Tomorrow is Saint Patrick’s Day. What was the origin of this day, and who was Saint Patrick? And what in the world does it have to do with leprechauns and shamrocks?
Who was Saint Patrick?
Patrick (c. 387 – 17 March, 493) was a Romanized Celt who grew up in Britain. There are two letters written by him in Latin that have survived and are generally accepted as genuine. The more important of the two, his Confession, gives a brief outline of his history and his missionary work. (You can read it on line here).
His father was a deacon and his grandfather was a priest, but young Patrick didn’t take his faith very seriously. At about age 16 he was captured by Irish raiders and taken back to Ireland as a slave. There he was put to work as a herdsman, and was often alone outdoors. During this time prayed daily and his faith grew. After six years he heard a voice speak to him in a dream telling him that his ship was ready. He fled his master and walked 200 miles to the coast where he found a ship that could take him back to Britain, although he had quite a few adventures before he finally arrived at home.
A few years later he had a vision calling him to return to Ireland as a missionary. He began a period of religious training and was ordained as a priest before returning to the land of his captivity. Now in his mid-40’s, God used his familiarity with Irish language and culture to open a door for the Gospel. He made missionary journeys throughout Ireland and baptized thousands of people and started hundreds of churches. After his death, his missionary bands continued to spread the Gospel in Ireland. A century later the Irish church began sending missions teams to Britain, which was by then dominated by the newly arrived pagan Anglo-Saxons. Soon afterward they began to send missions teams to Continental Europe as well.
Saint Patrick’s Day
Like many saint’s days, Saint Patrick’s Day is the date of his death, March 17. Patrick became known as the patron saint of Ireland and his day gradually became a celebration of Irish culture. Although the color blue was originally associated with Saint Patrick, it soon shifted to green, perhaps influenced by the shamrock that he is said to have used as an illustration to teach pagans about the Trinity. Today the color green is an important part of Saint Patrick’s day, to the point that the Chicago River is dyed green every year on this date.
Unlike Valentine’s Day, we have some real information about the man whose name is associated with this day. I have no interest in leprechauns or shamrocks, much less green beer, but I find the story of Saint Patrick to be inspiring. He returned to share the Gospel with the people who had enslaved him, and was use by God to start a movement that resulted in thousands of people coming to Christ. That’s something worth celebrating.
For further reading:
x
Valentine’s Day is a celebration of romantic love, usually accompanied by an exchange of cards, flowers and candy. On several occasions as I was doing my Valentine’s shopping I found myself in a checkout line with several men each buying flowers or candy for his wife or girl friend. I think that this must be one of the biggest days of the year for sellers of flowers. An estimated 1 billion cards are sent each year, compared to 2.6 billion at Christmas.
Who was St. Valentine?
Why would I write about Valentine’s Day in a series on Christian holidays? The older name for “Valentine’s Day” is “Saint Valentine’s Day.” Who was Saint Valentine and what does he have to do with the day we celebrate in his name? Was this originally a Christian holiday?
There were three martyrs named Valentine honored by the ancient church, all of whom are supposed to have died on Feb. 14. It is seem likely that the three were confused and assigned to the same date. The most well known of the three was Valentine of Rome, who was martyred in AD 269. When pope Pope Gelasius I established Valentine’s Day in 496, he included Valentine among those “… whose names are justly reverenced among men, but whose acts are known only to God.” So even at that time not much was know about him. Most of the stories about his life are of a relatively late date, and according to the Catholic Encyclopedia are “of no historical value.”
The most common legend is that Emperor Claudius II had forbidden the young men of Rome to marry because he thought that single men made better soldiers, and he needed a lot of soldiers. Valentine defied this order by performing secret weddings for young people who wanted to marry, and eventually was caught. He was executed when he refused to renounce his faith.
According to one legend, St. Valentine sent the first “Valentine” himself. He is said to have become friends with the daughter of his jailor, and some say that he had healed her of blindness. Before his death he is said to have written her a letter, and signed it “From your Valentine.”
