Advent and Christmas Seasons
Images courtesy of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception and the nativity scene above is from the Christmas special "Christmas Eve from the National Shrine of St. Francis of Assisi, San Francisco". The Christmas special will be showing on ABC-TV stations around the country, check your local listing.
Christmas Season
Origins of Christmas
In the fourth, century, during the reign of the Emperor Constantine (d. 337), a number of new feasts of the Lord and the saints originated. On such feast was the celebration of the "birth of the Christ in Bethlehem of Judea." In the City of Rome, a festival of the Unconquerable Sun was celebrated on December 25, the winter solstice. The worship of the sun god was an important cult in both western and eastern halves of the Empire. In the Scriptures, the Messiah is very often evoked through the symbolism of light. In the book of the prophet Malachi the last day is described as the time when "...there will arise the sun of justice with its healing rays" (3:20.). The early church writers and Fathers saw in Jesus the fulfillment of the prophecy of Malachi: Jesus the Light is the Sun of Justice whose death and resurrection bring salvation to all men and women. Thus, it was only natural that the pagan festival of the Unconquerable Sun should be replaced by the feast of the appearance in this world of the true Sun of Justice, the Messiah-King. To this day, Christians celebrate the feast of Christ's birth on December 25.
The Meaning of Christmas
The incarnation and manifestation of Jesus the Messiah is an historical event; at the same time, it is the revelation of the eternal Mystery of God. Thus, the great Solemnity of Christmas celebrates all that the Church believes about Jesus Christ: he is the Son of God, the Word made flesh, born of Mary, born to suffer and die on the cross and on the third day, to rise from the dead and be glorified with the Father. This is what the liturgy of Christmas celebrates. In Christ all men and women have become a new creation. The Son of God became man so that we, men and women, might become divine. Christmas looks to the final act, the Second Coming of the Lord, even as it celebrates the first coming in the flesh two thousand years ago. In celebrating now, what happened centuries ago is made present to us today, here and now, in our own time and according to our own human condition.
The Liturgy of Christmas
Christmas is somewhat unusual and different from most other Church feasts. There are three distinctly different eucharistic litugies on Christmas: the Mass at Midnight, the Mass at Dawn, and the Mass during the Day. To these are added the Mass of the Vigil of Christmas (the evening of December 24) and the Liturgy of the Hours. Each of these liturgical celebrations unfolds various dimensions of the Christmas mystery. The first reading of the Mass at Midnight proclaims the coming of the "great light": "For a child is born to us, a son is given us; upon his shoulder domination rests. They name him Wonder-Conselor. God-Hero, Father-Forever, Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 9 1-6) – the titles of the Messiah-King of Israel. The second reading, from the letter of Paul to Titus, is the magnificent text that sums up the whole mystery of the Incarnation: "The grace of God has appeared...the appearing of the glory of the great God and of our Savior Christ Jesus" (2:11-14). The Opening Prayer captures the spirit of the holy night of Christmas: "Father, you make this holy night radiant with the splendor of Jesus Christ our light. We welcome him as Lord, the true light of the world. Bring us to the eternal joy in the kingdom of heaven, where he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. " The readings and prayer of the Mass at Dawn continue the same themes of revelation and light. The first reading proclaims the holiness of Zion-Jerusalem, a city that will be called "...Frequented, a city that is not forsaken." God's people "...shall be called a holy people the redeemed of the Lord" (Isaiah 62:11-12). The Lord now comes "regularly" to his people. The second reading, again from the letter of Paul to Titus: "When the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us; not because of any righteous deeds we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the baptism of new birth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. This Spirit he lavished on us through Jesus Christ our Savior that we might be justified by his grace and become heirs, in hope, of eternal life" (3:4-7). Here the event of Christ's birth, is connected to our rebirth in baptism by which we become heirs in the hope of eternal life. The gospel reading continues the narrative of the shepherds. It is not enough to receive the grace of revelation, Christians, like the shepherds must respond and "see this event," participate in it. The liturgy enables us to do this. We are one with the shepherds, making our way to Bethlehem. We are also one with Mary who "treasured all these things and reflected on them in her heart." We cherish and reflect on this great mystery in the liturgy, and we return to our lives like the shepherds, "glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen." The mystery of the Son's Incarnation changes our lives and sets us on our way. The Mass during the Day finally brings us to the fullest possible realization of the meaning of the mystery of the Incarnation. There is no possible way that human beings can capture the meaning of so great a mystery as God becoming man, taking on human flesh, truly being "like us in all things but sin." Yet the Gospel of the Mass during the Day, St. John's Prologue, almost magically, through the very rhythm of its poetry seems to sum up the mystery in the best possible human way. The presidential prayers revolve around the themes of the Gospel so that the whole liturgy is a revelation of the Word Made Flesh. The wealth of the Christmas liturgy is not confined to the Eucharistic liturgies, rich as they are. We are reminded, in the Liturgy of the Hours that this event is not merely a matter of history, but also an event for men and women today. In the Office of Readings, there is an excerpt from a Christmas homily of Pope St. Leo the Great that underscores the great rejoicing that should characterize Christmas on this day. "Dearly beloved, today our Savior is born, let us rejoice. Sadness should have no place on the birthday of life. The fear of death has been swallowed up; life brings us joy with the promise of eternal happiness." The antiphons for Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer alternate between the humanity and divinity of Christ. Perhaps the full import of Christmas is best summed up in the third antiphon of Christmas Morning Prayer: " A little child is born for us today; little and yet called the mighty God, alleluia." The great paradox and mystery of Jesus Christ is exemplified: an infant, yet Mighty, Holy, Immortal God; a man dying an excruciating death on the cross; yet the Lord of Life, the Undying, Eternal God.
Christmas Customs and Folklore
More than any other feast in the Church's liturgical calendar, Christmas has inspired the development of thousands of folk customs that underscore and develop one or another aspect of the Christmas mystery. In the United States, with its great ethnic diversity, many customs belonging to one cultural group have influenced or been adopted by other groups. The figure of St. Nicholas, so dear to the first Dutch settlers of New Amsterdam as Sinter Klaas (Santa Claus) has been adopted as the Gift-bringer of Christmas by nearly every ethnic group in the country. The crèche of the French and Italians, the carols and Christmas cards of the English, the special cakes and breads of Eastern Europeans, the Mexican piñata, and so many other customs have become an integral part of the Christmas observance of nearly all American Catholics. Why so many difference customs? Why so much folklore around this festival rather than around the greater solemnities of Easter and Pentecost? Perhaps the answer to these questions lies deep in the religious consciousness of the Christian people. For many, the image of Mary and her Child with Joseph at her side has so much more human immediacy than the exalted glory of the risen Christ, or even of the suffering Servant of the Lord on the Cross. Christ's birth, told in marvelous language in the infancy narratives, has qualities of a fairy tale – wonderful, awesome – qualities to which people always respond warmly and with affection. The Holy Family is an image of what every family hopes to be – mother and father caring for and loving their children. And children also respond to the images of Christmas, to the Child himself, to the shepherds, the wanderers from the East and the precious gifts given to the Infant in the manger. The wonder and majesty of the Incarnation – God's Son become Man- become in the popular religious imagination a mystery immediately comprehensible and lovingly celebrated. The customs and folklore of Christmas around the world reflect this wonder and precious character of God's condescension, his descent into our world. While many customs may have their origin in the pre-Christian folklore of winter festivals, they became related to Christmas by the great apostles of European evangelization and are integral to the total celebration of Christ's nativity.