The Origins of Christmas

Saint Nicholas is believed to have been born around 270 in Asia Minor. As the Bishop of Myra, he performed miracles. He is the patron saint of children, young people to be married, merchants, and sailors, and has been venerated during children's festivities since 1100.

While waiting for the visit of Saint Nicholas, children prepared 'prayer sticks,' on which they marked the number of prayers they had recited before his visit. Each prayer was symbolized by a notch, and for every ten prayers, a cross was used to keep track of the total number of prayers performed. Some children would cheat a little, and in such cases, parents would darken the notches overnight, saying that Saint Nicholas had noticed the cheating.

When Saint Nicholas arrived, children proudly showed their prayer sticks to prove their zeal and diligence. Saint Nicholas would then ask the parents if the children had been good: those who had would receive gifts (apples, pears, walnuts, hazelnuts, gingerbread), while others were threatened with a beating.

Traditionally, it was on Saint Nicholas Day that gifts were distributed before the 'competition' introduced by Protestantism through a preacher at the cathedral of Strasbourg around 1570. Thus, the Saint Nicholas gift market transformed into a Christmas market, and the giving of gifts gradually shifted to Christmas Eve or Christmas Day itself.

It appeared between 1833 and 1838 near Hamburg, Germany. The wreath of green branches symbolizes hope and the victory of life. The four candles have been interpreted in various ways; they represent:

• The four thousand years of waiting for the Birth of the Messiah, with each Sunday representing a thousand years of waiting.

• The first candle symbolizes Adam, the second the Patriarchs, the third the Prophets, and the fourth St. John the Baptist.

• A large circular candelabrum on which twenty-eight candles were arranged (one candle for each day of Advent) is considered the ancestor of our wreath, serving as a prefiguration of Christ’s crown of thorns.

Starting in the 1870s, an evening meditation of Advent took place each night. Groups of young people associated with Protestant youth movements then spread this custom throughout Germany. It was only after World War II that this tradition became widespread in all circles.

The tradition of the Christmas tree originated in Upper Alsace and the Black Forest between the 13th and 14th centuries. Initially, a few branches were cut to decorate the peasant's 'chamber.' In 1521, there is undeniable mention of cutting trees in the forest for the Christmas celebration in the town of Sélestat.

By 1597, the first information about decorating the tree emerged: hosts, apples, paper roses, and colored threads appeared. The apples represented the Fall and the expulsion from Paradise (Adam), the unconsecrated hosts, also called 'oblates,' signified redemption and the coming of Christ, while the paper roses symbolized God's love and faithfulness to mankind. They also evoked a popular belief related to the wonders of Christmas Eve, which held that certain trees would suddenly bloom during the Holy Night.

Still in the 16th century, it was Martin Luther and his reformers who made the tree a symbol of the birth of Christ. The evergreen conifer represented the Tree of Paradise, to which symbols of life like apples, nuts, cookies, and paper roses were hung. By the 17th century, Christmas evolved into a children's celebration, transitioning from a collective festivity to a family celebration in its intimacy. Under the influence of Protestantism, the tree gradually migrated from the streets into homes.

For a long time, Catholics who celebrated Christ through the depiction of the nativity considered the Christmas tree a pagan and Masonic practice. It was not until the 19th century, when nobility and royalty adorned their salons with them, that the general public also began to adopt the tradition worldwide.

1605: Appearance of candies and golden threads
1700: First 'candles,' but wax was expensive; so wicks soaked in oil-filled walnut shells were used instead
1785: First true candles
1831: First tree in Lausanne
1850: First glass Christmas ornaments in Lorraine and Bohemia; a severe drought and a harsh winter that led to a shortage of apples inspired a craftsman to create glass apples. Thirty years later, their industrial production began in Meisenthal.
1871: The Christmas tree became mandatory in Alsatian, Lorraine, and German schools, as the German administration sought to portray the custom as an ancient Germanic tradition.

According to Luke (2:1-20), Joseph and Mary went to Judea for the census: due to a lack of space at the inn, they found shelter in a stable.

Jesus was laid in a manger (animal feeding trough, "cripia" in Latin) set up in a cave, according to the Protoevangelium of James (2nd century).

