A Christmas Carol: The Visit of Marley's Ghost

Excerpts from Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol",  regarding the visit of Marley's Ghost:
(for more excerpts, see below)

Now, it is a fact, that there was nothing at all particular about the knocker on the door, except that it was very large. It is also a fact, that Scrooge had seen it, night and morning, during his whole residence in that place; also that Scrooge had as little of what is called fancy about him as any man in the city of London, even including-which is a bold word- the corporation, aldermen, and livery.

Let it also be borne in mind that Scrooge had not bestowed one thought on Marley, since his last mention of his seven-year's dead partner that afternoon. And then let any man explain to me, if he can, how it happened that Scrooge, having his key in the lock of the door, saw in the knocker, without its undergoing any intermediate process of change-not a knocker, but Marley's face.

Marley's face. It was not in impenetrable shadow as the other objects in the yard were, but had a dismal light about it, like a bad lobster in a dark cellar. It was not angry or ferocious, but looked at Scrooge as Marley used to look: with ghostly spectacles turned up on its ghostly forehead. The hair was curiously stirred, as if by breath or hot air; and, though the eyes were wide open, they were perfectly motionless. That, and its livid colour, made it horrible; but its horror seemed to be in spite of the face and beyond its control, rather than a part of its own expression.

As Scrooge looked fixedly at this phenomenon, it was a knocker again.

To say that he was not startled, or that his blood was not conscious of a terrible sensation to which it had been a stranger from infancy, would be untrue. But he put his hand upon the key he had relinquished, turned it sturdily, walked in, and lighted his candle.

He did pause, with a moment's irresolution, before he shut the door; and he did look cautiously behind it first, as if he half expected to be terrified with the sight of Marley's pigtail sticking out into the hall. But there was nothing on the back of the door, except the screws and nuts that held the knocker on, so he said'Pooh, pooh.' and closed it with a bang.

The sound resounded through the house like thunder. Every room above, and every cask in the wine-merchant's cellars below, appeared to have a separate peal of echoes of its own. Scrooge was not a man to be frightened by echoes. He fastened the door, and walked across the hall, and up the stairs; slowly too: trimming his candle as he went.

Up Scrooge went, not caring a button for that. Darkness is cheap, and Scrooge liked it. But before he shut his heavy door, he walked through his rooms to see that all was right. He had just enough recollection of the face to desire to do that.

Sitting-room, bed-room, lumber-room. All as they should be. Nobody under the table, nobody under the sofa; a small fire in the grate; spoon and basin ready; and the little saucepan of gruel (Scrooge has a cold in his head) upon the hob. Nobody under the bed; nobody in the closet'; nobody in his dressing-gown, which was hanging up in a suspicious attitude against the wall. Lumber-room as usual. Old fire-guard, old shoes, two fish-baskets, washing-stand on three legs, and a poker.

Quite satisfied, he closed his door, and locked himself in; double-locked himself in, which was not his custom. Thus secured against surprise, he took off his cravat; put on his dressing-gown and slippers, and his nightcap; and sat down before the fire to take his gruel.

It was a very low fire indeed; nothing on such a bitter night. He was obliged to sit close to it, and brood over it, before he could extract the least sensation of warmth from such a handful of fuel. 

'Humbug!' said Scrooge; and walked across the room.

After several turns, he sat down again. As he threw his head back in the chair, his glance happened to rest upon a bell, a disused bell, that hung in the room, and communicated for some purpose now forgotten with a chamber in the highest story of the building. It was with great astonishment, and with a strange, inexplicable dread, that as he looked, he saw this bell begin to swing. It swung so softly in the outset that it scarcely made a sound; but soon it rang out loudly, and so did every bell in the house.

This might have lasted half a minute, or a minute, but it seemed an hour. The bells ceased as they had begun, together. They were succeeded by a clanking noise, deep down below; as if some person were dragging a heavy chain over the casks in the wine-merchant's cellar. Scrooge then remembered to have heard that ghosts in haunted houses were described as dragging chains.

The cellar-door flew open with a booming sound, and then he heard the noise much louder, on the floors below; then coming up the stairs; then coming straight towards his door.

