CELEBRATING CHRISTMAS

Celebrated by Christians the world over, Christmas means many things for many people. For children it is time for their ‘gifts from Santa’ and holidays from school whilst for elders it means baking cakes and making other goodies to share with their neighbours.

Let's take a look at a few Christmas traditions, symbols and try to understand the real meaning of Christmas...

The Christmas Mass

Christmas day is the only one on which mass is celebrated three times in the Catholic Church. This custom, was established in the VIIth century, when the Pope celebrated the Christmas office in a number of churches around Rome. In reference to the content of the respective Gospels in the Roman missal for these three masses, the faithful came to call the first mass the "Angels' Mass", the second the "Shepherds' Mass" and the third the "Mass of the Divine Word". The masses are better known under the names of: Midnight Mass, Dawn Mass and Christmas Day Mass. Today most churches celebrate the three masses though not at the same time. The Midnight Mass is the grandest and most well attended of all three. Other Christian denominations like Lutherans and Baptists also celebrate the Midnight Mass.

The Crib

The 'crib' is a re-creation of the Nativity scene. In some houses the setting up of the crib is a big tradition by itself, with all the elders of the house gathered together and praying before setting out the statues. The statue of the infant Jesus is placed in the crib by the head of the family after they return from the midnight mass. This is done ten days before Christmas.

These simple ready to assemble crib sets are available for a few hundred rupees, also there are elaborate sets available that run into thousands of rupees. While the 'crib' is generally done very elaborately in churches with some of them even having life-sized statues, houses mostly have them on a much smaller scale. In Chennai, these Crib sets can be bought at Good Pastor Press Liturgical Centre at the St Mary's Co-cathedral campus, Armenian Street, Parrys.

The biggest Christmas crib in the world is at the Diorama in Bethlehem, which is a huge tourist attraction. The Christmas story - beginning from the announcement to the shepherds to the scene of the birth of Christ and the arrival of the three kings till the flight into Egypt is illustrated with over 450 wood-carved figures wearing oriental costumes. The realistic reproduction is spread over 80 square metres of plastic landscape and a painted background measuring more than 30 metres.

The Christmas Tree

Legend has it, that the Christmas tree is associated with the birth of Jesus Christ. It is believed that on the night of the birth of Christ, all kinds of living creatures came to Bethlehem with gifts. The olive tree came along with its fruits and the palm with its dates, but the fir had nothing to gift the newborn king. So an angel, taking pity on the fir, commanded a cluster of stars to shine on its beautiful boughs. Baby Jesus smiled on seeing the lighted tree, and blessed it. Another belief is that the triangular shape of the tree symbolizes the Trinity and points upwards towards God. The light, gift and decorations on the Christmas tree mean heaven; love and charity respectively.

In Chennai a week or so before Christmas, casuarina trees make their appearance by the roadsides. From just a few feet to more than 10 feet they can be bought for as little as Rs10/- or Rs 20/-. However in recent years Chennai has been flooded with a wide variety of artificial trees. Evergreen Christmas Trees near Ethiraj College, Egmore is probably the biggest shop for artificial Christmas trees in Chennai. This year Inscape Gardens, the nursery at Greenways Road have introduced natural Christmas trees which have also become quite popular.

Santa Claus

Santa Claus of today is a far cry from his original version. Saint Nicholas, who was the Archbishop of Myra, a city in the Middle East nation of Turkey was the one from whom the legend of Santa was born. How he became the modern day Santa complete with felt boots, belt and fur is something that has not been documented. What we do know of the real St Nicholas is that he was born around the year 245 A.D. to wealthy parents. He devoted his life to the church, eventually becoming the archbishop of Myra. And he died on December 6, sometime around 350 A.D. The Catholic Church has set aside that date as a feast day in his honor.

In Chennai, come Christmas stores and almost all lifestyle stores boasts of their own gang of 'Santas', we repeat, not just one but a whole gang to make deliveries, to entice customers into their stores and for a whole lot of other things. These Santas seem to have only one objective, that of loosening your purse strings.

Amidst all this hype and hoopla one wonders whether people really realise and understand the meaning of Christmas and what it stands for. Or has Christmas been understood as just a time for shopping, eating, making merry and having fun.

Christmas vs Consumas

Not many are aware however that the 25th of December alone is not Christmas. Many mistake Christmas for the commercial holiday that the 25th of December has come to be. Real Christmas however begins with the 'Season of Advent'. The season of Advent signals the commencement of celebrations. The season of Advent begins with the fourth Sunday before Christmas. 'Advent' is a Latin word meaning 'the coming'. During the season of Advent, Christians across the world prepare for the celebration of the coming of the Lord into the world through the birth of his Son - Jesus Christ. Advent is a time to celebrate light in the midst of darkness, as symbolized best by the Advent wreath. Advent is the beginning of the Church Year for most churches in the Western tradition. It begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas day, which is the Sunday nearest November 30, and ends on Christmas Eve. that is December 24th. If Christmas eve is a Sunday, it is counted as the fourth Sunday of Advent, with Christmas Eve proper beginning at sundown.

Christmas is part of a cycle that begins with the First Sunday of Advent and ends only with the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. The waiting that precedes December 25 and the celebration that continues after it are essential elements of the holy season. The commercial Christmas on the other hand, begins with a mad shopping spree around the second week of December with many stores announcing special offers and discounts enticing people to spend more money. The commercial Christmas has been billed as 'Consumas' by groups protesting the commercialisation of Christmas in the West. Consumas is the one of the biggest shopping days of the year, and one that is observed with almost sacred significance.

In India, it probably comes after Diwali and Pongal. But the celebration of the commercial holiday doesn't really begin there. Each year Christmas sales seem to start earlier and earlier with stores having displays designed to spark spending. But on December 26th Consumas is over. The Christmas sales morph into New Year sales. Christmas carols on the radio and Christmas specials on television disappear just when they should be beginning, according to the Church calendar. Christmas and Consumas don't even occupy the same time period, although this isn't apparent because they do overlap. The crass commercialisation of Christmas has given many people a different meaning of Christmas. While the actual hero of Christmas should be Jesus, for Consumas it is 'Santa' whose only aim is to encourage more spending.

The Team at Chennaibest wishes you a season filled with good cheer and spirit.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

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