Most of our traditions come from the early Romans. In the 3rd century, Emperor Aurelian established December 25th as the birthday of the "Invincible Sun." The Christian church in 273 AD selected that day as the birthday of Jesus. In 336 AD the celebration of the "Invincible Sun" became Christianized as the Birth of Jesus.The feast of Adam and Eve on December 24th was the likely origin of what we now call the "Christmas Tree." It was originally called the Paradise Tree.
The tradition of decorating with evergreens comes from a combination of ancient cultures. Egyptians used green palm branches to symbolize life’s triumph over death on the shortest day of the year. The early Romans used evergreens to honor their god of agriculture during their winter festival of Saturnalia. The Druids decorated oak trees with golden apples. A custom of the Middle Ages was to decorate a tree with red apples to symbolize the feast of Adam and Eve on December 24th. Roman temples were decorated with evergreens to symbolize life’s continuity.
I would like to invite all people to celebrate this important feast day that has been neglected for so long, return the tree to its original meaning, and make December 24th a Holiday to celebrate Family and the blessing that our First Parents gave us by making it possible to live on this earth.
Another website states "This early Paradise tree had a lot of value to the Germans. By having the tree in their home they were able to teach their children the story of Adam and Eve. They taught this story through symbols. The evergreen tree symbolized immortality because it stays green all year. The apples on the Paradise tree symbolized Adam's sin. Round wafers and cookies were also added as decorations. They represented the fruits of redemption."
Some ideas would be:
- Hanging Apples and Wafers on the Tree.
- Reciting the Creation Story on the Evening leading into December 24.
- Reciting the Garden of Eden Story on December 24.
No comments:
Post a Comment