Christmas Legends
by Maria Hubert
Legends of Christmas
There are many short tales which have grown up around the story of the Birth of Christ. Some are stories with a moral or a caution or a 'that's why' ending.
For instance, the story of the animals speaking. It is said that on Christmas Eve, if you go out, you will hear all the farm animals speaking to one another. The legend goes that they were all given the gift of speech when Jesus was born for that one night of the year. The sounds made by the animals sound like words.The Owl says 'Whooo is born?' the Raven says 'Christ'
The goat asks 'Where' the sheep answers ' There'. Different animals have been given their part to play over the millennia and one can still find new ideas for the story today.
The baby Jesus was cold, and there was very little heat from the few bits of wood on the fire. A little Robin roosting in the stable flew down and fanned the fire into flame with its wings. As the fire flamed up, the birds breast became scorched, and that is why the Robin has a red breast today in memory of that day.
The little glow-worm had nothing to give the baby Jesus, so it carried a small green leaf it found as its gift. The baby liked the pretty thing, and touched the dull little worm, which glowed with the glory of Christ. The moral of this story being that no matter how insignificant and useless we feel about ourselves, we can all be touched by Christ and glow with his glory.
There is a lovely story associated with the Ara Coeli Church in Rome. In the time of Caesar Augustus, there lived an ancient Sybil, a wise woman who foretold the future. She has been popular in her time, but now people did not visit her so much, and she did not come out of her cave to prophesy anymore. But on this one special night she came out, and the people below saw her standing arms outstretched, looking into the Eastern sky.
The Emperor decided to go and see what she saw. He went with his servants, and gave her the customary gift of food. She told him that she had seen the birth of a great god, who would be worshipped on Capitol Hill instead of the traditional gods of the Romans. This God who would be greater even than Caesar. His followers wanted to placate the emperor by saying they would build a temple to him on the hill. Then the Sybil came to him and cried, 'Look, there in the sky, there is the God who shall be worshipped here' And Caesar saw the small baby there with a host of angels. The Sybil's voice, ac cording to the story, became strong and not the voice of the frail old woman as she gave her final prophesy. 'Upon Capitol Hill shall the Redeemer of the world be worshipped'
Caesar ordered an altar to be raised to the unknown God, and it was named The altar of Heaven, or 'Ara Coeli' Today you can climb the staircase of over 100 steps which was built up to the temple by Michelangelo, and visit the temple of the Altar of Heaven. It is a Church now of course, and its miraculous statue of the swaddled Infant Jesus is world famous.
Many legends are associated with the Flight into Egypt. If you follow the steps of the Holy Family through their stay in Egypt, you will come to a tree which sheltered then, a stone in which is a footprint said to be that of the infant Jesus. and many more. Once they had to hide in a cave from the soldiers of Herod who followed them. A spider spun her web across the cave opening, and when the soldiers came they saw the web, and thought that no-one could be inside, 'See, there is a spiders web across the entrance which is so huge it must have been there for some time' They said, and move on leaving the Holy Family in safety.. This story is commemorated by the Hungarian) people, who decorate their tree at Christmas with glittering webs to represent spider's webs.
Another pretty legend was that of the Rosemary bush. When Mary washed out the baby's swaddling cloths, she hung them on a small bush to dry. This bush had been used for washing because of its antiseptic qualities, but it bore no flowers. After Mary used it, it is said that it grew the small blue flowers in memory of the occasion. But another rather pretty story expanded onto that one was the story of the Rosemary bush, the Date Palm and the Sugar Cane. They argued as to which was the most use to the Holy Family. 'I, said the Palm, give shelter to the family in the heat of the day and I drop my fruits to feed them'.
'I provide sweetness, and make a refreshing drink,' said the Sugar Cane. The little Rosemary bush was silent' I have nothing special to offer' it said.
Then the Virgin Mary came out with the cloths to dry.' Bend your head Palm that I may hang my Son's clothes to dry' she asked. But try as he might, the tall Palm could not bend low enough for her to reach.
The Sugar Cane leaned towards her, 'Me, me' It offered. But the cloths fell from its straight slippery stems and got dirty in the sandy soil. Then Our Lady saw the little bush. 'Perfect' she smiled, and hung all the cloths on its spreading branches, which gave them a lovely fresh smell too.' This is a very useful little bush, and deserves to be pretty too' she said. And from that day the Rosemary bore flowers of the colour of the Holy Maiden's gown.
Well, very many more stories have grown up, and have been largely forgotten today, but were bedtime stories for thousand of generations of children down the centuries. These are just a very few.
Copyright Maria Hubert 2003
The First Christmas Tree Lights
artin
Luther was composing a sermon to preach at the Church, and so he was not
noticing that he was dawdling, and it was getting very dark.
In the German woods in those days the forests were the homes of Wolves, Bears and Boar, so Martin was a little afraid, especially when the night sounds began. He hurried along, saying a prayer for comfort as he went. Then he looked up through the trees, tiny pricks of light, twinkling blue and silver. At first he was puzzled, then he realised - stars of course, lights from Heaven to guide and comfort. It was a star which led the wise men to the stable on that first Christmas. God's light sent to guide us through the darkest night.
Martin thought that this was a splendid theme for his sermon, and, feeling bolder now he felt himself safe in God's hands, he looked around for a small tree. This little fir tree he pulled up, and took home to his family.
In 17th century Germany, it was the custom to have a candelabra shaped in a sort of triangle. This held candles throughout the Christmas season. It was also the custom in many homes to have a Christmas tree, and often these were hung upside-down from the ceiling beams. They were not often decorated at all, just there as a reminder that the shape of the tree, triangular, represented the three Persons of God - God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
Martin took home the little tree, but he did not hang it up on the beam. Instead he set it in a pot on the table. Then he took the candles from the candelabra, and fastened them to the little tree.
He them lit the candles, and as the flames flickered through the branches he gathered his family around the table and told them about his walk through the dark wood. Just as he was beginning to get really frighted nede, he said, he saw the stars twinkling encouragingly, as if God was saying "Don't be afraid, for I am with you".
"Gods light shines through the darkest night for everyone", he said, "But sometimes we have to look up to see it"
Legend has it that this was the first time a candle was put on a Christmas tree. And that is why we still put lights on our Christmas Tree today, to remind us of Martin Luther's sermon!
Look for more Christmas Legends to be added to this page!
