Christmas was once a moveable feast celebrated many different times during the year. The choice of December 25 was made by the Pope Julius I in the fourth century AD because this coincided with the pagan rituals of Winter Solstice, or Return of the Sun. The intent was to replace the pagan celebration with the Christian one.

Christmas in Germany

We can trace some of the holiday lore and traditions to Germany. In no other country is Christmas more elaborately and universally celebrated. The Christmas season officially begins with the start of Advent, four Sundays before Christmas Day. The tradition of the Advent wreath, a circle of greenery in which four candles are set, originated with the German Lutherans. One candle is lit the first Sunday of Advent, two are lit the second Sunday, and so on until the fourth Sunday. A large white candle in the center is lit on Christmas Day. The Advent calendar, an elaborate calendar with windows used to count down the days until Christmas, also originated in Germany.

The Christmas Tree owes its widespread popularity to Germany. In the Middle Ages the Germans would put on a mystery play each December 24th, the feast day of Adam and Eve. The plays featured a decorated evergreen which represented the Tree of Life from which Adam and Eve ate and as a result were banished from the Garden of Eden. Over the centuries these plays and festivities strayed from their religious origins and the Church ceased to sponsor them. But the people continued to set up and decorate a tree in their home every year at Christmas. In 1880 glassmakers in Thuringia discovered how to make blown glass balls and bells, which became the decorations used to trim Christmas trees all over the world.

In many German cities special festive markets with decorated booths and stalls are set up for weeks before Christmas. The most famous of these is the Christmas Market in Nuremberg which has a history of more than 400 years and is attended by people from many countries. The festival lasts three weeks, from early December until Christmas.

St. Nicholas has traditionally brought gifts to German children on the eve of his feast day, December 6. He traveled with a darkfaced companion, often a frightening figure, known variously as Krampus, Pelzebock, Pelznickel, Hans Muff, Bartel, or Gumphinkel. After the Reformation, authorities frowned upon the idea of having a character representing the bishop/saint distributing gifts. As a result St. Nick became Santa Claus, complete with long white beard, red suit and sleigh. St. Nick is known by various names in different regions of Germany including Klaasbuur, Burklaas, Rauklas, Bullerklaas and Sunnercla. In eastern Germany, where the Santa figure remains more connected with his pagan past, he is called Ash Man, Shaggy Goat, or Rider. Today, he is increasingly known as Father Christmas throughout Germany and appears not on St. Nicholas Day Eve, but on Christmas Eve.

In Germany, as in many European countries, the highpoint of the Christmas season is Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve. A midnight service is celebrated by both Catholics and Protestants.

Christmas in the British Isles

Many of our North American ideals about the way Christmas ought to derive from the English Victorian Christmas, such as that described in Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. The caroling, the gifts, the feast and the wishing of good cheer to all – these ingredients came together to create that special Christmas atmosphere.

The custom of gift-giving on Christmas dates only to Victorian times. Before then it was more common to exchange gifts on New Year’s Day or Twelfth Night. Santa Claus is known by British children as Father Christmas. Father Christmas, these days, is quite similar to the American Santa, but his direct ancestor is a certain pagan spirit who regularly appeared in medieval plays. The old-fashioned Father Christmas was depicted wearing long robes with sprigs of holly in his long white hair. Children write letters to Father Christmas detailing their requests, but instead of dropping them in the mailbox, the letters are tossed into the fireplace. The draft carries the letters up the chimney, and theoretically, Father Christmas reads the smoke. Gifts are opened Christmas afternoon.

From the English we get a story to explain the custom of hanging stockings from the mantelpiece. Father Christmas once dropped some gold coins while coming down the chimney. The coins would have fallen through the ash grate and been lost if they hadn’t landed in a stocking that had been hung out to dry. Since that time children have continued to hang out stockings in hopes of finding them filled with gifts.

The custom of singing carols at Christmas is also of English origin. During the Middle Ages, groups of singers called “waits” would travel around from house to house singing ancient carols and spreading the holiday spirit. The word “carol” means “song of joy.” Most of the popular old carols we sing today were written in the nineteenth century.