The Roman Connection
Another strand of the history of this day is the Roman festival of Lupercalia. This was a fertility festival dedicated to the Roman god Faunus, equivalent to the Greek god Pan, which was celebrated on Feb. 13-15. According to legend, all the single women in a village would put their names on slips of paper into an urn, and the single men would each draw out a name. The couple was then paired for a year. When Pope Gelasius declared Feb. 14 Valentine’s Day around 496 the Roman “lottery” system for dating was banned as unchristian.
Have you ever wondered where Cupid came from? He was the son of Venus and Mercury (Aphrodite and Hermes) and was the Roman god of erotic love and and beauty. It seems that Roman culture has had a large influence on this day.
What can we Learn?
The legends about St. Valentine do not appear before the Middle Ages, so they do not provide any reliable historical information. We do know that there was a martyr named Valentine, but we don’t really know anything about his life. On the other hand, the Roman connection seems to have influenced this holiday a great deal.
Putting all of this together, it seems that the early church established a Christian alternative to a pagan festival in Rome. Their goal was to steer people away from the sensual and erotic elements of the Roman feast and focus instead on a man who had given up his life for his faith. But it seems that they were only partially successful, and the unwanted elements continued to creep back in. The modern holiday takes much from pagan sources, and only its name from a Christian origin.
For further reading
Lupercalia
Have you ever wondered about the “twelve days of Christmas”? In the U.S. many people think that the “twelve days of Christmas” are the 12 days leading up to Christmas. Some holiday advertising makes this assumption. But that is not correct. Actually it refers the twelve days beginning with Christmas and ending the day before the feast of Epiphany on January 6. Today is the sixth day of Christmas.
Epiphany, which means “appearing,” has been celebrated in the church from at least the 4th century. This feast is usually connected to the visit of the Magi, although there is nothing in the Bible to indicate that the Magi appeared on Jan. 6. In the Eastern Orthodox churches Epiphany is a celebration of Christ’s baptism and is considered the third most important feast of the year after Easter and Pentecost.
While we end our Christmas celebration after Dec. 25, in the Middle Ages they had 12 days of continuous feasting and merrymaking. Sometimes small gifts were given to children each day. The twelfth day of Christmas (Jan. 5) marks the end of the Christmas season and was the traditional day for taking down Christmas decorations. Shakespeare’s play The Twelfth Night is named after this day.
The well known English Christmas carol The Twelve Days of Christmas has often perplexed people, but it makes more sense when we understand that it refers to the twelve days beginning with Christmas. Although some have suggested that the song was a cryptic way to teach Christian doctrine in a time of persecution, that theory has a lot of problems. It is more likely that the song originated as a memory game played on the twelvth night.
Christians in past ages put a lot more emphasis on fasting and repentance than we do, but they also spent more time rejoicing. The OT believers also had feasts that went on for a week or more. There is something to be said for God-centered rejoicing. Perhaps we can reclaim the twelve days of Christmas, called Christmastide in the liturgical churches, as a religious holiday. Now that we are done with the shopping frenzy and gift giving, we can pause to reflect and give thanks for what God has done for us in sending His Son. Perhaps it is too soon to be done with Christmas just yet.
For further reading:
There are many Christmas customs that have nothing to do with the birth of Christ. What about the the most distinctive Christmas symbol of all, the “jolly old elf”? Some Christians have pointed out rather ominously that “Santa” has exactly the same letters as “Satan.” Santa, along with the associated gift giving frenzy, is a major distraction from the real meaning of Christmas. Yet the name “Santa Claus” is derived from the Dutch for “Saint Nicholas.” So what is the source of our idea of Santa?
Saint Nicholas was a bishop who lived in the 4th century in Asia Minor, which is the area that is now modern day Turkey. We don’t know a lot about him, but some reports say that he attended the Council of Nicea in 325 AD. He died on Dec. 6, 346 AD (some sources say 343). According to the custom of the early church the date of his death, December 6, was established as Saint Nicholas Day. There are many stories and legends about Nicholas protecting and caring for the poor, including giving gifts to poor children and tossing coins into the windows of poor families. A famous story tells of how he tossed three small bags of gold into the window of the home of a poor family so that their three daughters would have the necessary dowry in order to be married.
