The Meaning of Christmas

[Jose Antonio da Silva]

I confess it was a little difficult to choose a picture for this post. My choice has to do with the basic meaning of Christmas to me. To me, it is beyond the crazy trips to the shopping mall, it is as simple as a child's love and dreams can be. It is a time to celebrate many things. I would like to know what it means to you or how you celebrate it. And, of course, I want to take this opportunity to wish a Merry Christmas to you all.

[Jose Antonio da Silva]

Hi Dennis,
Thanks a lot for the all the insights into the subject. It is interesting to see how things are connected.
All the best.

[Dennis Oliver]

Oops!

I made a mistake in the code in my first paragraph. You can find the first Wikipedia article HERE.

Boas Festas!

Dennis

[Dennis Oliver]

Oí, meu amigo.

The information about Dia de Reis is fascinating. Other cultures have similar customs; see this Wikipedia article.

When I read the above article and also this Wikipedia article, something that I'd wondered about for a long time—the connection between Dia Natal and Dia de Reis—was clarified a little.

For a long time, I've known about some of the Latin customs associated with the Day of the Kings, in particular the making of a special cake or kind of bread with a bean or a doll representing the baby Jesus hidden inside. In many traditionally Orthodox countries (including the Slavic countries), there isn't any special bread or cake; instead, water is blessed, and people take jugs or jars of water home and drink it and use it to bless each other. The Epiphany season is also the time when homes are blessed.

This YouTube Video shows an outdoor blessing of water in Russia. In it, there's a procession from the church to a body of water. At the water, the priest dips a cross in the water to bless the water and then blesses the people by sprinkling them with water. Also, a young man goes into the water for a special blessing. The music, incidentally, is very beautiful, but it isn't related to the blessing of water. Instead, it's a liturgical composition called "Praise the Name of the Lord" (Khvalitje Imja Gospodnje).

Boas Festas!

Dennis

[Jose Antonio da Silva]

Me again,
"Folia" in Portuguese is "Epiphany" in English.

[Jose Antonio da Silva]

Hi Dennis,

Thanks again for the treat. Really interesting to know about Armenian Christmas. As you were talking about this and Old Christmas. I started think of a festival we have in Brazil. Then I opened the link you provided and voila. We have something similar here in Brazil. On the January 6th, especially in Goiás (the state I am from) and I am sure in many other parts of Brazil, certain communities celebrate "Dia de Reis." (Kings' Day). I remmeber seeing it as a child (my Grandfather used to be a host for them). It is a group people wearing king like customs that go from house to house singing. They sing "25 de Dezembro quando o galo deu o sinal, foi que nasceu o menino Deus, numa noite de Natal, ai." the music is very peculiar and it is beautiful. They are called foliões (folia in Portuguese means party, happiness,fun). my grandfather used to be a "folião" and as a child, my brothers and I loved to see them playing accordeon and percussion instrument similar to a tamburine but with gizmos that would rattle while they beat on them.
Besides that, the January the 6th is the day when we shuld take down our Christmas Threes in Brazil.
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About getting old and wiser, I agree with you. However, you not only a wise man, you are a very open person who likes being and sharing things with other people and this is what makes you even wiser. I am sure that if it hadn´t been for the nice open person you are, you wouldn't have had so much to share. And the magical tthng about sharing is the multiplying force it has as it sets an example and invites others to do the same and by doing this there is a big pool of knowledge, love and wisdom and the whole world gets wiser and better.
Big Brazilian hug
José Antônio

[Dennis Oliver]

Here's some more interesting information:

Armenian Christians normally celebrate Christmas on January 6th ("new" calendar), but the Armenian Church in Jerusalem celebrates it on January 19th (January 6th on the "old" calendar). See this Armeniapedia article.

Also, there are a few people in the U.S. who celebrate something called Old Christmas. This isn't the same as "old-fashioned Christmas" or "traditional Christmas" or "Christmas the way it used to be in the good old days"; instead, it's another celebration altogether. For more information, go HERE and HERE.

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I think it's really interesting to know that when and how your family celebrates Christmas now is like what you all did when you were a child. "What comes around goes around," huh?

