With that embattled phrase, every one of us at South Boston Online wishes you a very Merry Christmastime.  It is indeed a marvelous season.

     Why the word “Christmastime”?  Because in many cultures, Christmas goes on for 12 days – until the Feast of the Epiphany on January 6.  Gifts, often quite extravagant ones, are given throughout the entire period.  What could be more extravagant than “twelve pipers piping”, after the previous 66 gifts?  Seemingly, one Christmas day is not enough! 

     In other cultures, “Christmastime” begins on December 6, which is the feast day of St. Nicholas – “Santa Claus” or “Sinter Klaas” to the Dutch sailors, who were among the first European colonists in America and who brought Nicholas to the New World.

     And of course, there is the observance of Advent, the season of anticipation.  Its four Christmastime weeks symbolize the 4,000 years between the time of Adam’s exile from Paradise and the birth of Christ.  That reckoning depends upon the timeline of events in the Old Testament, a Jewish religious document.

     The Gospels provide little information about the first Christmas.  John and Mark begin with John the Baptist preaching by the Jordan River.  Matthew’s account deals with Herod and the Magi; Luke tells of the Annunciation, Christ’s birth, and the Presentation in the Temple.  That’s it.  Everything else about Christmas are oral traditions, and not necessarily accurate in a historic sense.

     For example, the date of Christ’s birth is unknown.  It once was celebrated in the spring – May 20 was a popular date to observe His birth.  But Roman holidays like Saturnalia and Kalends were celebrated at year-end.  The tribes of Northern Europe celebrated Yule on the December 21 winter solstice.  As a result, early church leaders, among them Pope Gregory the Great, encouraged the positioning of Christian feast days so they occurred at the same times.  That’s why Christmas is observed on December 25.

     The year of Christ’s birth is also uncertain, but it certainly wasn’t 0 or 1 A.D.   A monk named Dennis the Little counted Roman emperors backwards and calculated a Christmas year, but poor Dennis missed an emperor or two.  He published a calendar that was at least four years shy of the actual Birth.  For many reasons, including the length of Herod’s reign, the census decreed by Augustus, and the conjunctions of Jupiter and Saturn, the Birth must have been around 7 B.C., as we count the years nowadays.

     Traditions of generous gift-giving come more from the Roman feast of Saturnalia than from the example of the Wise Men.  Originally, the gifts included green branches called “strenae”.  Decorated trees, wreaths, and holly stem from traditions that existed in Medieval Germany, ancient Greece, and Persia of the god, Mithras.  Mistletoe was the sacred plant of the Celtic Druids.

     The point is that we can all enjoy year-end celebrations in many ways.  The joy, peace, and good will contained in the traditional Christmas message are qualities we all can seek for ourselves and wish for each other.  The Christmas we celebrate is a blend of spirituality and a well-nigh incredible number of festivities, traditions, and human roots.

     It’s also a time to share with everyone, so spin the Chanukah dreidl.  Decorate with Kwanzaa red, green, and black.  Remember one another.  So, we’ll conclude:

     … and a Happy New Year.”