Christmas: A Catholic Tradition
10m read • Dec 15, 2024
Written by James P. Alkire
Adoration of the Shepherds by Gerard van Honthorst
The culture of America from the end of November to the beginning of the New Year revolves around Christmas. From putting up a Christmas tree right after Thanksgiving (and not taking it down until January), to hanging up your stockings and waiting eagerly for the jolly St. Nick to fill them up with all sorts of goodies, even to the word ‘Christmas’ itself. Americans can thank Catholics from the time of Christ to the present for all of the staples of Christmas festivity. Let us dive into the most popular Christmas traditions and discover their Catholic roots.
It’s in the Name
The name of this great holiday is inherently Catholic. Like the feast of St. Michael the Archangel which is called ‘Michaelmas’, ‘Christmas’ derives its name from the sacred celebration of the Mass—Christ’s Mass. Though every Mass is Christ’s Mass, Christmas commemorates the most miraculous and loving event in the history of mankind: the birth of Our Lord, the God-man, Who created the universe, humbled Himself to be born in a manger to the Virgin and St. Joseph.
"He who holds the universe in His palm entered the Virgin's womb and clothed Himself in humanity, yet remained infinite in His divinity. A miracle beyond words!" — On the Nativity of Christ, St. Gregory of Nyssa
We await this great day during Advent, a season of preparation. During Advent, Catholics all around the world remain vigilant as we await celebration of the first coming of Christ. The season of Advent is also symbolic of our constant vigilance for the second coming of Christ and our judgement after death. Since this day is of utmost significance, it is important that we Christians celebrate Christ’s birth on the correct day.
Additionally, the festivities we all associate with Christmas find their origin in Catholic Tradition as expressions of Christian devotion for this great feast of the Roman Church. Let us explore the origin of some of these traditions.
Saint Boniface and the Original Christmas Tree
On All Saints Day (Nov 1st), many families in America take their artificial Christmas tree from its box and immediately begin to decorate their entire house with Christmas trinkets and knickknacks—even before Thanksgiving. However, while these families pull out their old ornaments, begin to deck the halls, and drape garland over their shelves, many of them do not stop to consider the history and the profound spiritual meaning of the central piece of their decoration: the Christmas tree.
Archbishop St. Boniface, formerly known in his home kingdom of England as “Winfrid”, was appointed by Pope St. Gregory II to serve as a missionary in the German territories and was determined to spread the truth of Roman Catholicism to the German barbarians. He and his apostolate had previously constructed numerous monasteries in present-day Germany, including the great monastery of Fulda in AD 744, but were leery about evangelizing to the infamous inhabitants of the village of Geismar. Known for their abhorrent sacrifices of small children, the villagers of Geismar would, in the wintertime, during a yearly worship event centered around a gigantic ancient oak tree, offer one of their children to the pagan god Thor. The great Saint however, was eager to convert these Godless pagans by destroying their beloved Thunder Oak. The pagans of Geismar, mocking Boniface and his resilient disciples, claimed that his God could not destroy the sacred tree.
Fearing the wrath of the pagans, St. Boniface and his men waited until late Christmas Eve to enter the village and confront the people of Geismar. St. Boniface, with courage from the Holy Ghost and his bishop’s crozier, stood before the gathering of pagans who were preparing to sacrifice a child, saying, “Here is the Thunder Oak, and here the cross of Christ shall break the hammer of the false god, Thor.” Ignoring St. Boniface, the pagan cleric responsible for the sacrifice of the child raised aloft his hammer. Before the executioner could crush the helpless infant, St. Boniface stopped the hammer with his staff, saying:
“Hearken, sons of the forest! No blood shall flow this night save that which pity has drawn from a mother’s breast. For this is the birth-night of the Christ, the Son of the Almighty, the Savior of mankind. Fairer is He than Baldur the Beautiful, greater than Odin the Wise, kinder than Freya the Good. Since He has come, sacrifice is ended. The dark Thor, on whom you have vainly called, is dead. Deep in the shades of Niffelheim he is lost forever. And now on this Christ-night, you shall begin to live. This blood-tree shall darken your land no more. In the name of the Lord, I will destroy it.”
After the Saint saved the child from sacrifice, he picked up an axe that was nearby, and under the banner of Christ the King, with one fell swoop at the Thunder Oak’s base, Thor’s tree came crashing down. After this astonishing event, speaking to the frightened Geismar pagans, the Archbishop preached to them, announcing:
“This little tree, a young child of the forest, shall be your holy tree tonight. It is the wood of peace… It is the sign of an endless life, for its leaves are ever green. See how it points upward to heaven. Let this be called the tree of the Christ-child; gather about it, not in the wild wood, but in your own homes; there it will shelter no deeds of blood, but loving gifts and rites of kindness.”
