yule rite." (pg. 34).
I really liked the author's summary at the end of the book, after he explains origins of purely Christian Christmas symbols as well as those that were Christianized from pagan practices:
"In tracing these many and varied Christmas customs back to their original source, however, it should now be evident that they are all based on the fact that Christmas is the celebration of our Lord's Nativity. Even the remnants of ancient pagan feasts and customs which survived have been transformed into a completely Christian symbolism, all of it now an integral part of this great feast which is celebrated in countries all over the world today." (pg. 174)
Chapter 3: Christmas in the Middle Ages
Interesting legends noted: all nature celebrating at midnight of Christmas, animals falling to their knees at that hour, bees waking up to buzz musically, plants bowing, birds singing all night, and animals talking like humans. St. Francis of Assisi (not surprisingly) advocated for kind treatment of animals at Christmastime. There were also superstitions noted in this chapter - while it's obviously not okay to believe in or practice superstitious things, it was just interesting to know that people did those things back then.
Chapter 4: Decline and Revival
This chapter discussed that, after the Protestant Reformation happened, Christmas celebrations were effectively almost completely blotted out - at most, in some places, it seemed like a service and sermon were the order of the day. In other places, the customs survived. But in England...oh boy, I came to realize that, whenever Puritans came up in this book, some pretty wild stuff happened.
"In England, however, the Puritans condemned even the reduced religious celebration which was held in the Anglican Church after the separation from Rome. They were determined to abolish Christmas altogether, both as a religious and as a popular feast." (pg. 44)
They went so far as to legislatively ban Christmas, impose a day of penance and fasting on December 25th, and command that business be held as usual. There were literal riots in response, and while the public celebration of Christmas slowly petered out in England, people still sometimes celebrated it privately at home. Sadly, when Christmas came back, it was just a hollow shell for a while - it had no religious meaning and focused on externals, such as good cheer and good food.
This part really struck me because many beloved Christmas songs - some of which are very dear to me - express those exact same sentiments. Bing Crosby's "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas," for example, is a beloved holiday tune for me, but in a way, it reinforces a very world-centered approach to Christmas. It's all about the coziness of hygge and hot chocolate and feeling good and being close to family and friends. There's nothing wrong with these external trappings, so long as they stay external trappings. But in our de-Christianized culture, these are actually the heart of what seems to be known as "Christmas" these days. A generalized "goodwill" towards all is the finest fruit modernity can distill from the theologically rich celebration that Christmas ought to be.
Anyway...back to the book. Even in America, the Pilgrims made a point of working on Christmas Day.
Chapter 5: The Midnight Mass
Not much to note here - we have midnight Mass on Christmas because that's traditionally (not necessarily historically) when Jesus was born.
Chapter 6: Ancient Hymns and Carols
One of the main things I learned is that hymns are generally solemn, and carols are generally festive and simple - although nowadays, "carol" has become an all-encompassing term for Christmas songs.
Hymns I want to look into:
- Jesus refulsit omnium
- Corde natus ex Parentis
- Agnoscat omen saeculum
- O Gladsom Light
- In hoc anni circulo
- Dies est laetitiae
- Flos e radice Jesse
- Psalmus in Nativitate
Chapter 7: Carols for Every Mood
I was fascinated to learn that carols can be organized into categories:
- Nativity carols: focused on the Nativity itself
- Prayer carols: addressed to the baby Jesus
- Mystery carols: Medieval, about legends
- Shepherd carols: focus on the shepherd episode, including receiving the message from the angels (so "Angels We Have Heard on High"?)
- Noels: have "Noel" or "Nowell" in the refrain ("The First Noel")
- Macaronics: written partially in Latin, partially in the vernacular
- Lullaby carols: Either Mary or the worshiper is imagined to sing this to Jesus ("Away in a Manger"?)
- Companion carol: The singer imagines himself/herself as accompanying the shepherds, or being one, and addresses one or all of the Holy Family
- Dance carols: dancing accompanied by carols; but banned from churches because all dancing was banned in churches by a church council (Toledo); some dancing still happens today, but not in churches!
- Epiphany carols: tells of the Magi account ("We Three Kings"?)
- Star carols: like Epiphany carols, but different; in essence, simplified Epiphany plays
- Christmas yodeling: carols that incorporate yodeling; Austrian in origin, different from what the author terms "the modern hillbilly type so familiar to American radio fans" (pg. 77).
The author did a good job of finding hymns in other languages and providing small snippets of translated sections. It is interesting to hear the sounds of the carols of non-English-speaking nations by looking them up online, and to read the lyrics and see how similar the sentiments can be to those we express.
Chapter 8: Familiar Hymns and Carols
After the Protestant Reformation, Christmas carols made a comeback in the 1800s. It was kind of weird to learn that some of the most familiar carols of our day were written by non-Catholics (and pretty prominent ones, at times), but I think it's also cool that these songs can be an ecumenical bridge. It was also interesting to learn some songs were originally poems that were then set to tunes of famous classical compositions (Joy to the World), or had music composed to match them (Luther's "From Heaven Above I Come to You" and G. K. Chesterton's "The World's Desire"). St. John de Brebeuf wrote the first American carol, and it was composed in the Huron language (Jesous Ahatonnia) - that's cool! Many carols that the author mentions the history of were popular when this book was written over 50 years ago, and it's neat to see that they're still popular ones today.
