I remember that even from a young age, my mother’s refrain at Christmas was “That just isn’t what Christmas means to us” (Hindi kasi iyan ang Pasko para sa atin.) For instance, when I asked her why we didn’t have a parol, she would answer “Hindi kasi iyan ang Pasko para sa atin.” When I asked her why we didn’t have a Christmas tree she would answer “Hindi iyan ang Pasko.” When I asked her why we didn’t exchange gifts; why we didn’t have presents waiting for us when we woke up on Christmas morning; why we didn’t have early morning services on Christmas; why we didn’t go to our relatives; and why we didn’t believe in Santa Claus – my mother’s answer was the same: “Hindi iyang ang Pasko.”
I was partial to puto bumbong and bibinka ang my mother won’t even let us buy these because it meant having to stop near a Catholic church! Apparently, puto bumbong and bibinka were not what Christmas meant, either.
It was rather embarrassing; when kids would stop at our house and sing their carols, expecting coins or candy, my mom would come out and quiz the kids. The song that the neighborhood children sang often was “O Magsaya at Magdiwang” (Joy to the World) and the popular OPM song with “queso de bola.” If the children sang O Magsaya at Magdiwang, although they get quizzed by my mom, it would be more likely for them to get a few coins than if they sang the “queso de bola” song.
My mother would ask, “Bakit tayo magsasaya at magdiriwang?” The surprised kid would answer, “Kasi Pasko po.” “Bakit kailangang magsaya sa Pasko?” “Kasi po sinilang po si Hesus?” (by this time the kid would be wary of my mother’s line of questioning.) “Sino si Hesus?” (At this point the kid would probably be at a loss to say who Jesus Christ was so my mother would pounce with her next question:) “Sino si Hesus sa iyo? Kilala mo ba siya?” “Diyos po.” Somewhat satisfied with the answer, my mother would encapsulate the Christmas story and the plan of salvation for the child before she gave him or her a coin.
Why do you do this, mom? I would ask. Inevitably, my mother would say, “Because they need to know that Jesus Christ is what Christmas is about, not queso de bola or noche Buena, not exchange gifts or Santa Claus.”
On Christmas Eve, my parents would be asleep and we children woke them up. We would all eat together after my Dad read Matthew 1 and Luke 2. We would pray and then eat whatever mom had prepared. There were no presents, no Christmas tree, no parties, no frivolity and no merry making (merry-making was reserved for December 31st).
Needless to say, I grew up feeling somehow “deprived” – when I get back from the Christmas break, my friends at school would all compare how much they got in pamasko from their ninongs and ninangs and I’d have nothing to say. I had no ninong, I had no ninang. We never went to our relatives’ houses to get Aguinaldo. On Christmas morning, my Dad would give us money and we would all troop to my Lola’s apartment next door and we will give our Lola the bills my Dad gave us. We would kiss her and hug her and wish her a merry Christmas. Then, when we go back down to our house, my dad would give us money for ourselves and we would all walk to Cherry Foodarama to buy whatever we wanted.
When visitors or my Dad’s clients came before or after Christmas and hand us two peso or five peso bills, we would all look at our parents first, waiting for their nod of approval before we accepted. And then, we would be so embarrassed. I don’t know about the others, but I felt like I had been a mendicant, a panhandler. When I told my mother this, she would say, “Iba iyong ibinigay sa iyo kaysa sa hiningi mo. Hiningi mo ba iyan?” I would shake my head. “Pasalamatan mo ang Diyos sa biyayang iyan.”
From these childhood experiences, I had been rather stand-offish about Christmas. I felt that Christmas ought to be holy, a solemn remembering of God the Son who came in the flesh so that he can be crucified on the cross of Calvary and secure salvation for me. On the other hand, the lure of shopping, wrapping presents to give and cooking good food, visiting relatives and having parties or pasyal on Christmas had an incredible pull. I have always wondered how our neighbors could think of Christmas as just another occasion for “happy-happy” and getting drunk.
When I got married, I decided that I would have a more festive Christmas. My husband was the kind of person who remembered people on birthdays and on Christmas. We both loved Christmas carols and we’ve amassed quite a collection. We have Bing Crosby, Andy Williams, Nat King Cole, the Four Aces and even Andrea Bocelli and Charlotte Church. This year, we got Angelo Ortiz and Joselito Pascual. To me, Christmas carols made Christmas special. But, then, my husband’s father died on the 24th of December so, Christmas is muted by bittersweet remembering – no raucous celebrations there, either.
When we had our kids, we wrapped up small presents for the kids and stuffed them into Christmas stockings. I did this for a few years until my kids began to expect them. On Christmas Eve, we usually read Matthew 1 and Luke 2 and we toast sparkling apple juice. Then we go back to bed. My children don’t expect much of Christmas, either.
At first, I thought my father’s “anti-American” sentiments have rubbed off on me. He used to point out to us that Santa Claus was Caucasian and he can only ride his sleigh on the snow. Plus, we didn’t have pine trees so we can’t have Christmas trees except the fake plastic ones and we didn’t have chimneys for Santa Claus to pass through to leave us presents. Many many years later, I have my answer as to why Christmas is just too conflicted for me. Christmas has roots in pagan celebration.
- The Romans celebrated Saturnalia or the winter solstice. It was a month-long celebration marked by feasting and inebriation. The Roman mob celebrated by eating on the streets until they vomited and by drinking until they passed out. A child would be crowned as king and people would be dancing on the streets.
