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Christmas: How it Changed Through The Year

By Melanie Hoffman

     Christmas, as we know it today, is filled with the excitement of opening presents, the Christmas dinner, and the warm fellowship of family and friends. Christmas is supposed to be centered on Christ, but that has grown dim because of many things. Traditions that many celebrate now are a mixture of pagan practices intertwined with the true Christmas meaning. Thus, parts of Christmas have become corrupt and twisted through the years.

     Gift giving is one example. In reality, gift giving came before Christ’s birth, actually starting with the Romans. The Romans celebrated Saturnalia, after their god Saturn.[1] This started on the seventeenth and went until the twenty-third of December. They indulged in pagan revelries, hoping that Saturn would restore crops, cattle, and health the next year.[2] Because of the miscalculation in the winter solstice, they held a great feast for their god Mithras, which was celebrated December twenty-fourth till the twenty-fifth.[3] The Romans, in light of the season, gave gifts of greenery, like holly, juniper, and mistletoe to their ruling governors. The Romans gave gifts such as good luck charms and goodwill gifts to their neighbors. They also gave cakes and fruit to one another.[4] This is were gift giving at the time we celebrate Christmas began, not with the three wise men. This was the pagan world that Jesus was born into, in that humble lowly stable.

     After Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection, the Roman government and Jewish religious leaders dealt harshly with the Christians, trying to wipe out them out. The Christians ignored Saturnalia and focused on bringing people of all different races to Christ, though they suffered dearly for their faith. Finally, around 313A.D., the persecution in Rome ended.[5] When Rome began to become “Christian” Rome, pagan influence increased rapidly in the church, and that alarmed the church Fathers. Pagan holidays such as Saturnalia or the celebration of Mithras were so strong, that the church Fathers decided to change the focus to Christ and His birth. The gifts of greenery that were originally given to Saturn were given to Christ in honor of his birth.[6] 

     Soon, the celebration of Christmas spread all over Europe and even into Britain. The true meaning and traditions gradually changed as the celebration spread over the world. People added their own different pagan customs, and eventually for some, Christ was taken out completely. When the celebration of Christmas had reached the Middle Ages, it became more of a mockery than a celebration. A medieval king had a masque called “The Triumph of Peace” that cost 20,000 franks! Christmas was a mockery, not only in the Middle Ages, but throughout history, even into the nineteenth century. People hired mummers and carolers to go and make merriment around town. The mummers would dress up in masks and costumes.[7] The holiday was for eating and drinking excessively. During the holiday, it was always natural to have rowdy people disrupting the town; they were most of the time drunk.[8] Eventually people came to their senses and made Christmas a family holiday. 

     Originally, families gave gifts to people outside the family, but in the nineteenth century, families began giving gifts to one another. This was the beginning of the commercial Christmas enterprise. People from all over the world began putting this into practice. Buying gifts from stores soon became the way for making profit for store owners. They quickly caught on to helping people; over the years they made magazines and catalogs to advertise their merchandise. When TV came around, it was a nice convenience.

     The use for greenery also changed over the years. Even after the Roman civilization died out, people still used greenery to keep demons and evil from hurting people. Christians changed the meaning to symbolize the nativity. The mistletoe is purely pagan, involved an Old Norse myth about their gods. Baldur (one of their god’s names) was slain by a dart whittled from a spring of mistletoe. Frigga, his mother, shed so many tears that they turned into white berries. Frigga was determined to use it for good, so that it should be used as a token of love instead of hate. The myth spread all the way to Rome. Whenever they met an enemy under mistletoe, they would lay down their arms, kiss and declare a day’s truce. Kissing boughs and balls based on the legend later became part of the secular Christmas.[9]

     It is sad to see all the bad things that are mixed in with Christmas, instead of honoring Christ. Here is an old carol, written after the Reformation in England, that describes how we all should praise and glorify Christ all year round.

‘Triumph ye heavens! Rejoice ye with high adorations!

Sing to the Lord, to the Savior, in glad exultation!

Angels, give ear!

God unto man hath drawn near,

Bringing to lost ones salvation.

King of the Glory! What grace in thy humiliation!

Thou wert a child! Who of old wert the Lord of creation.

Thee will I own,

Thee would I follow alone,

Heir of Thy wondrous salvation.

Faithful Immanuel! Let me Thy glories be telling,

Come, O Savior, be born, in mine inmost heart dwelling,

Make me with Thee unified,

Where the life fountain is welling.’[10]

Copyright © 2003 by Melanie Hoffman