St. Nicholas and Christmas in America
Friday, December 22, 2006 at 01:49PM 
He was a godly man who had a big heart for the poor and suffering. In a culture where women must provide dowries to their prospective husbands or risk prostitution as the option to marriage, St. Nick saw women with little alternative. He tried anonymously to save women from a life of prostitution by dropping gold coins into their "stockings" or hose from their chimneys, which hung by the fireplace to dry at night. St. Nick’s reputation of mercy and charity spread, although he tried to keep his good works secret. In the early 17th century, a wave of religious reform changed the way Christmas was celebrated in Europe. The Godly or parliamentary party, working through and within the elected parliament in the 1640s in England clamped down on the celebration of Christmas and other saints’ and holy days, a prohibition which remained in force on paper and more fitfully in practice until the Restoration of 1660.
The pilgrims, English separatists that came to America in 1620, did not celebrate Christmas in early America. From 1659 to 1681, the celebration of Christmas was actually outlawed in Boston. Anyone exhibiting the Christmas spirit was fined five shillings.
After the American Revolution, English customs fell out of favor, including Christmas. The celebration of Christmas was practiced by Roman Catholics in America and eventually Protestants took up the celebration as well. Christmas was declared a federal holiday on June 26, 1870.
Jesus is of course the focal point of Christmas; it is through Him that secularists enjoy the trappings of this holiday, through Him we find the miracle of salvation through a human baby, and through Him we await the return of a king. Now everyone have a wonderful and Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas:
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Reader Comments (45)
Thank you for the Christmas history. I didn't know that. Most liberals tell me that it came out of a pagan holiday from Germany long ago. Now I know that was just recreating the past.
Merry Christmas Amy
Early Christians didn't celebrate as we did today the birth of Christ. St.Nick is quite an impressive character!
Hello Amy! Merry Christmas to you and yours!
Thanks for this entry, Amy! St. Nicholas is one of the biggest Saints in the Eastern Church, and he's beloved and claimed by Catholics and Orthodox alike.
I didn't know that Christmas was not celebrated by early Americans. That's interesting.
Cal Patriot,
As usual you got the story half right.
The time (December) for celebrating the birth of Christ was co-opted by early christians from the pagan holiday of Saturnalia, which in turn is associated with the winter solstice.
"Now I know that was just recreating the past."
Do you get all your learning from Amy and the bible?
There really are some other wonderful and less biased resources out there worth a look.
P.S.
A Merry Christmas to one and all!
Mr. Fart:
It was not "co-opted". The early Christians were ruthlessly persecued by the pagans in the Roman Empire. The only time it was safe to celebrate the birth of the Christ was when the Romans were engaged in revelry and debauchery such as during the celebration of Saturnalia.
Christianity was not even legal in the Roman Empire until the Edict of Milan in 313 AD.
By the 5th century AD, the empire had rotted from the inside out. The immoral, violent and self-indulgent Romans self-destructed and collpased from internal innefficiency and external pressure from the Germanic tribes from the north. The only social structure that remained with any integrity was the Catholic Church. If that is "co-opting" holidays and institutions, then we Christians are guilty as charged.
Before you start sharp-shooting Cal, it might be a good idea to take your own advice about research.
Happy Christmas,
Johnny
PS: Christ was born to save you, too!
"The only time it was safe to celebrate the birth of the Christ was when the Romans were engaged in revelry and debauchery such as during the celebration of Saturnalia."
In the end, it's the same thing. You say Potato, etc.
Thank you for this enlightening post - I knew a little about St. Nicholas, but not as much as you put forth. It was a well read and I'll share it with my family.
Thank you for this wonderful historical post, Amy. Thanks for the link too! May God bless you and yours this Christmas season and always! :)
The fact of the matter is that Christmas has always been Christmas. What the Romans celebrated before hand on December 25th is irrelevant.
The word for Christmas in late Old English is Cristes Maesse, the Mass of Christ, first found in 1038, and Cristes-messe, in 1131. In Dutch it is Kerst-misse, in Latin Dies Natalis, whence comes the French Noël, and Italian Il natale; in German Weihnachtsfest, from the preceeding sacred vigil.
You can read about the origins of the holy day HERE. It looks to me that grumpy is wrong.
"Conclusion. The present writer in inclined to think that, be the origin of the feast in East or West, and though the abundance of analogous midwinter festivals may indefinitely have helped the choice of the December date, the same instinct which set Natalis Invicti at the winter solstice will have sufficed, apart from deliberate adaptation or curious calculation, to set the Christian feast there too."
How this contradicts what I said is not clear. But hen again, the entire site referenced by you is almost unreadable.
This is a little clearer I think.
Hmmm, sorry for the blank post. My HTML really sucks. Just go to Wikipedia's "Christmas" entry.
