Christmas in Rome. The Pope's Tale of the Crèche

The origins and meaning of the holiday. St. Francis' stroke of genius. This is how Joseph Ratzinger explained Christmas to the pilgrims who had come from all over the world, just before Christmas Eve.

Dear brothers and sisters, with the Christmas novena, which we are celebrating in these days, the Church is inviting us to live in an intense and profound way the preparation for the Nativity of the Savior, which is now imminent. The desire that we all hold in our hearts is that the upcoming feast of Christmas may give us, in the midst of the frenetic activity of our days, the serene and profound joy that allows us to touch with our hands the goodness of our God, and fills us with new courage.

In order to understand better the significance of the Nativity of the Lord, I would like to make some brief remarks on the historical origin of this solemnity. In fact, the Church's liturgical year did not initially develop beginning from the birth of Christ, but from faith in his resurrection. For this reason, the most ancient feast of Christianity is not Christmas, it is Easter; the resurrection of Christ is the foundation of the Christian faith, it is at the basis of the proclamation of the Gospel, and gives birth to the Church. Therefore being Christian means living in a Paschal manner, participating in the dynamism that arises from baptism and leads us to die to sin in order to live with God (cf. Romans 6:4).

The first to state clearly that Jesus was born on December 25 was Hippolytus of Rome, in his commentary on the book of the prophet Daniel, written about the year 204. Some exegetes later noted that the feast of the dedication of the Temple of Jerusalem, instituted by Judas Maccabeus in 164 B.C., was celebrated on that day. The coinciding of these dates would therefore mean that with Jesus, who appeared as the light of God in the darkness, there is the true realization of the consecration of the Temple, the Advent of God upon this earth.

The feast of Christmas took on definitive form in Christianity in the fourth century, when it replaced the Roman feast of the "Sol Invictus," the invincible sun; this highlighted the fact that the birth of Christ is the victory of the true light over the darkness of evil and sin.

However, the special and intense spiritual atmosphere that surrounds Christmas developed in the Middle Ages, thanks to St. Francis of Assisi, who was deeply in love with the man Jesus, with God-with-us. His first biographer, Thomas of Celano, recounts in the book "Second Life" that Saint Francis "above all of the other solemnities celebrated with indescribable fervor the Nativity of the Child Jesus, and called a 'feast of feasts' the day on which God, having become a little infant, suckled at a human breast" (Fonti Francescane, 199, p. 492).

This special devotion to the mystery of the incarnation gave rise to the famous celebration of Christmas in Greccio. St. Francis probably got his inspiration for this from his pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and from the crèche at Saint Mary Major in Rome. What drove the Little Poor Man of Assisi was the desire to experience in a concrete, living, and present way the greatness of the event of the birth of the Child Jesus, and to communicate its joy to everyone.

In his first biography, Thomas of Celano talks about the night of the crèche in Greccio in a living and touching way, making a decisive contribution to the spread of the most beautiful Christmas tradition, that of the crèche. Christmas Eve in Greccio, in fact, restored to Christianity the intensity and beauty of the feast of Christmas, and taught the people of God to grasp its most authentic message, its unique warmth, and to love and adore the humanity of Christ.

This unique approach to Christmas brought a new dimension to the Christian faith. Easter had focused attention on the power of God who conquers death, inaugurates the new life, and teaches hope in the world to come. St. Francis and his crèche highlighted the defenseless love of God, his humility and kindness, which in the incarnation of the Word are manifested to man in order to teach a new way of living and loving.

Celano recounts that, on that Christmas Eve, Francis was granted the grace of a wonderful vision. He saw lying motionless in the manger a little baby, who was awakened from his sleep by the presence of Francis. And he adds: "Nor was this vision at odds with the facts, because, through the work of his grace acting by means of his holy servant Francis, the Child Jesus was reawakened in the hearts of many who had forgotten him, and was profoundly impressed in their loving memory" (Vita prima, Fonti Francescane, 86, p. 307).

This backdrop describes with great precision how much Francis' living faith in and love for the humanity of Christ transmitted to the Christian feast of Christmas: the discovery that God reveals himself in the tender members of the Child Jesus. Thanks to St. Francis, the Christian people have been able to perceive that at Christmas, God truly became "Emmanuel," God-with-us, who is not separated from us by any barrier or distance. In that Child, God became so close to each one of us, so near, that we are able to talk to him as a friend and establish a familiar relationship of profound affection with him, as we do with a newborn.