As to what you said about learning from me, I guess that could be said about most older people. I've accumulated a lot of trivia and, I suppose, a lot of knowledge during my journey through life, and I'm happy to share it. I'm also interested in learning new things, too—so the trivia and knowledge are constantly changing.

All the best—

Dennis

[Jose Antonio da Silva]

Wow Dennis,

How nice to know all that abut Christmas. I didn't know that Ukraine celebrated Christmas on December 7th. The site you have shared is also really interesting. Besides that, it was great ot follow your account of how this celebration has changed throughout your life.
In my case, In my family Christmas eve is also becoming less meaningful for some reasons such as: dinner is not the most important meal of the day in Brazil (and we are not used to have so much food late in the evening), it is sometimes difficult for other family members to celebrate it with their spouses/girfriends/boyfriends's families and with us, and so on. So we decided to celebrate it with a nice lunch on December 25. It is much better because we get to spend more time together and nobody is sleepy (speccilly older members who do not have the habit of going to bed so late). Moreover, this is how we used to celebrate Christmas when I was a child.
Thanks a lot for sharing so much about this season with us. It is really fascinating to see how much we can learn from you. It was really nice to read your personal narrative of how you cebrate Christmas.

[Dennis Oliver]

Hi again.

More on Slavic Christmas Customs.

For many years, I was actively involved with a Slavic ethnic group, the Rusyns; most of them (or their parents or grandparents) were from small villages in the Carpathian Mountains in parts of Poland, Western Ukraine, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, and Romania. Like most village people, they were conservative and kept many old customs that are fading away in the modern world.

Their Christmas traditions were very different from those of Western Europe. First, they normally celebrated Christmas on January 7th (December 25th on the Julian calendar, which is 13 days behind the modern Gregorian calendar). Second, they normally didn't start caroling until Christmas Eve, after they had the Svjatyj Večer, and they continued caroling until the feast of the Epiphany (January 6th / January 19th). Third, the carolers traditionally performed a kind of play at each house that they visited, and the carolers were accompanied not only by shepherds, but also by some strange creatures—monsters from the forest. These monsters are what remains from pagan celebrations that probably commemorated the Winter Solstice. Fourth, the carolers always carry a star mounted on a long pole. Often this star is very large and is spun around and around as the carolers walk.

If you're interested in learning more, go to the The Ukrainian Information Project: Christmas Traditions in Ukraine. If you go to that site, be sure to listen to some of the beautiful koljadky (Christmas carols) that are linked there. You can find the music HERE.

S Prazdnikom! (Happy Holidays!)

Dennis

Dennis

[Dennis Oliver]

Hi, J.A.

Very good topic, very probing question.

What does Christmas mean to me? – To me, the Christmas season is a time when it's possible to see people at their best—sharing, helping, being cheerful, putting others before themselves. It's also a time when a lot of very beautiful music can be heard—in malls, on TV, on the radio, on the Internet.

Of course, the Christmas season is also a time when many people are really stressed because they often have so much to do—buy gifts, attend parties, send cards, etc. etc. etc. Christmas is not a time to be alone! You have to be with friends or family.

And Christmas is a magical time if you're a small child or if you have or know a small child.

I don't do a lot to celebrate Christmas nowadays. I used to go "starring" (a Slavic custom associated with caroling), either take part in or direct the choir in a whole series of church services, culminating with the Grand Compline service on Christmas Eve and then, the next day, the Liturgy of Christmas. I don't do that now. In the past, I also made a lot of special Christmas foods and usually attended a special Christmas Eve meal, Svjaty Večer ("Holy Evening / Holy Supper"). Now, I don't do those things, either. Instead, my sister and I exchange small gifts—things that are either kind of silly or things that we both use all the time. We also have some special food—maybe a turkey, maybe ham, oyster dressing, cranberry sauce, and sometimes other holiday foods that we both like.

And Christmas Eve has almost no connection to Christmas for my sister and me. Instead, it's a day when a family tradition involving our father. Dad's birthday was on December 24th, and at home, my mom used to make a special dinner for him and we'd all give him a birthday present or two after we ate his favorite meal—steak and potatoes and salad. For several years after my dad passed away, my sis and I felt uncomfortable having "Dad's Birthday Dinner" because we missed him so much. Eventually, however, we began to have the dinner every year and I'm glad that we've re-established this family custom.

Boas festas!

Dennis