'It's humbug still!' said Scrooge. 'I won't believe it.'

His colour changed though, when, without a pause, it came on through the heavy door, and passed into the room before his eyes. Upon its coming in, the dying flame leaped up, as though it cried, 'I know him; Marley's Ghost!' and fell again.

I know him! Marley's ghost!

The same face: the very same. Marley in his pigtail, usual waistcoat, tights and boots; the tassels on the latter bristling, like his pigtail, and his coat-skirts, and the hair upon his head. The chain he drew was clasped about his middle. It was long, and wound about him like a tail; and it was made (for Scrooge observed it closely) of cash-boxes, keys, padlocks, ledgers, deeds, and heavy purses wrought in steel. His body was transparent; so that Scrooge, observing him, and looking through his waistcoat, could see the two buttons on his coat behind.

Scrooge had often heard it said that Marley had no bowels, but he had never believed it until now.

No, nor did he believe it even now. Though he looked the phantom through and through, and saw it standing before him; though he felt the chilling influence of its death-cold eyes; and marked the very texture of the folded kerchief bound about its head and chin, which wrapper he had not observed before; he was still incredulous, and fought against his senses.

'How now.' said Scrooge, caustic and cold as ever. 'What do you want with me?'

'Much.'-Marley's voice, no doubt about it.

'Who are you?'

'Ask me who I was.'

'Who were you then?' said Scrooge, raising his voice. 'You're particular, for a shade.' He was going to say 'to a shade,' but substituted this, as more appropriate.

'In life I was your partner, Jacob Marley.'

'Can you-can you sit down?' asked Scrooge, looking doubtfully at him.

'I can.'

'Do it, then.'

"Marley's Ghost."

Scrooge asked the question, because he didn't know whether a ghost so transparent might find himself in a condition to take a chair; and felt that in the event of its being impossible, it might involve the necessity of an embarrassing explanation. But the ghost sat down on the opposite side of the fireplace, as if he were quite used to it.

'You don't believe in me,' observed the Ghost.

'I don't,' said Scrooge.

'What evidence would you have of my reality beyond that of your senses?'

'I don't know,' said Scrooge.

'Why do you doubt your senses?'

'Because,' said Scrooge, 'a little thing affects them. A slight disorder of the stomach makes them cheats. You may be an undigested bit of beef, a blot of mustard, a crumb of cheese, a fragment of an underdone potato. There's more of gravy than of grave about you, whatever you are!'

'You see this toothpick.' said Scrooge, returning quickly to the charge, for the reason just assigned; and wishing, though it were only for a second, to divert the vision's stony gaze from himself.

'I do,' replied the Ghost.

'You are not looking at it,' said Scrooge.

'But I see it,' said the Ghost, 'notwithstanding.'

'Well.' returned Scrooge, 'I have but to swallow this, and be for the rest of my days persecuted by a legion of goblins, all of my own creation. Humbug, I tell you. humbug!'

At this the spirit raised a frightful cry, and shook its chain with such a dismal and appalling noise, that Scrooge held on tight to his chair, to save himself from falling in a swoon. But how much greater was his horror, when the phantom taking off the bandage round its head, as if it were too warm to wear in-doors, its lower jaw dropped down upon its breast.

Scrooge fell upon his knees, and clasped his hands before his face.

'Mercy!' he said. 'Dreadful apparition, why do you trouble me?' 'Man of the worldly mind!' replied the Ghost, 'do you believe in me or not?'

'I do,' said Scrooge. 'I must. But why do spirits walk the earth, and why do they come to me?'

'It is required of every man,' the Ghost returned, 'that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellow-men, and travel far and wide; and if that spirit goes not forth in life, it is condemned to do so after death. It is doomed to wander through the world-oh, woe is me!-and witness what it cannot share, but might have shared on earth, and turned to happiness.'

Again the spectre raised a cry, and shook its chain and wrung its shadowy hands.

'You are fettered,' said Scrooge, trembling. 'Tell me why?'

'I wear the chain I forged in life,' replied the Ghost. 'I made it link by link, and yard by yard; I girded it on of my own free will, and of my own free will I wore it. Is its pattern strange to you?'

