Parts Epiphany
The Child With a Mysterious Birthday
From out of the most holy of the celestial abodes emerged a being whose glory radiated with a mystic flamboyancy.
An air of authority became Him as He lowered His gaze to perceive of the doomed humanity below and was overcome with immeasurable pity at what He saw.
He pondered at length on the perilous quest He was about to take. His destination was to be the ill-fated blue planet. The objective of this strange oddesy – salvation of a human race on the verge of extinction.
In a miraculous manifestation of divine power, He descended down into the womb of a virgin damsel. 9 months later, on an auspicious day still unknown, the Prince of Peace was born in a little-known town called Bethlehem.
While the life and times of this great man have been reasonably documented, His actual birth date has remained a topic of intense speculation dating as way back as the early 3rd century. Clement of Alexandria (150-215), an Athenian theologian claimed though that Jesus Christ may have been born around the 3rd Century on May 20.
At about the same period Christmas, a name derived from the old English word ‘Cristes Maesse’ meaning the ‘Birth of Christ’, began being celebrated long before the advent of Christianity on varied days of the year.
Perhaps the earliest recorded mention of Christmas being commemorated on December 25 was in the Philocalian Calendar named after Furius Dionysius Philocalus, the artist who illuminated part of the document in which the calendar was found. History has it that the celebration of Christmas on this same date had been a common Roman practice by 336 AD.
This date was however not recognised and thus other varied days already in existence alongside it, continued to be used to mark the birth of the Messiah.
It wasn’t until 354 AD. When a decree was passed declaring December 25 the official birth of Christ that this date began to establish its dominance over the other dates. Eighty-six years later, the then pontiff of Rome declared the festival of Christ’s birth be celebrated on the same day – Christmas was thus officially inaugurated.
Despite this papal decree, January 6 and March 25 were persistently observed as the days of Nativity (feast of Christ). By as late as the 5th century the church of Constantinople, for one, maintained this celebration on the 6th of January for long.
The reason for choosing December, 25 which comes a few days after the winter solstice (December, 22), the shortest day in the northern hemisphere, was to supersede the existing pagan cult festivals of Natalis Solis Invicti and the Saturnalia held during the solstice.
The former made an imperial cult of Rome by the emperor Commodus (180-192) was a cultural importation from the Mithraists celebrated in honour of Mithrais, a Persian and Indian sun god.
Mithrais, it is said, after slaying and sacrificing a bull from which all manner of creatures sprang, ascended to heaven where he guaranteed a blessed immortality to all who had been initiated into his mysteries.
This heathen festival commemorated the ‘Birthday of the Sun of Righteousness’ or the ‘Unconquered Sun’ and marked the beginning of a New Year in nature.
Christmas on replacing this festival kept the same symbolism – The birthday of Christ corresponded to the birth of a New Year.
The Saturnalia was a Roman festival held on December 17 to 23 in honour of the god Saturn. It was characterised by the exchanging of gifts among the cult members. This practice was to later find its way into the modern culture of exchanging gifts quite popular during the Christmas festivities.
Closely related to the nativity of Christ was the feast of Epiphany (Greek for manifestation) celebrated in the East since the 3rd century on January 6 to mark the lord’s baptism. This feast exists to-date. One of its main features was the blessing of the baptismal water.
In the West, the feast of Epiphany was introduced in the 4th century and quickly became associated with the manifestation of Christ to the gentiles in the person of the Magi – The first gentiles to receive Christ who, according to Origen (185-254), a biblical critic, theologian and spiritual writer, numbered 3. From this emerged the popular tale of ‘The Three Wise Men’.
December, 25 is thus not the actual birthday of the Messiah. This date was chosen tactfully to supersede ancient pagan festivals that were in existence then.
A noble act it might have been, but it is interesting to note that most of the present day Christmas practices have their origin in these very festivals Christmas purposed to replace.
The Holly, used currently as a decor and the Yule log used to honour god Thor by burning it to wade off evil spirits, were central items in the Norse festivals of the sons of the fjord or the Norsemen otherwise known as the Vikings.
To the ancient order of priests found among the Celts of Gaul and the British Isles – the Druids, the leaf of the Mistletoe plant growing on the Oak tree was very sacred and was a symbol of fertility.
The Christmas tree, an importation from Germany to England by Prince Albert in the 18th century used to adorn the Roman Saturnalia prior to its inclusion as a very central symbol in the Christmas festivities in England and elsewhere in the world.
Though heathen in origin, their central role in enhancing the beauty of a day we all look forward to in elated anticipation is instrumental. They, in a very special way, bring out that ethereal Christmas spirit that comes once in a year when we remember the birth of a likewise special child. It is indeed true to say that the master plan hatched centuries ago to supersede the cultic practices of ancient civilisations has finally worked. Wouldn’t you say so? Merry Christmas everyone!
About the Author
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