The Apostle of Germany, by his commitment to the conversion of the pagan villagers of Geismar and his unshaken faith in the cross of Christ, not only converted and baptized many Godless barbarians, giving them hope of salvation, but also started a new tradition in Germany that eventually spread to the entire world. A tradition of love, selflessness, and kindness: the Christmas Tree.
Santa Claus of Myra
Sinterklaas, Santa Claus, Father Christmas, whatever you call him, we all know the legend. A jolly olde fat man who rides on a magical sleigh pulled by nine reindeer (including the beloved Rudolph) whose goal is to deliver presents to all the good boys and girls in the world. However, the real life origin story of Santa Claus is of a selfless bishop with a lively faith in Christ and His Church.
Santa Claus, or as he was known at his time, Nikolaos (Νικόλαος), lived in Myra, a province in Asia-Minor, in the third century AD. He was born to an exceedingly wealthy family, but during an epidemic, his parents tragically died, leaving St. Nicholas a large sum of money. St. Nicholas, far from hoarding the fortune he inherited, had the words of Christ in mind:
"If thou wilt be perfect, go sell what thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me." (Matthew 19:21, Douay-Rheims)
St. Nicholas dedicated his entire inheritance to care for the sick and provide for the poor. One of his most famous acts of selflessness and charity is widely known as the story of the poor man and the three daughters. In the era that St. Nicholas lived, fathers of the Roman Empire were forced to give prospecting husbands of their daughters a sizeable dowry. One father could not afford such a dowry, considered having his daughters sold into sexual slavery. On three separate occasions, St. Nicholas, to prevent this terrible fate, stuffed their stockings hanging by the fire with bags of gold in secret. This, and many other good works of St. Nicholas towards children, sailors, and those falsely accused, led to him being appointed as a successor of the Apostles, as the bishop of Myra. This beautiful act of charity has turned into the tradition of millions of children throughout the world hanging stockings above their fireplaces, in hopes that St. Nick would leave them treats on account of their good behavior.
Though these great acts have resulted in him becoming the icon of charity, he is also known for his zealous defense of the Roman Catholic faith. Convened by St. Constantine the Great in AD 325, the Council of Nicaea was the first of the thus far 21 Plenary Councils. The Council of Nicaea was convened to address the crisis promulgated by the erroneous teachings of the arch-heretic Arius. Arianism is the belief that the Son is not con-substantial with Father, and is separate from the Father in terms of substance. The Council concluded, as we all know, in the condemnation of Arius and his followers with the first two sections of the Nicaean Creed that we know today. Before this Council came to a close, of the bishops, our very own St. Nicholas, is said to have struck Arius in the face for daring to deny the consubstantiality of the Son with the Father. Yes! Our beloved Santa Claus is a hammer of heretics and a bulwark of the orthodox Roman Catholic faith!
Not only was Saint Nicholas known for his great charity and empathy towards the lowly and afflicted, he was also a steward of the faith and defended boldly the the divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Let his legacy be for us a reminder of the seasons of Advent and Christmas as seasons of selflessness and charity towards others, and steadfastness in the dogmas of our holy religion. St. Nicholas, pray for us!
Christmas Spirit
Moreover, there are countless other Christmas traditions, which were initially rejected by Protestants as “romish”, but over the centuries have been integrated into American culture. These are now commonly overlooked and considered secular festivities despite their deeply Catholic origin. Here are a few:
The Nativity Scene: Easily the staple of religious Christmas decoration, was popularized by the great St. Francis of Assisi. This tradition usually employs the use of religious statuary depicting the Holy Family which historically was detestable to Protestants.
Feasts: Rooted in the Catholic tradition of feasting on Holy Days. Traditionally Protestants rejected Christmas feasts, labeling them as pagan.
Star decorations: These serve to symbolize the Star of Bethlehem that led the Magi to the birthplace of Christ.
Red and Green: Even the colors most popularly used at Christmas, represent enteral life and the Precious Blood of Jesus, respectively.
Giving gifts: Easily children’s favorite part of Christmas, gift-giving as a tradition was promulgated by the charitable St. Nicholas of Myra, a Roman Catholic bishop.
Silver bells: These, which are rung on St. Nicholas’ feast day, are even Catholic in origin, for they are used to announce Christ’s birth at Midnight Masses through the world. And the candlelight procession before Midnight Mass signifies Jesus as the Light of the World.
“Christmas”: The most obvious is the name of this fantastic Holy Day. Christmas is a compound word coming from Christ and Mass—Christ’s Mass. It can’t get more Catholic than that!