Carols I want to look into:
- Tu scendi dalle stelle
- O, thou joyful Christmas time
- O come, all ye children
- While shepherds watched their flocks by night (Nahum Tate)
- Rise up, shepherd, and follow
- Gesu Bambino (semi-partner song to Adeste Fideles)
Chapter 9: Nativity Plays
Much like dance carols, nativity plays were once performed in churches, but due to abuses, were eventually banned from those holy places. However, these plays were able to grow and develop outside the church buildings, surviving even to the present day.
Chapter 10: The Christmas Crib
The nativity of Jesus has been depicted since ancient times, but the Nativity Scene as we know it was instituted by St. Francis of Assisi. The ox and ass are traditional parts of the Nativity Scene because, while they're not mentioned in the Infancy Narratives in the Bible, they are mentioned separately in the books of Isaiah and Habakkuk.
Chapter 11: Symbolic Lights and Fires
"In medieval times it was customary to represent Christ the Lord by a burning candle. This custom is still preserved in the liturgy of the Church, as for instance, the Easter candle, the last candle at the Tenebrae services of Holy Week." (pg. 111)
Placing lighted candles in the windows is an Irish tradition and was a coded way of trying to announce to hidden priests that a practicing Catholic family lived there and would love to have a secret Mass celebrated on Christmas. They also left doors unlocked to make it easy for the priest to enter. Unfortunately, it seems they lied to the British to mask what they were doing, but the tradition suddenly has meaning for me. We've never lit candles in the windows in my family, and I don't have plans to start, but now I think it's a beautiful thing to do because of the history behind it. The Yule log has been Christianized, but yes, it had a pagan origin.
Chapter 12: The Christmas Tree
Not much to note here. German in origin, spread elsewhere.
Chapter 13: Christmas Plants and Flowers
Some plants have pagan origins, but were given Christian meanings and persist in decorations to this day, while other plants never had pagan origins but were given special meaning when used by Christians to decorate for Christmas.
Chapter 14: Breads and Pastries
It was cool to learn about traditions from different countries, but nothing particular to note.
Chapter 15: The Christmas Dinner
I sure do love holiday food! It seems Europeans went all-out for Christmas food in the old days, and even had turkey after it was brought from Mexico after 1550. I was interested to learn that wild turkey is not very appetizing, but what we eat today is the result of breeding and improving domesticated turkeys. It makes sense, but it's not something I thought much about.
Chapter 16: The Battle of the Mince Pie
I told my husband about this. Mince pie was apparently one of the targets to be banned by the Puritans, because it had acquired symbolism - it was rectangular and represented Jesus' cradle (the manger), and sometimes a little figure of baby Jesus was placed on it and removed before consumption. "The eating or non-eating of mince pie thus became a test of orthodoxy on either side." (pg. 150). However, "Ironically enough, the Puritans also won their victory. For the Catholics and Anglicans, while campaigning for the very existence of the pie and winning the struggle, had gradually neglected its shape. By the end of the seventeenth century the pie was made in circular form; the figure of the child had disappeared, and, after the smoke of the battle cleared away, both parties felt contented with their respective victories: the Catholics and Anglicans rejoiced in having save the pie, the Puritans in having changed its form." (pg. 150)
Chapter 17: Saint Nicholas
The legend of Saint Nicholas is recounted here.
Chapter 18: The Significance of Exchanging Presents
Interesting, learned about why it's called "Boxing Day", but not much to note.
Chapter 19: Santa Claus
Santa Claus is a kind of result of the Protestant Reformation - Saint Nicholas celebrations were banned in many places, and "the Christmas Man" was substituted. Santa Claus is a corruption of "Sinter Klaas" from the Dutch, who continued to remember St. Nicholas, even if the actual details of his life were not as well recalled. Our Santa Claus kept some aspects of St. Nicholas, and some of Father Christmas (the Christmas Man??). The author definitely had some opinions about the practice of talking about Santa Claus.
"It has been suggested by many who have the welfare of children at heart that Santa be restored to his original Christian meaning. That would not mean changing the modern story but simply adding historical facts and some legends concerning beloved St. Nicholas to present-day Santa Claus lore. It is believed that if, at the very beginning, children could be told the historical facts about Santa Claus and his life, and the spiritual meaning of the legend, it will never cause them to be disillusioned or utter the erroneous statement, 'There is no Santa Claus.' The rest of the story, containing the fairy tale, will then be regarded as a rather charming addition to the legend of St. Nicholas." (pg. 166)
I'm not convinced, but it's interesting to hear this priest's take on it.
Chapter 20: Cherished Customs Old and New
I learned about some Advent traditions as well as greeting cards. As noted above, I liked the concluding paragraph.
Conclusion of My Thoughts
This was a fun book to read. It came at the right time in my life, I appreciated it, and now I've recorded my thoughts on it. I think it's a fun, light read, and lots of people would probably enjoy reading it. I bet some parts could probably be updated, but I enjoyed it and couldn't pick out anything that I'd necessarily change.
