The Top 40 Traditions of Christmas: The Story Behind the Nativity, Candy Canes, Caroling, and All Things Christmas Read Online Free PDF Page B
Author: David McLaughlan
every country, though, hardworking parents are usually the gift-bearer’s main helpers!
What?
The Magi famously presented the Christ child with frankincense, gold, and myrrh, representing His roles as a priest, a king, and a healer.
Since then we have given gifts as a symbol of sharing in His love, but the gifts themselves have varied with location and availability. Sometimes they have been treats; at other times they might be necessities.
In modern times, however, Christmas gifts have become ever more electronic and expensive.
But the last word on gifts has to go to columnist and author Burton Hillis, who once wrote, “The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree: the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other.”
Where?
Many Christmas cards still paint a picture of bulging stockings hanging from a mantelpiece over a roaring fire. Thankfully, from a safety point of view, this image is rarely translated into real life anymore.
Once upon a time a child might only have gotten the gifts that could be fitted into his or her sock (and in hard times that sock might have been bulked out by ashes), but modern children must be glad that isn’t usually the case anymore.
In some places a room is laid aside, decorated, and filled with the children’s presents. This room is kept locked, and the curtains closed, until Christmas morning.
When?
Giving gifts at Christmastime is such an essential part of it that it seems hard to imagine a time when it didn’t happen. In medieval times gifts weren’t given at Christmas at all; rather they might be given at Twelfth Night. Some countries, notably Spain, still maintain this tradition.
Some softer-hearted parents might allow their children to open one present before bedtime on Christmas Eve, but usually Christmas morning is when all the presents get opened. Of course, the children are at liberty to make Christmas morning come around as early as they possibly can—as many a bleary-eyed, but hopefully amused, parent has found out!
Why?
The image of the gifts of the Magi is so strongly associated with Christmas that the tradition of giving gifts probably originated with them. It may also have been a way for the pious to give thanks for the blessing God had bestowed on them. There may also have been an element of feeding the hungry and clothing the poor in His name.
These admirable sentiments still exist with some people who request that gifts be made in their name to charities. But for most of us these days the primary reason for giving gifts at Christmas is to see that look of delight on the faces of our loved ones.
16
Christmas Pageants
Who?
The original Christmas pageant took place when the shepherds, and later the Magi, came to visit the infant Christ. The characters were the real-life Mary, Joseph, Jesus, and any animals that happened to be in the stable.
Francis of Assisi started a “living Nativity,” where people enacted the Holy Family and their visitors. The church adopted the idea, but in many instances replaced it with sculpted and molded tableaux.
These days the pageant’s roles are most often played by excited children, while their parents paint scenes, create costumes, and help with lines. What was originally a family “performance” has become a family event once again.
What?
Christmas pageants are living depictions of the event that all of Christianity stems from—the birth of Jesus Christ. It can be serious and reverential, but, in keeping with the joy of the salvation it represents, it is usually a fun event, where children and adults recreate that humble stable and the events that took place in it.
Secular society isn’t always welcoming of such overtly faith-filled displays, but thankfully there are still enough churches, community centers, schools, homes, towns, and cities willing to recreate the greatest story ever told for the Christmas pageant to be a
What?
The Magi famously presented the Christ child with frankincense, gold, and myrrh, representing His roles as a priest, a king, and a healer.
Since then we have given gifts as a symbol of sharing in His love, but the gifts themselves have varied with location and availability. Sometimes they have been treats; at other times they might be necessities.
In modern times, however, Christmas gifts have become ever more electronic and expensive.
But the last word on gifts has to go to columnist and author Burton Hillis, who once wrote, “The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree: the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other.”
Where?
Many Christmas cards still paint a picture of bulging stockings hanging from a mantelpiece over a roaring fire. Thankfully, from a safety point of view, this image is rarely translated into real life anymore.
Once upon a time a child might only have gotten the gifts that could be fitted into his or her sock (and in hard times that sock might have been bulked out by ashes), but modern children must be glad that isn’t usually the case anymore.
In some places a room is laid aside, decorated, and filled with the children’s presents. This room is kept locked, and the curtains closed, until Christmas morning.
When?
Giving gifts at Christmastime is such an essential part of it that it seems hard to imagine a time when it didn’t happen. In medieval times gifts weren’t given at Christmas at all; rather they might be given at Twelfth Night. Some countries, notably Spain, still maintain this tradition.
Some softer-hearted parents might allow their children to open one present before bedtime on Christmas Eve, but usually Christmas morning is when all the presents get opened. Of course, the children are at liberty to make Christmas morning come around as early as they possibly can—as many a bleary-eyed, but hopefully amused, parent has found out!
Why?
The image of the gifts of the Magi is so strongly associated with Christmas that the tradition of giving gifts probably originated with them. It may also have been a way for the pious to give thanks for the blessing God had bestowed on them. There may also have been an element of feeding the hungry and clothing the poor in His name.
These admirable sentiments still exist with some people who request that gifts be made in their name to charities. But for most of us these days the primary reason for giving gifts at Christmas is to see that look of delight on the faces of our loved ones.
16
Christmas Pageants
Who?
The original Christmas pageant took place when the shepherds, and later the Magi, came to visit the infant Christ. The characters were the real-life Mary, Joseph, Jesus, and any animals that happened to be in the stable.
Francis of Assisi started a “living Nativity,” where people enacted the Holy Family and their visitors. The church adopted the idea, but in many instances replaced it with sculpted and molded tableaux.
These days the pageant’s roles are most often played by excited children, while their parents paint scenes, create costumes, and help with lines. What was originally a family “performance” has become a family event once again.
What?
Christmas pageants are living depictions of the event that all of Christianity stems from—the birth of Jesus Christ. It can be serious and reverential, but, in keeping with the joy of the salvation it represents, it is usually a fun event, where children and adults recreate that humble stable and the events that took place in it.
Secular society isn’t always welcoming of such overtly faith-filled displays, but thankfully there are still enough churches, community centers, schools, homes, towns, and cities willing to recreate the greatest story ever told for the Christmas pageant to be a
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