- On the 25th day of Saturnalia (corresponding to December 25th in our calendar), the Romans celebrated the feast of Mithra, the Sun god. Mithra, the Sun god was believed to have been born on a rock in the midst of a field and shepherds came to worship him. He is also believed to have died and then risen again (just like the sun which rises and sets).
- The Romans also celebrated the feast of Juvenalia during Saturnalia. This is the time when children were lavished with presents.
- In Germany, the winter solstice was celebrated by feasting indoors in defiance of the cold winter. Livestock was butchered for the feasts, much wine was served and people danced.
- They also believed that Odin, the chief of their gods would be riding on his horse across the night sky, choosing whom to bless with a good harvest in the coming harvest season.
- The room where the feasts were held were decorated with evergreen trees which symbolized fertility amid the deadness of winter. The farmers would also bring from the forest the biggest log they can find. They call this the Yule log and this will be burned in the fire. They believed that the sparks that fly from the log would be pigs, horses, goats and sheep that will be born to them in the coming spring.
The early Christians did not celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ because Jesus Christ did not command them to do so. The church established by Jesus Christ during his earthly ministry was commanded only two ordinances: believers’ baptism by immersion and the Lord’s Supper. In both these ordinances, it is the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ that is remembered.
The birth of Jesus Christ was a transitional event: it was the fulfillment of the prophecy that God will send a deliverer who will save us from our sin. What was important about the birth of Christ was the incarnation: the coming of the Son of God into flesh so that he can be crucified on the cross (if Jesus Christ did not come into the flesh, he would not be crucified – a spirit cannot be crucified on a cross).
It was only after Constantine the Great made Christianity equal with Roman paganism, when the local Christian churches became one universal Roman Catholic Church that Christians sought an alternative celebration to Saturnalia. Helena, the mother of Constantine even went on a pilgrimage to Bethlehem and pinpointed the site where she thought that Jesus Christ was born. She ordered that a church be built there. It is now the site of the Church of the Nativity.
From there, when the sons of Constantine declared Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire, the celebration of the birth of Christ replaced the pagan celebration of Saturnalia. They changed the names but the quality of celebrations were kept. There was a time of the celebration where masses were held but on the streets, people celebrated in much the same way as they celebrated Saturnalia: with feasting and drunkenness.
Soon after, the official church of the Roman Empire of the East (now known as the Greek Orthodox church) canonized Nicholas who was known for his piety as well as his charity. He gave gifts to children. His feast day was celebrated on December 6th. On this day, parents would give presents to their children who had been good and tell their children that the presents came from St. Nicholas. In the Netherlands, St. Nicholas was called Sinter Klaas.
In England, the native pagan religion also celebrated the winter solstice with much drinking, feasting and sex. The peasants would go to the houses of richer people and demand to be fed and given drink (Now bring us some figgy pudding and a cup of good cheer. And we won’t go until we get some, so bring some out here.)
When the Roman Catholic Church became the dominant church, the different symbols and practices of the pagan religions were simply adapted. The Yule log was said to symbolize the cross of Jesus Christ. The apples which were hung on the Yule log or Christmas tree were said to symbolize the sin of Adam and Eve for which Jesus Christ had to die (today, we use colorful christmas balls and hang them on a tree). The mistletoe which were used to adorn the walls of pagan homes during the winter solstice now represented the crown of thorns that Jesus Christ wore on his brow. The giving of gifts to children (for Juvenalia) were said to symbolize the gifts given by the wise men to Jesus Christ as a child. Despite the change in symbols, still, the feasting and drinking persisted. The peasants still went to the homes of the rich and sang carols and they were given food and drink.
These practices were suspended in England during the time of Oliver Cromwell. In the English colonies in the New World, where the Separatists and the Puritans settled after having left England because of religious persecution, Christmas celebrations were outlawed. After the War of Independence in 1775, all customs from England were frowned upon.
It was only when Washington Irving wrote a novel about an English manor and celebrations during Christmas that Americans began celebrating Christmas with feasts. When Charles Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol, Christmas celebrations took the character of giving gifts to others who were less fortunate. Clement Clarke Moore wrote a poem about Santa Claus’s reindeer (T’was the night before Christmas and all around the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse). This made Santa Claus the center of the Christmas celebration. The myth began about a man who gave gifts to good children. Santa Claus became the main character of the American Christmas which the whole world has now adopted. Parents bribe their children to be good by threatening them that if they were bad, they would get coal in their stocking from Santa Clause. In truth, parents bought the presents and wrapped them and hid them from their children. They lie to their children and tell them that it was Santa Claus that gave them the presents.
Christmas is not about family – or family get-togethers, Christmas is about Jesus Christ. Christmas is not about what presents we can give or get – Christmas is about Jesus Christ. Christmas is not about what meals we can prepare and what sumptuous food we will eat – Christmas is about Jesus Christ. Christmas is not about a man in a red suit who gives presents to children – it is about Jesus Christ coming in the flesh to die on the cross for our sins. Christmas is not about US – it is about Jesus Christ.
The problem with our Christmas celebrations is that Jesus Christ is no longer the main event – he is now in the periphery. Any custom, tradition, idea, thought or attitude that does not give Jesus Christ the preeminence and glory that He deserves as the Son of God comes from the spirit of Antichrist. If our Christmas celebrations do not celebrate Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone, then we are partaking of the spirit of Antichrist that pervades our society. The spirit of Antichrist is the spirit of delusion – it is the pervading attitude that refuses to worship Christ and refuses to submit to His authority. It is the same spirit of unbelief that refuses to acknowledge that Jesus Christ is God and that He is the only way that we can be saved. May our Christmas celebration be truly about CHRIST and CHRIST alone.