Delightfully Weird Holiday Traditions Around the World
“Many of our memorable and enduring Christmas traditions include different kinds of lights—lights on trees, lights in and on our homes, candles on our tables. May the beautiful lights of every holiday season remind us of Him who is the source of all light.” —David A. Bednar
Hong Kong Christmas 2020 – Schedule of Top Events and Details
Explore the fascinating Christmas traditions of royalty past and present
- “At Christmas, all roads lead home.”~ Marjorie Holmes
CHRISTMAS AT WINDSOR CASTLE
The Seven Churches of Asia Minor – Anatolia
In this time of major celebration at least in countries that are predominately Chrisian —This is the main holiday of the year and in normal years it involved major parties, buying sprees and don’t forget all those trees (I heard a report laely that stated trees are selling out majorly fast this year) and of course travel (which will if Thanksiving was any indicator pose a major problem to health and health care workers everywhere).
What I’m doing this year is looking at the various symbols that we find about in the celebration—-the first I picked was Santa Claus….Many don’t realise that this particular character of Christmas actually takes his origins from a Christian saint: Nicholas—
The absence of the “hard facts” of history is not necessarily an obstacle to the popularity of saints, as the devotion to Saint Nicholas shows. Both the Eastern and Western Churches honor him, and it is claimed that after the Blessed Virgin, he is the saint most pictured by Christian artists. And yet historically, we can pinpoint only the fact that Nicholas was the fourth-century bishop of Myra, a city in Lycia, a province of Asia Minor.
Fransican Media
https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/saint-nicholas
St. Nicholas | Biography, Facts, & Feast Day | Britannica
You better watch out
You better not cry
Better not pout
I’m telling you why
Santa Claus is coming to town
St. Nicholas: Facts and Legends
But how, when and where did this man (pictured above)
take over the idenity of this one?
Image from the St. Nicholas Center
www.stnicholascenter.org
Saint Nicholas and the Origin of Santa Claus
7 Versions of Santa Claus: Saintly and Dark
The saint’s name Nicholas is of Greek origin and means “victor of people.
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Italian Christmas Traditions
So we had this church man who was known for his charity, who passed away in December (6th) 343 AD (assuming that may be an estimate?) and after his death miracles were attributed to him and items related to him and he became to be known as the protector of children and sailors as well as being associated with gift-giving.
He was a popular saint until the reformation when the worship of saints was given up by the reformers, while the original church retained their worship—this was in the 16th century which also marks the decline of worship of St. Nicholas.
The Dutch are credited with continuing in their celebration of the Saint—despite the fact that the Netherlands were predomnately Protestant.–this celebration was primarily on Dec 5th (the day before Sinterklass’ day on the 6th) when he delivers the presents placed in the shoes the children set out for him just for this purpose—-not stockings—but close.
What happens at Christmas in the Netherlands? A guide to the …
Russian Christmas – Traditions, Gifts, and Recipes
December 25th is a public holiday for Christmas in Bangladesh even though only about 0.3% of the population, of about 170 million people, are Christians! (Over 85% of people in Bangladesh are Muslims.)
Austrian Christmas Traditions | Discover Christmas Anew
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SANTA CLAUS AND FATHER CHRISTMAS
It was the Dutch then that brought St. Nick to the colonies when they founded New Amsterdam–where NYC is today—-The colony eventually fell under contol of the British and St Nick was to gradually move thru the colonies which became states after the American Revolution and become a tradition in the democracy—-
And in England Christmas and the whole concept and a large number of the way thing are celebrated was changed in Victorian times and Queen VIctoria’s marriage to Albert. Albert was from: Saxe–Coburg and Gotha (German: Sachsen–Coburg und Gotha),
Saxe–Coburg-Gotha (German: [saks ˈkoːbʊɐ̯k ˈɡoːtaː]), was an Ernestine, Thuringian duchy ruled by a branch of the House of Wettin, consisting of territories in the present-day states of Thuringia and Bavaria in Germany. Wikipedia
Victorian Christmas – History of Christmas – BBC
Christmas Traditions in Austria, Germany, Switzerland
German-born American illustrator Thomas Nast (1840-1902) helped create the modern version of Santa as jolly, chubby, and dressed mainly in red. Coca-Cola further solidified his image in the mainstream media in 1931 when they used him in their advertising.
A Pictorial History of Santa Claus
The Naughty List and the History of That Dreaded Lump of Coal
17 Things You Never Knew About Santa Claus
So there you have the basics—from an obscure member of early 4th century Catholic Clergy that became more famous post demise and that the Reformation couldn’t do away wth—-and the Dutch who kept his legend alive with a few twists of their own—-and the USA where he became a symbol for a soft drink company and as they say the rest is history….Wow only in the 21st century. can all this make perfect sense and not make us think anything was weird about it…..
Of course Santa has his purposes—-he appears at stores—-and malls and gets the child to tell him what he/she wants for Christmas—thus being a great draw to get you to the store/mall and see all the things they hae availalbe for Christmas and allows the parent to overhear the wants from their children to make their gift giving as on he mark as their budgets to allow. Oh and we can never forget the staying on the good list and the dread of a lump of coal.
And it give TV and movies a character to play with for the month of December—or if you’re the Hallmark channel a couple of months at least. Also all manner of variations can be made on the costume. He is featured everywhere from cards to decor and he is the star of parades all over the country ie. Macy’s parade for. He is used by parents to get better behavior at least in the younger children. A fact that he’s still inspiring is always a good thing..
How Does South America Celebrate Christmas?
In Europe, before the 16th century, gifts were exchanged on December 6th, the feast of St. Nicholas. Later, German protestants began celebrating Christkindl on December 25, a feast day for the Christ child.[\\
Christmas Celebration in Cuba
