St. Benedict's Monastery, Arcadia
Sunday Gospel Comment
Alberic Jacovone OSB
YEAR A CHRISTMAS
The mind-set of ‘Christ-mas’ Pagan
concepts & visualizations. ‘Christ-mas’ is not the correct word to use, if we want to talk
about the wonder of Christ’s Birth, the human birth of God’s own Son. The
word ‘Christmas’ stands for ‘Christ’s Mass’ & it refers to the
Mass celebrated at midnight for Christmas. If you ask why Mass should be offered
at such an unusual time, the answer is tied up with ancient pagan times. ‘Mid-night of December 25th’ was the high point of a
great pagan festival which was slowly ‘Christianized’ by the Church. It
stood to pinpoint the equinox of the winter solstice, which in the northern
hemisphere, was celebrated as a great festive occasion. The Hellenistic world
made a big fuss about the ‘Feast of the Unconquered Sun’, which as a
magnificent god-of-light, comes up
every day at sun-rise & goes down at sun-set, thus provoking the world of
nature to function & keep alive every form of life. The Early Church gave
new meaning to this celebration: it welcomed the wonder of Nature, but (rather
than attributing it to the ever-returning, rising & setting of the son-god
called ‘Elios’), it invited Christians to celebrate the birth of God’s Son
among us, & He is the true light of the world. As the pagan celebration culminated at midnight of the winter
solstice (25th December): this focal point was picked up by a Solemn Mass, which
was celebrated at midnight. The word ‘Christmas’ refers to this
Midnight-Mass, as it means: ‘Christ’s Mass’. Even today, many symbols that
enrich the Season of Christmas, come from the Nature Spirituality of pagan
times. Some examples: Reindeers & Santa from North Pole, lots of gifts - a
Pine-Tree’ also loaded with gifts - Xmas wishes, cards & letters -
‘ever-green’ leaves, husks & twigs decorations - Advent Wreath - a
desire to pamper ourselves with Nature’s abundance - gatherings, carols etc. Christmas,
a miracle of birth. Christians have adopted the idea of gift in our celebration of
Christmas, by stating that the birth of God’s Son, is the greatest gift God
has for us: (‘God so loved the world that he gave his Son’ -says
John’s Gospel-, & in the Eucharist, we welcome God’s Son, ‘given
for you’). But really, Christmas is a Birth Celebration: we rejoice over the
Birth of God’s Son among us poor human beings. For centuries, we have
venerated Nativity Icons & Nativity Cribs, to visualize an immense reality:
namely, that God has condescended to stoop down to our humble, sinful humanity,
& be born as one of us,,,, so great was his desire to restore -in Christ-
our friendship with Him & ennoble our human nature: truly Christ’s birth
lifted us into an intimacy with the Blessed Trinity. This insight &
visualization led ancient Christian writers, artists & liturgists to speak
highly about a ‘wonderful exchange’ (admirabile commercium): God became one
with us, so we -in Christ- could become one with God. The earliest
visualizations come from the Eastern Orthodox culture, which visualizes the
birth of God’s Son, as a manifestation -a light- of the Blessed Trinity &
a celebration of ‘God-who-is-made-man’. In the Eastern mind-set, the
Nativity Icon presents & paints Mary as fully & solely ‘Mother of God
- (Theotokos)’ not as a human being giving birth.
But in the West, around the year 1000, Christmas began to be celebrated,
as a Nativity Crib, under the influence of popular Franciscan piety.
It took the picturesque character of the manger scene, focusing -ever so
sensitively & tenderly- on the human side of the ‘wonderful exchange’:
now, attention is turned on Mary, Joseph, Shepherds, & feelings are
expressed in child-soothing lullabies & shepherd-like musical dirges (Pastorali)...
How do you ponder on Christ’s Birth? ______________________________________ |