The Reason for the Season
Many new-age atheists and “intellectuals” will proclaim that the Church is wrong about the date of the birth of Our Lord. They insist that Christ wasn’t born on the 25th of December, and that his true date of birth is sometime in the Spring. Even going as far as to say that this holiday (Holy Day), that Christians around the world celebrate, is nothing more than a bastardization of a Roman-pagan celebration. On the contrary, the Church’s celebration of Christ’s nativity on the 25th of December was defended by the Fathers and is demonstrable through careful reading of Scripture and basic calculations.
One popular attack on Christmas’ date is the erroneous interpretation of St. Luke. The Patron of Artists wrote:
"And there were in the same country shepherds watching, and keeping the night watches over their flock." (Luke 2:8, Douay-Rheims)
The claim of these so-called “intellectuals” is that it is impossible for the date of Christmas to be in the winter because they had their sheep out at night in the cold. This, however, is a very misleading claim. The Jews in the time of Christ did not have indoor spaces large enough to hold their sheep. Many modern-day shepherds attest that it is completely fine to have sheep out in the winter elements. David Brown writes for the University of Missouri’s Extension, stating:
“Sheep can tolerate extreme weather conditions due to their thick coats of wool and hair. However, the challenge comes when the cold temperatures are matched with snow fall and high winds or prolonged extreme weather.” (Brown, 2024)
This refutes the claim that sheep could not have been outside due to the winter climate. The only exception that Brown provides is extreme winter weather which is primarily absent in Southwest Asia.
Another claim is the argument that Christmas is only celebrated in December because of the Christianization of a pagan celebration of the Invincible Sun which already existed at that time. However, St. Hippolytus of Rome writes in his Commentary on Daniel:
“The first advent of our Lord in the flesh occurred when He was born in Bethlehem, eight days before the Kalends of January [December 25th], on a Wednesday.”— Commentary on Daniel, Book IV, AD 203
Here we have explicit evidence of the belief in the December 25th date 75 years before the institution of Sol Invictus by the pagan emperor Aurelian (c. AD 275)! This fact completely destroys the common narrative often repeated on the internet by ignorant people.
But perhaps the most compelling argument for Jesus’ birth being December 25th is the birth of St. John the Baptist in correspondence to the birth of Our Lord. The Gospel of St. Luke says that Jesus’ birth was exactly six months after the birth of St. John the Baptist:
"And behold thy cousin Elizabeth, she also hath conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her that is called barren. For no word shall be impossible with God." (Luke 1:36-37, Douay-Rheims)
St. Luke also states that St. John the Baptist was conceived after Zacharias, his father, was visited by an angel:
"And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord, standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. But the angel said to him: Fear not, Zechariah, for thy prayer is heard: and thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John." (Luke 1:11-13, Douay-Rheims)
In the Protoevangelium of James, the author tells us that Zacharias had his vision of the angel on the Jewish Day of Atonement. The Jewish Day of Atonement generally happens from mid to late September. Nine months from this date is mid-to-late June (this would be the birthday of St. John the Baptist); six months from the birth of St. John the Baptist is mid-to-late December: the birth of Christ. Fr. Augustine Thompson, O.P., writes:
“Since the ancients believed June 24 was the longest day of the year and December 25 the shortest, settling on those as the exact dates would have been natural. Saint Bede (700s) wrote that John the Baptist preached that he had to decrease and Christ had to increase, and that is exactly what the daylight does, beginning on their respective birthdays.” (Thompson, 2014)
Given the natural scientific facts, evidence from early Church Fathers like St. Hippolytus of Rome, and the meticulous calculations derived from the New Testament and other external sources, we can confidently conclude that December 25th is truly the date of Christ's birth; this is not merely plausible but the most probable date. While new-age atheists often tout their “science” and “rationality,” the enduring Tradition and historical precedent of December 25th stand as a testament to the faith and wisdom of Holy Mother Church, Who always prevails against the baseless skepticism of the age.
Christmas, a Catholic Gift to the World
To wrap everything up in a nice big red bow: Christmas is a Catholic holiday. Not only in the ways that the Catholic Church Herself celebrates, but in every way imaginable. The Christmas tree was first implemented in Germany by the “Apostle of the Germans”, St. Boniface, a Catholic bishop. The beloved Santa Claus, or as he is traditionally referred to, St. Nicholas, was a Catholic bishop of the Asia Minor province of Myra. Where he, coming from a wealthy inheritance, not only demonstrated profound and sincere charity to the afflicted, but was also a bulwark of the Catholic faith, even to the point of defending Catholic orthodoxy from heretics with his fists. Even the name of Christmas is Catholic—Christ’s Mass. So, from the NeedRome.net family to yours, we wish you a very Merry Christmas!