But Santa is a long ways from Saint Nicholas. Here are some of the other influences along the way:
Saint Nicholas in Europe
In Europe Saint Nicholas was know, among other things, as the benefactor of children. He was portrayed as a bearded man wearing bishop’s robes. Ideas about Saint Nicholas may have been influenced by beliefs about Odin, a major god of the Germanic people before Christianization. He was pictured in the 13th century as riding an eight legged horse that could leap great distances. Children would place their boots filled with carrots, straw and sugar near the chimney for Odin’s horse. Odin would reward these children by replacing these things with gifts or candy. This may have been the origin of the custom of hanging stockings by the fireplace for Santa to fill. In Europe children were given sweets and small gifts on Saint Nicholas Day, Dec. 6.
In the Netherlands and Belgium Saint Nicholas was called “Sinterklaas.” He was depicted in a bishop’s robes and wearing a bishop’s hat. The connection with Saint Nicholas is much more obvious in the Christmas traditions of Europe than in the United States.
The British Father Christmas was described from the 17th century onwards as a bearded man wearing a long green fur-lined robe. Scrooge’s second visitor in Dicken’s A Christmas Carol is described as having a similar appearance. But now the red robe has become predominant due to the influence of the American Santa.
Santa in the United States
European immigrants to the United States brought with them their Christmas customs. Dutch immigrants brought Sinterklaas with them, which was Americanized into “Santa Claus,” a name first used in the American press in 1773. Other influences made Santa into a peculiarly American tradition.
The famous poem The Night Before Christmas (1823) added to considerably to the physical description of Santa, making him heavy set and smoking a pipe. But he is described as an “elf,” his sleigh is called “miniature” and reindeer are described as “tiny.”
Commercial artist Thomas Nash further changed Santa’s appearance in his drawings from 1862-1886. He made Santa into a full sized human rather than an “elf.”
A famous Saturday Evening Post cover in 1925 came up with a drawing of Santa that is closer to the modern image, including the red suit.
For 35 years beginning in 1931, Coca Cola used Santa in their ads. This helped to solidify the image of a rotund Santa in a red suit in the American consciousness.
Conclusion
What shall we say about Santa Claus? Although there is a Christian influence in the historical origin of Santa, the concept has changed so much that it seems impossible to try to make Santa into a Christian symbol. Some have suggested that we celebrate the memory of Saint Nicholas on Dec. 6 and forget about Santa. While we might not celebrate saints’ days, at least we can learn something important from Saint Nicholas. This Christmas we could certainly do worse things than give gifts to the poor, especially poor children.
For further reading:
In recent years it has become the norm in public to wish people “Happy Holidays” rather than “Merry Christmas.” I can understand the concern about offending the minority who adhere to other religions or no religion at all. But it is sad to see even this slight connection between our winter holiday and the birth of Christ severed. A few years ago I was making a purchase in December and the cashier looked at me and said “Merry Christmas.” I looked her in the eye and replied “Merry Christmas.” Maybe she was going against company policy by using the “Christmas” word, but it made my day.
A few days ago I was in Starbucks and I took a close look at their “holiday” cup (click on the cup for a larger image). It provides a good case study in what Christmas without Christ looks like. The cup is decorated in a tree-like pattern with various ornaments on them. Some ornaments have the words “love,” “peace,” and “hope” on them. Strangely there is no “joy.” Others are marked “wish” and “bright.” I’m not sure what “bright” is supposed to signify.
The largest ornament contains the following text:
We invite you to listen to your desires and to renew your hope. To see the world, not as it is, but as it could be. Go ahead, wish. It’s what makes the holidays the holidays.
I want to make a few observations about this holiday message:
- It is subjective and individualistic. The way to renew your hope is to look within and listen to your desires.
- It challenges us to “wish.” It doesn’t matter what you wish for, as long as you have a wish.
- Holidays are apparently about wishing for whatever we desire.
This sort of insipid platitude is all that we have left when people try to regain the feeling of Christmas without acknowledging the reason for Christmas. It becomes a futile attempt to experience holiday cheer without any reason to be cheerful. It’s like trying to be thankful in general on Thanksgiving without giving thanks to God.