"Most liberals tell me that it came out of a pagan holiday from Germany long ago."
this card-carrying liberal would never pressume to tell you any such thing.
i will tell you, however, that many of the traditions associated with xmas are carried over from pagan traditions, many of them (yule logs, xmas trees, cookies and milk, sleighs and reindeer - don't see to many of either in turkey) from converted germanic tribes. but not all traditions are of pagan tradition. kris kringle was the invention of martin luther, meant to counter the legend of the catholic saint nick, yet today the two names are readily interchanged in reference to the same fictionalized (the real saint nick didn't live with elves at the north pole, did he?) character.
did liberals really tell you otherwise, or do you perhaps recall their accounts incorrectly, thus you may be recreating the past?
KEvron
Grumpy old fart,
What's the matter, run out of children to tell "hey kids, there's no Santa"?
Educate yourself, the date is firmly rooted in a Jewish Christian background.
http://pblosser.blogspot.com/2006_12_01_pblosser_archive.html#116655415499115445
Wikipedia? Are you kidding me?
As far as those "pagan" traditions like the yule log...I seem to remember that St Paul, while in Athens went up a hill dedicated to the Greek god of war and began to preach, beginning, not with a OT quote, but with an iscription from the altar of a pagan temple. The early church beleived that christ is the king of all creation, therefore, they had no qualms about building churches on pagan sites or adopting pagan practices like wedding rings, yule logs, ect. If you could baptise a pagan and (for want of a better term) put him to christian use, then the same can be done for a piece of dirt on which a temple once stood or a day on which a god was celebrated. Just because an evergreen tree or yule log was used for pagan purposes does not mean that they can't be used for Christian ones. If man can taint something so that even the Lord of all creation can't touch it what hope do any of us have? Or can a pagan taint a day, log, tree, or plot of ground worse than his own body?
Sorry for the rambling naturre of the post; I'm in a hurry.
Merry Christmas to all. Including Grumpy.
Rather than typing out the link given above you can go here and type the words pagan christmas into the "search this blog" search engine at the top of the page. The first reference to come up is the one you want. Also, I was referring to Acts of Apostles chapter 17.
http://markshea.blogspot.com/
Amy...
Wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas this year...
Thanks for what you and your husband both do for all of us...
AubreyJ.........
Merry Christmas Amy to you and yours- Keep the faith- from SacredScoop
Merry Christmas to you and Johnny...The weblog awards are dumb, you are running one of the great blogs around...God bless you.
Merry Christmas Amy, family & all!
Merry Christmas to all. Radar, thanks for the compliment. I haven't paid it too much mind but did see some pretty ordinary blogs in the finals. That's just my personal judgment. Anyway, thanks!
The point your trying to make grumpy is a lame one, and means absolutely nothing. I realize many liberal atheists like to get into these types of discussions about Christmas to take the Christ out of the meaning, but the fact remains that Christmas always was and always will be about the birth of Christ. What it was before He came along is irrelevant. What it was before the Romans changed it is irrelevant. NOW its Christmas, a celebration of Christ's birthday. (yes, we know He wasn't born in December, but actually closer to April. No one cares) End of story.
My reading of the New Testament suggests that Jesus was born on Succoth (Jewish Festival of Lights). I've searched around online and found deeper confirmations of that. Here's a link to one such source.
http://www.thetribulationforce.com/when_was_jesus_born.htm
Tim,
Did I ever say Christmas wasn't ulitmately about the birth of Jesus?
My goodness, from where does all that anger come?
"My goodness, from where does all that anger come?"
certainly not from jesus.
KEvron
I don't know, do any of you Bible scholars recall Jesus angry in the temple? Throwing things, flipping over tables, name calling... it was rough. Anger has its place.
That said, I still don't see anything angry about Tim's comment.
"That said, I still don't see anything angry about Tim's comment."
i do see some rage in tim's comments, especially when you consider he's arguing against a point no that one has made.
btw, amy, if you don't win that weblog award, i'll create one of my own and give it to you. you deserve it.
KEvron
"My goodness, from where does all that anger come?"
"certainly not from Jesus"
Yeah, its not like Jesus ever got ticked and chased people around with a whip or anything...
"i do see some rage in tim's comments, especially when you consider he's arguing against a point no that one has made."
Yes, I'm sure all that was posted as just an "FYI".
It really isn't the place of non-Christians or athiests to tell practicing Christians how Jesus would act. Considering they probably cannot accurately, without consulting a Bible, quote one statement of Jesus correctly or pass a test on basic Christian theology, it seems pretty arrogant for non-Christians to act so holier-than-thou.
I wonder if they know that both King David and St. Paul (in quoting David) said we should be "angry and sin not." Righteous indignation is a sign of a healthy conscience.
Not to mention this isn't the only blog where the same bloggers have posted the same drivel about Christmas in an attempt to remind us Christians that we hyjacked someone else's holiday, as if that means anything to anybody at all.
"Yeah, its not like Jesus ever got ticked and chased people around with a whip or anything..."
and on a daily basis, too. i believe it's why they crucified him.
KEvron
"It really isn't the place of non-Christians or athiests to tell practicing Christians how Jesus would act."
in america, it is.
"Considering they probably cannot accurately, without consulting a Bible, quote one statement of Jesus correctly or pass a test on basic Christian theology"
and if they can, what then? i was raised catholic. i was a lector in my church. i'll go toe-to-toe with anyone any day.