In that Child, in fact, is manifested God-Love: God comes without weapons, without power, because he does not intend to conquer, so to speak, from the outside, but instead intends to be welcomed by man in freedom; God becomes a defenseless Child in order to overcome man's arrogance, violence, and desire for possession. In Jesus, God has taken on this poor and unarmed condition in order to conquer us with love, and lead us to our true identity. We must not forget that the greatest title of Jesus Christ is precisely that of "Son," Son of God; the divine dignity is indicated with a term that extends the reference to the humble condition of the manger in Bethlehem, although it still corresponds in a unique way to his divinity, which is the divinity of the "Son."

Moreover, his condition as a Child shows us how we can encounter God and enjoy his presence. It is in the light of Christmas that we can understand the words of Jesus: "If you do not convert and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 18:3). Those who have not understood the mystery of Christmas have not understood the decisive element of Christian existence. Those who do not welcome Jesus with the heart of a child cannot enter the kingdom of heaven: this is what Francis wanted to remind the Christianity of this time and of all times, up until today.

Let us pray to the Father that he grant our hearts that simplicity which recognizes the Child as Lord, just as Francis did in Greccio. Then we too may experience what Thomas of Celano - referring to the experience of the shepherds on Christmas Eve (cf. Luke 2:20) - recounts about those who were present at the event in Greccio: "Everyone went home full of inexpressible joy" (Vita prima, Fonti Francescane, 86, p. 479).

This is the wish that I extend with affection to all of you, to your families and loved ones. Merry Christmas to you all!

Pope Considers St. Francis' Role in Christmas

Notes How Feast Developed in Middle Ages

VATICAN CITY, DEC. 23, 2009 (Zenit.org).- While the celebration of Easter focuses on God's power, the Christmas feast shows a God who comes without weapons or strength in the hopes that man will receive him, Benedict XVI says.

And this image of God made a Child is particularly visible in the Nativity scene, a tradition that has marked the Christian celebration of Christmas and which can be traced to St. Francis of Assisi. In Greccio, Italy, he made the first Nativity scene in 1223.

The Holy Father reflected on St. Francis' role in the development of the Christmas celebration during the general audience today in Paul VI Hall.

"With St. Francis and his nativity, the defenseless love of God was shown, his humility and goodness, which in the incarnation of the Word is manifested to man so as to teach a new way to live and to love," he said.

The Pontiff explained how a biographer of the saint recounts a vision Francis was given at the famous Christmas celebration in Greccio: "He saw a little child lying still in a manger; the child woke up because Francis approached. And [the biographer] adds: 'This vision was not different than real life, since through the work of his grace acting by way of his holy servant Francis, the Child Jesus was resurrected in the hearts of many.'"

So near

Benedict XVI affirmed: "Thanks to St. Francis, the Christian people have been able to perceive that at Christmas, God truly has become Emmanuel, God-with-us, from whom no barrier or distance can separate us. In this Child, God has come so near to each one of us, so close, that we can address him with confidence and maintain with him a trusting relationship of deep affection, as we do with a newborn.

"In this Child, in fact, God-Love is manifested: God comes without weapons, without strength, because he does not aim to conquer, we could say, from without, but rather wants to be welcomed by man in liberty. God becomes a defenseless Child to conquer man's pride, violence and desire to possess. In Jesus, God took up this poor and defenseless condition to conquer with love and lead us to our true identity."

The Pope invited the faithful to pray to the Father, "so that he concedes to our hearts this simplicity that recognizes the Lord in this Child, precisely as Francis did in Greccio."

"Then," he said, "we too can experience what [...] happened to those present [...] 'Each one returned to his house filled with an ineffable joy.'"

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On ZENIT's Web page: Full text: http://www.zenit.org/article-27930?l=english

The first to state clearly that Jesus was born on December 25 was Hippolytus of Rome, in his commentary on the book of the prophet Daniel, written about the year 204. Some exegetes later noted that the feast of the dedication of the Temple of Jerusalem, instituted by Judas Maccabeus in 164 B.C., was celebrated on that day. The coinciding of these dates would therefore mean that with Jesus, who appeared as the light of God in the darkness, there is the true realization of the consecration of the Temple, the Advent of God upon this earth.