Scrooge trembled more and more.

'Or would you know,' pursued the Ghost, 'the weight and length of the strong coil you bear yourself? It was full as heavy and as long as this, seven Christmas Eves ago. You have laboured on it, since. It is a ponderous chain!'

Scrooge glanced about him on the floor, in the expectation of finding himself surrounded by some fifty or sixty fathoms of iron cable: but he could see nothing.

'Jacob,' he said, imploringly. 'Old Jacob Marley, tell me more. Speak comfort to me, Jacob.'

'I have none to give,' the Ghost replied. 'It comes from other regions, Ebenezer Scrooge, and is conveyed by other ministers, to other kinds of men. Nor can I tell you what I would. A very little more is all permitted to me. I cannot rest, I cannot stay, I cannot linger anywhere. My spirit never walked beyond out counting-house-mark me!- in life my spirit never roved beyond the narrow limits of our money-changing hole; and weary journeys lie before me.'

'You must have been very slow about it, Jacob,' Scrooge observed, in a business-like manner, though with humility and deference.

'Slow!' the Ghost repeated.

'Seven years dead,' mused Scrooge. 'And travelling all the time?'

'The whole time,' said the Ghost. 'No rest, no peace. Incessant torture of remorse.'

'You travel fast?' said Scrooge.

'On the wings of the wind,' replied the Ghost.

'You might have got over a great quantity of ground in seven years,' said Scrooge.

The Ghost, on hearing this, set up another cry, and clanked its chain so hideously in the dead silence of the night, that the Ward would have been justified in indicting it for a nuisance.

'Oh! captive, bound, and double-ironed,' cried the phantom, 'not to know, that ages of incessant labour by immortal creatures, for this earth must pass into eternity before the good of which it is susceptible is all developed! Not to know that any Christian spirit working kindly in its little sphere, whatever it may be, will find its mortal life too short for its vast means of usefulness! Not to know that no space of regret can make amends for one life's opportunity misused! Yet such was I! Oh! such was I!'

'But you were always a good man of business, Jacob,' faltered Scrooge, who now began to apply this to himself.

'Business!' cried the Ghost, wringing its hands again. 'Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence, were, all, my business. The dealings of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!'

It held up its chain at arm's length, as if that were the cause of all its unavailing grief, and flung it heavily upon the ground again.

'At this time of the rolling year,' the spectre said, 'I suffer most. Why did I walk through crowds of fellow-beings with my eyes turned down, and never raise them to that blessed Star which led the Wise Men to a poor abode? Were there no poor homes to which its light would have conducted me?'

Scrooge was very much dismayed to hear the spectre going on at this rate, and began to quake exceedingly.

'Hear me!' cried the Ghost. 'My time is nearly gone. I am here to-night to warn you, that you have yet a chance and hope of escaping my fate. A chance and hope of my procuring, Ebenezer.'

'You were always a good friend to me,' said Scrooge. 'Thank'ee.'

'You will be haunted,' resumed the Ghost, 'by Three Spirits.'

Scrooge's countenance fell almost as low as the Ghost's had done.

'Is that the chance and hope you mentioned, Jacob?' he demanded, in a faltering voice.

'It is.'

'I-I think I'd rather not,' said Scrooge.

'Without their visits,' said the Ghost, 'you cannot hope to shun the path I tread. Expect the first to-morrow, when the bell tolls One.'

'Couldn't I take them all at once, and have it over, Jacob?' hinted Scrooge.

'Expect the second on the next night at the same hour. The third upon the next night when the last stroke of Twelve has ceased to vibrate. Look to see me no more; and look that, for your own sake, you remember what has passed between us!'

------

For more excerpts from "A Christmas Carol", see these posts:
A Christmas Carol: Scrooge's Nephew Wishes Merry Christmas
A Christmas Carol: Scrooge's Redemption
http://joychristmas.blogspot.com/2012/12/a-christmas-carol-ghost-of-christmas.html
http://joychristmas.blogspot.com/2012/12/a-christmas-carol-ghost-of-christmas_10.html

The Christmas Heart

Let us remember that the Christmas heart is a giving heart, a wide open heart that thinks of others first. The birth of the baby Jesus stands as the most significant event in all history, because it has meant the pouring into a sick world the healing medicine of love which has transformed all manner of hearts for almost two thousand years... Underneath all the bulging bundles is this beating Christmas heart.