The hanging of greens, such as holly and ivy, is a British winter tradition with origins far before the Christian era. Greenery was probably used to lift sagging winter spirits and remind the people that spring was not far away. The custom of kissing under the mistletoe is descended from ancient Druid rites. The decorating of Christmas trees, though primarily a German custom, has been widely popular in England since 1841 when Prince Albert had a Christmas tree set up in Windsor Castle for his wife Queen Victoria, and their children.

For many years in England, a roasted boar’s head has been associated with Holiday feasting. The custom probably goes back to the Norse practice of sacrificing a boar at Yuletide in honor of the god Freyr. One story tells of a student at Oxford’s Queen College who was attacked on Christmas Day by a wild boar. All he had in his hand to use as a weapon was his copy of Aristotle, so he shoved the book down the boar’s throat. Wanting to retrieve his book, the student cut off the animal’s head and brought it back to the college where it was served for Christmas dinner with much pomp and ceremony.

The celebration of Boxing Day, which takes place on December 26 – the feast of St. Stephen – is a part of the holiday season unique to Great Britain. Traditionally, it is on this day that the alms box at every English church is opened and the contents are distributed to the poor. Also, this is the day that servants traditionally got the day off to celebrate with their families. It became traditional for working people to break open their tip boxes on this day. Boxing Day began in the mid-nineteenth century when the custom of tipping by rich persons to persons in service positions had apparently gotten out of hand. Soon the streets at Christmastime were full of aggressive people soliciting of tips. To contain the nuisance, “Boxing Day” was designated as the one day for giving to the less fortunate.

Mexico

Several weeks before Christmas, elaborately decorated market stalls or puestos are set up in the plazas of every town and city. The puestos offer crafts of every conceivable kind, foods such as cheese, bananas, nuts, and cookies, and flowers such as orchids and poinsettias.

The poinsettia is native to Mexico and is believed to have first been used in connection with Christmas in the 17th century when Mexican Franciscans included the flowers in their Christmas celebration. There is a legend connected with the flower. A little boy named Pablo was walking to the church in his village to visit the Nativity scene, when he realized he had nothing to offer the Christ Child. He saw some green branches growing along the roadside and gathered them up. Other children scoffed, but when he laid them by the manger, a brilliant red star-shaped flower appeared on each branch.

The main Christmas celebration in Mexico is called las posadas, which refers to processions reenacting Joseph and Mary’s search for a place to stay in Bethlehem. The processions begin nine days before Christmas because the original journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem took nine days. Friends and family members divide themselves into two groups – pilgrims and innkeepers. The pilgrims travel from house to house asking for a shelter and are refused at each until they finally reach the house where an alter and Nativity scene have been set up. Here the pilgrims are admitted with great rejoicing, a traditional prayer is spoken, and the party begins. Food and drink are served and then children take turns trying to break open the pinata.

Bethlehem

The little town where Jesus is said to have been born is the site of the Church of the Nativity, which is ablaze with flags and decorations every Christmas. On Christmas Eve natives and visitors alike crowd the church’s doorways and stand on the roof to watch for the dramatic annual procession. Galloping horsemen and police mounted on Arabian horses lead the parade. They are followed by solitary horseman carrying a cross and sitting astride a coal-black steed. Then come the churchmen and government officials. The procession solemnly enters the doors and places an ancient effigy of the Holy Child in the church. Deep winding stairs lead to a grotto where visitors find a silver star marking the site of the birth of Jesus.

Christian homes in Bethlehem are marked by a cross painted over the door and each home displays a homemade manger scene. A star is set up on a pole in the village square.

Iran

Iran, formerly Persia, is the land where the Three Wise men are believed to have lived when Jesus was born. Today Christians in Iran begin fasting from animal products on December 1. This is called “Little Fast.”

“Big Fast” occurs during Lent, the six weeks preceding Easter. After Church service of December 25 they enjoy Christmas dinner which they call “Little Feast.” A traditional dish is a chicken stew called harasa. Gifts are generally not exchanged but children get new clothes which they wear proudly on Christmas Day.

Compiled and edited by Will Nicholls (with files from the internet)