As early as the 3rd century, Christians venerated a manger in a cave in Bethlehem, believed to be the true witness of the Nativity.

The presence of a donkey and an ox, mentioned in an Armenian apocryphal text of pseudo-Matthew in the 6th century (considered authentic until the Council of Trent in 1553), gave rise to the devotion of "Christmas Mangers." The first mangers resembling those we know today appeared in churches in the 16th century. Aware of the power of these compositions, the Jesuits created magnificent ones, particularly in Prague in 1562, which are among the oldest known.

However, it was in Italy that the first modern mangers emerged, with Naples as the undisputed capital between the 16th and 17th centuries.

By the late 18th century, baroque mangers appeared in the opulent homes of the aristocracy and became a model of the genre. They were rich, elegant, and sought after throughout Europe from the 18th century until the mid-19th century. In Protestant circles, they eventually fell out of favor due to their excessive wealth and idolatry and gradually disappeared from traditions. It is only today, thanks to tolerance, that mangers are rediscovering their origins and finding a more artistic understanding rather than a purely devotional one.

The exact date of the birth of Christ being unknown, the early Church hesitated on the date. In the 3rd century, Pope Clement is said to have placed it on April 18. It was not until 354 that Pope Liberius set it on December 25, marking the beginning of the new year on the same day.

The Eastern Church or Orthodox rite places greater importance on January 6, the feast of the Epiphany; December 25 is celebrated as the Birth of Jesus, while January 6 is recognized as the Birth of Christ. The early Church sought to erase a pagan festival dedicated to the Sun, Sol Invictus of Mithras. Roman rites also practiced the Saturnalia festival from December 17 to 23 and the rebirth of the long days.

The French term for Christmas is believed to derive from "Nouvella" (New) or from a contraction of Natalis Diae (the day of the Birth). The Germanic term Weihnacht refers to the Sacred Nights (Nachte) from December 25 to January 6.

The Epiphany according to Matthew (2:1-12) evokes the Magi from the East, guided by the Star of Bethlehem, to honor the Child Jesus. The number three, a symbolic value in esotericism and popular thought, is linked to the three gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. In 200 AD, Pope Tertullian, a father of the Primitive Church, elevated the Magi to the title of Kings; by 753, their names became official and were fixed by tradition and usage: Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar. They symbolize the three stages of life and the three known races of humanity at that time.

For a long time, January 6, the day of the Epiphany, was considered more important than Christmas Day. The symbolism of the gifts attests to this; Melchior's gold celebrated royalty, Balthazar's frankincense represented divinity, and Caspar's myrrh foreshadowed the redemptive suffering of Man to come in the form of the Child. In some regions, the distribution of gifts took place or still takes place on January 6.

January 6 marks the end of the Christmas Cycle and the Twelve Days. It is on January 6 that the year truly begins as all the splendor of Christmas is put away. The Galette des Rois is linked to the celebrations of guilds during the Christmas cycle. During these celebrations, "Das Bohnenlied," the Song of the Bean or Fava, was always sung, praising the great deeds of the King and his entourage. The fava bean thus became associated with the excesses of kingdoms and became an expression of saturation and the unbearable.

As early as 1625, the tradition was very much alive: on Kings' Day, in the Rhine valley, people customarily baked kings' cakes, each containing a bean, and the person who received it was considered the king; thus, multiple kingdoms were created in different ways. The king then chooses the queen who suits him.

The Galette des Rois therefore has a symbol of rebellion and derision towards the power of the time. Moreover, on June 6, 1795, the Convention of the French Revolution raised the question of whether to replace the galette des rois with the cake of equality!

For centuries, the little Vaudois contented themselves with receiving at Christmas bags of nuts or hazelnuts, accompanied by a few candies brought not by the Good Child, who comes from across the Sarine, but by the Chauchevieille mounted on her blind horse. The Chauchevieille (in patois, tçauce-villha) was particularly known during the last days of the year.

She was once seen with a hunched back, a wrinkled face, disheveled hair, and an arched nose, covered in rags. She could easily distinguish obedient children from others and reward them. This was a precious milestone in the evolution of the witch into a good Christmas giver.

Chauchevieille and the Good Child are typical of this region of Vaud, with Chauchevieille having disappeared in favor of the Good Child or Santa Claus.