"it seems pretty arrogant for non-Christians to act so holier-than-thou."
it's not too christian for christians to do the same, either (matthew 6).
"I wonder if they know that both King David and St. Paul (in quoting David) said we should be 'angry and sin not.'"
i could care less about king david, or paul's plagiarism of david. paul was a rabid misogynist. he was rabid at everything he did, for that matter.
"Righteous indignation is a sign of a healthy conscience."
lol! i could not agree with you more, amy!
KEvron
KEvron, you believe Jesus was crucified because Jesus lost his temper? I'm sure you're joking but I don't get it.
If you're serious, you've totally lost any credibility to discuss Christianity.
"the same bloggers have posted the same drivel about Christmas in an attempt to remind us Christians that we hyjacked someone else's holiday"
links, please, tim. otherwise, you just sound angry.
KEvron
If you care not about King David, whom Jesus had to come through to be the Messiah (he's essential in the lineage of the Messiah) or St. Paul, who is heralded as the father of the Christian faith, again, you have no credibility or knowledge on this subject.
Which is fine.... I'm not up on Buddha like I should... but then I wouldn't pretend to know what Buddha did or believed.
Your statement proves you know nothing about St. Paul or Christianity. Stick to what you know.
"KEvron, you believe Jesus was crucified because Jesus lost his temper?"
it would appear that way.
"I'm sure you're joking but I don't get it."
as long as i get the joke, i'm satisfied.
"If you're serious, you've totally lost any credibility to discuss Christianity."
seeing as you've already dismissed outright any commentary from atheists on the matter, your conditional statement seems rather disingenuous.
regardless, i seek no credibilty here.
KEvron
"If you care not about King David, whom Jesus had to come through to be the Messiah (he's essential in the lineage of the Messiah) or St. Paul, who is heralded as the father of the Christian faith, again, you have no credibility or knowledge on this subject."
i have knowledge on the subject a'plenty. i seek no credibility here.
"Which is fine.... I'm not up on Buddha like I should... but then I wouldn't pretend to know what Buddha did or believed."
okay....
"Your statement proves you know nothing about St. Paul or Christianity."
my statement proves i have knowledge on the subject a'plenty.
"Stick to what you know."
indeed, i shall. i know misogynists, of which paul was most certainly one.
KEvron
"and if they can, what then? i was raised catholic. i was a lector in my church. i'll go toe-to-toe with anyone any day."
So, because you read scripture aloud in Church, that you obviously did not believe in, that makes you and expert on what? Formalism?
Line your toes up with this: Jesus is the Son of David, the most important figure in all of Hebrew prophetic literature. His coming as the fruit of Mary's womb literally fulfilled hundreds of prophecies. Locations, dates, miracles, signs, wonders, titles, down to the way his cloak was gambled for under the cross and the exact words he exclaimed while dying. Coincidence? Your abandonment of Christian doctrine is most certainly not the fault of the Word of God, though our generation has produced many priests sold out to evolution, materialism, redaction criticism and anti-supernaturalism. If that is the case for you, I implore you by the mercies of God, COME BACK HOME. The real Jesus of the Bible is calling you to know Him.
Good post. I learned something.
to the negative commentators, why all the hostility? Amy, Johnny, the Church, and even Jesus Christ himself are not forcing you to agree with, or believe in anything. Is just the reminder that the Lord of Glory has extended you an open invitation to join him in eternity got your panties in a wad? the power to accept or reject was given to you.
"So, because you read scripture aloud in Church, that you obviously did not believe in, that makes you and expert on what? Formalism?"
i said nothing about being an expert. the challenge was my knowledge of scripture. it's extensive. whether or not i agree with it is irrelevant. i'll go toe-to-toe with anyone.
"Line your toes up with this: Jesus is the Son of David, the most important figure in all of Hebrew prophetic literature."
i could care less.
"His coming as the fruit of Mary's womb literally fulfilled hundreds of prophecies. Locations, dates, miracles, signs, wonders, titles, down to the way his cloak was gambled for under the cross and the exact words he exclaimed while dying. Coincidence?"
no, lies.
"Your abandonment of Christian doctrine is most certainly not the fault of the Word of God"
seeing as there is no god, i'd have to agree with you on that one.
"though our generation has produced many priests sold out to evolution, materialism, redaction criticism and anti-supernaturalism."
gallileo would be happy.
"If that is the case for you, I implore you by the mercies of God, COME BACK HOME."
shall i believe in the tooth fairy again, too?
"The real Jesus of the Bible is calling you to know Him."
hardly.
or are you refering to tim's many vuilgar insinuations about me? i can do without that kind of christian charity, thank you.
KEvron, pastafarian
"....got your panties in a wad?"
lol! you've been to the passive/aggressive school of ministry, yes?!
priceless!
KEvron
KEvron,
If you're going to call the New Testament's claims that Jesus fulfilled prophecies written hundreds of years before His birth, I assume you have evidence to back yourself up.
Let's see it.
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