- George Matthew Adams

The Swedish Christmas

Christmas in Sweden, as in other countries, is a mixture of old and new, religious and secular, native and foreign, according to the Swedish professor of folklore Jan-Öjvind Swahn.

In Sweden, Christmas is by law a time of civil peace.  Christmas in Sweden includes more days off, both for schoolchildren and for adults, than any other festival, and in some years the number of working days in between public holidays and weekends can be so small that, by docking a couple of days from their year’s holiday, people can be off work from anything up to two weeks.

Swedish Christmas cards (in this day and age more often computer based) are nearly always “white,” with deep snow as a standing invitation to skiing, but the fact is that white Christmases are very few and far between in the southern third of the country.

Christmas food is one of the really ancient elements of Christmas, but this too is changing. Once upon a time the Christmas menu differed a great deal as between coastal and inland communities, north and south, fishing and farming folk, and so on. Nowadays, with most of the raw material coming from factories, local variations have given way to a centrally orchestrated selection of manufactured or semi-manufactured products.

Pork make up a strikingly large proportion of Christmas fare, and visitors sometimes wonder why the Swedes have to celebrate the birth of their Savior by eating pig meat. The historical reason is that, for a long time, salt pork was the meat ration of the Swedes all year round. Pigs were slaughtered in the autumn, when they were fattest, the pork was preserved in brine and would then have to last until the following autumn. One or two “Christmas pigs” were held over from the fall butchering, however, and reprieved until Lucia. Christmas was the only time of year when people could eat fresh meat, which in those days was the height of enjoyment. No such considerations apply nowadays, but so conservative are our habits, especially on festive occasions, that for many people Christmas would not be Christmas without ham, brawn and pork sausage.

Nordstjernan's Eva Stenskär spoke with one of the lecturers at the University of Washington, Seattle about Christmas:

“Sweden had a state church from the year 1500 to 2000, and thus Christmas is steeped in the Lutheran traditions,” says Ia Dübois, Senior Lecturer at the Department of Scandinavian Studies at the University of Washington. “Advent is an important event with the lighting of the four Advent candles each Sunday. Christmas decorations are taken out on the first of Advent and include adventstjärna, a large electrically lit star made of wood, metal, or paper and is placed in the window, little elves, gingerbread houses, tomtar, and julbockar.”

The main meal, explains Dübois, is served on Christmas Eve and consists of a smorgasbord of meatballs, ribs, cold cuts, lutfisk, different kinds of herring and cabbage, and centers around the Christmas ham. And then there’s the dopp i grytan (dipping in the kettle) tradition, when you dip bits of bread in the broth leftover after boiling the ham. For dessert there’s risgrynsgröt (rice porridge) with a hidden almond.

“The one who gets it will have a prosperous year ahead,” Dübois says.

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Pepparkakor (Ginger Snaps) Recipe
Strongly 'addictive' and a classic in every way around Christmas in Sweden.

10 Oz unsalted butter (2 sticks and a couple of tblsp)

1 ¾ cup sugar

1 cup golden syrup (“ljus sirap”)

1 cup water

1 tbsp baking soda (hjortronsalt or bikarbonat) mixed in with flour

6 1/3 cup flour

½ tbsp ground ginger

½ tbsp ground cinnamon

½ tbsp ground cloves

Mix butter, syrup, sugar and spices

Add water

Mix in flour and baking soda

Refrigerate for 12 hours

Roll the pastry thinly and cut out ginger snaps with a cutter

Bake the ginger snaps at 375-400F in oven.