Contrast that with the real Christmas message:
” And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” (Lk. 2:8-11)
Now there’s something worth getting excited about!
First of all, it is unlikely that Jesus was born on December 25. The Bible does not tell us the date of Christ’s birth. The ancient church did not celebrate Christ’s birth at all, choosing instead to focus on His death and resurrection.
It has been suggested that Jesus couldn’t have been born in the winter because the shepherds were outside with their flocks. But the winter is quite mild in Judea so this can’t be ruled out.
In the second century arguments were made for several other dates for Christ’s birth, including April 24 or 25, May 20, August 28 and November 17. But the alternate date that gained the greatest following was January 6. Interestingly, the earliest authors do not mention any sort of celebration on the date of Christ’s birth. In the third century Origen thought that it was sinful to celebrate Christ’s birth as though he was a human king.
December 25 also happened to be the date of the Roman imperial holiday celebrating the birth of the sun god Sol Invictus. Under the Julian calendar the winter solstice was on December 24, so the 25th was the beginning of the return to longer days. Is it a coincidence that the celebration of Christ’s birth took place on the same day? As a practical matter, it made sense for the early church to give believers an alternative to celebrating the popular pagan holiday. It’s difficult to imagine that this did not influence their choice of December 25 as the date to celebrate Christ’s birth.
Another factor was the idea that the Old Testament prophets died on the anniversary of either their conception or their birth. There is no biblical basis for such a theory, but it was a popular idea at the time. Based on the date of Good Friday in AD 354 this lead to the date of December 25 for Christ’s birth. But since Easter is based on the lunar calendar, the same calculation made in other years would lead to a different date for Christmas. Why did they choose that particular year for the calculation? This looks to me like an effort to justify the earlier choice of December 25.
Choosing the date of a pagan feast to celebrate Christ’s birth was not without its dangers. There was the possibility that some Christians would try to combine the two, bringing elements of pagan religion into the church. On the other hand it provided a Christian alternative to a popular celebration. In much the same way today many churches hold their youth group meetings on Friday evenings, in part to provide an alternative to going to parties.
We do not need to know the real day of Christ’s birth in order to celebrate His coming. God has in fact sent His son into the world as our Savior, and we can celebrate that without knowing the exact day. Our own Christmas celebrations are influenced by many other non-Christian cultural factors, but that is a topic for another post.
For further reading:
Advent is the name given to the period of preparation leading up to Christmas. It begins on the 4th Sunday before Christmas and ends on Christmas Eve. In churches that use a formal liturgical church calendar, Advent is the beginning of the Christian year because the Church begins with Christ. The word “Advent” comes from the Latin word adventus, meaning “coming.” It is a celebration of Christ’s first coming, and at the same time a preparation for His return.
Beginning in the 4th century, Advent was a time for fasting and self-reflection similar to Lent. Gradually this aspect of Advent has been dropped, although the Roman Catholic Church and the more liturgical Protestant churches still encourage solemnity and discourage too much festivity. Believers from the ancient church would be shocked at our lack of seriousness during the days leading up to Christmas. We may think that they were too austere, but we could benefit from more time spent in spiritual reflection and confession of our sins.
The season of Advent is also about hope. We look back on the longing of the OT saints for the coming of the promised Messiah, and we look forward to Christ’s return. It is in times of suffering and turmoil that hope is most important. If our hope is based only on our own abilities and resources we are bound to be disappointed. But if our hope is in God we can remain confident through the storm. When we feel overwhelmed by the difficulties of life and the evil in the world we can join creation in groaning for Christ’s return (Rom. 8:18-25).
Even before Thanksgiving, preparations for Christmas are all around us, but nearly all of them have nothing to do with the birth of our Savior. What does Black Friday have to do with Jesus? Even most Christians give little thought to spiritual preparation for the celebration of Christ’s birth. We have to get our shopping done and send our Christmas cards like everyone else. C.S. Lewis has written a wonderful essay contrasting Christmas and Xmas (or Crissmas and Exmas as he puts it), which he describes as two entirely different holidays celebrated on the same day. I encourage you to read it and reflect on the difference between the two.
For further reading:
Subscribe to Holidays