This just proves that the “church fathers” are not infallible..

My response:

And it proves you are. St. Hippolytus was killed for the faith by the Roman Empire. I would think he is closer to the truth than your “personal infallible opinion”

Merry Christmas to you and yours

Not necessarily true. The Roman pagan feast to the Unconquered Sun was not instituted until 274 AD and by that time, orthodox Catholics in the West had already been trying to come up with the date of CHristmas going back to the late 2nd century when St. Hippolytus of Rome, writing around 205 AD noted that December 25 was a likely date of Christ Birth. This was because the CHurch first tried to fix the date of Pasch/Easter, which the Church throught was 25 March to April 6, using the Roman Julian Solar Calander, which was the equivalent dates to the Jewish Nissan Calander, which based on it, the likely dates of CHrist death would have been in either 30 AD or 33 AD since those were the only 2 days that Passover occurred on a Friday.

So, based on Christ Death as being between 25 March to April 6, the Church picked up on the tradition that a prophet’s Death coincided with his conception, thus the Feast of the Annuniciation was set on March 25, which was the date the Latin Church set as being his Death [later studies of the calander would put the date likely at 29 March, since the calcuations of the Julian/later Gregorian calanders have shown that 29 March 30 or 33 AD would have been a Friday, not 25 March]. THus, using this methodology, Christmas would fall on December 25 in the West and January 6 in the Eastern Church, using the March 25 to April 6 [12 day period] and moving it 9 months after.

In the Eastern Church, St. John Chrystostom reasoned 12/25 based on the following {see David Bennett article at http://www.ancient-future.net/christmasdate.html) excerpt cited in the following 2 paragraphs.:

Luke 1 says Zechariah was performing priestly duty in the Temple when an angel told his wife Elizabeth she would bear John the Baptist. During the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, Mary learned about her conception of Jesus and visited Elizabeth “with haste.”

The 24 classes of Jewish priests served one week in the Temple, and Zechariah was in the eighth class. Rabbinical tradition fixed the class on duty when the Temple was destroyed in A.D. 70 and, calculating backward from that, Zechariah’s class would have been serving Oct. 2-9 in 5 B.C. So Mary’s conception visit six months later might have occurred the following March and Jesus’ birth nine months afterward.

Thus, the writing of the great orthodox theologian of the Eastern Church again shows that Christians were not just following some pagan holiday. Now, when the pagan emperor Aurelius set 25 December as the feast of the unconquered Sun God, Christians just said this feast is the feast of the Son of God as the light of the world coming to quench the darkness, hence the timing of Christmas based on it being the darkest time of the year in that part of the world has significance as the Cosmos points to the coming of Christ as the Light extinquishing the darkness and thus the prophecy of Malichi 3:20 “Sun of Justice/Righeousness” is fullfilled in the person of Christ and his incarnation.

So while the Church eventually universally settled on 25 December as the feat of the Nativity of Christ, it was to sort of compete against the paga feast, instituted in 274 AD, and point out to the pagan Romans that Christ is true “Sun of Justice” prophesized in Malichi 3:20 and that he is “the Word was God....the light of the human race, the light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it....The True light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world...And the word became Flesh” (c.f. John 1:1-14; which was the Gospel text read in Christmas Mass’s in the afternoon around the Catholic world) pointing to the deep theological and Liturgical reasons why the Church, in addition to the Biblical and theologicl scholarship of the Early Church Fathers [ST. Hippolytus and ST. John Christostyom], chose 25 December as the date of Christ birth. Relatedly, the CHurch celebrates the birth of John the Baptist on 25 June for the reason “he must increase and I must decrease” (c.f. John 3:30) as from the begginning of Summer, the longest day of the year, the days are getting shorter pointing to the coming of Christ.

So, you and your “fundalmentalist the world is flat types” can think what you want, but the reasons for 25 December reflect both theological study by the early Church and in fact reflect in visible ways [i.e. in the Cosmos and in the signs of the earth] the theological realities about Christ bith.

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