Frosting (optional)

½ cup confectioners sugar

2 tsp water

Place confectiorners sugar in a bowl and gradually add water until frosting is firm

Decorater the ginger snaps with the frosting, let rest until dry

- from xoxosweden.com

See also these posts on Swedish Christmas traditions:

http://joychristmas.blogspot.com/2010/12/christmas-in-sweden.html

http://joychristmas.blogspot.com/2009/12/christmas-around-world-sweden.html

http://joychristmas.blogspot.com/2010/12/night-time-walks-heavily-round-farm-and.html

http://joychristmas.blogspot.com/2010/12/christmas-santa-lucia-sweden.html

http://joychristmas.blogspot.com/2012/12/swedish-christmas-trivia.html

Christmas at Temple Square

There are many great places for seeing beautiful Christmas lights and feeling the spirit of Christmas.  One of those is at Temple Square in Salt Lake City, including the grounds and visitors centers at the Salt Lake Temple.  Not only lights, but several nativity scenes (including a narrated story), Christmas films, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas Concerts, and a focus on what the holiday is all about - Jesus Christ!

Here are some photos of our recent visits:

Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas Concert

Photos by Ken R. Young

What Christmas Is All About

Without this there would be no Christmas or "holiday" (the word "holiday" comes from "holy day") season as we know it today. The fun and joy of our Christmas holiday has all been derived or added unto, one way or another, because of the advent of Our Savior.

Those who celebrate Santa or some other non-descript holiday fun without recognizing the source are missing the point.

Still, I am glad for all who make merry for any reason at this time.

The Twelve Days of Christmas: How Much it Costs in 2012

An article by Kevin Begos with The Associated Press:

Add seven swans, six geese and five golden rings to the list of Christmas gifts that cost more than they did a year ago.

And if you get all 364 items repeated throughout "The Twelve Days of Christmas" carol, you'll pay 6.1 percent more this year, according to the so-called Christmas Price Index that PNC Wealth Management updates annually.

That comes to $107,300.

"The rise is larger than expected considering the modest economic growth we've had," said Jim Dunigan, managing executive of investments for PNC. He noted the government's Consumer Price Index has risen just 2 percent in the 12 months before September.

Thrifty shoppers may find some reasons for cheer. Six items mentioned in the song haven't gone up in price: maids-a-milking, ladies dancing, lords-a-leaping, calling birds, turtle doves and the partridge. The eight maids-a-milking still cost just $58 because the minimum wage hasn't risen.

Twelve drummers drumming ($2,775.50) and eleven pipers piping ($2,562) might also be considered relative bargains compared to seven swans, which will set you back $7,000. Nine ladies dancing will cost you $6,294.03.

Dunigan said the 2011 drought caused the prices of some birds to soar, partly because of corn and other feed costs.

"The geese were up 29.6 percent, and swans were up 11 percent," Dunigan said, adding that none of the gifts in the song went down in price this year.

The price of a pear tree is $189.99, an 11.8 percent jump from last year's $169.99. Five gold rings jumped 16.3 percent this year, to $750, and three French hens are now $165, instead of $150.

The $15 partridge is the cheapest item, and swans the most expensive, at $1,000 each.

Last-minute shoppers who turn to the Internet will pay a bit more for the gifts. Buying one set of the core items in each verse costs $24,431 in traditional stores this year, but $40,440 online. Part of that difference is the extra expense of shipping live birds, Dunigan said, adding that Internet costs rose 1.5 percent compared to last year.

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. checks jewelry stores, dance companies, pet stores and other sources to compile the list. Some of its sources this year include the National Aviary in Pittsburgh and the Philadelphia-based Pennsylvania Ballet Company.

This year's list:

•Partridge, $15; last year: same

•Pear tree, $189.99; last year: 169.99

•Two turtle doves, $125; last year: same

•Three French hens, $165; last year: $150

•Four calling birds (canaries), $519.96; last year: same

•Five gold rings, $750; last year: $645

•Six geese a-laying, $210; last year: $162

•Seven swans a-swimming, $7,000; last year: $6,300

•Eight maids a-milking, $58; last year: same

•Nine ladies dancing (per performance), $6,294; last year: same

•10 lords a-leaping (per performance), $4,767; last year: same

•11 pipers piping (per performance), $2,562; last year: $2,428

•12 drummers drumming (per performance), $2,776; last year: $2,630

See also:

Origins of the Twelve Days of Christmas

The Cost of Twelve Days of Christmas - 2013

Christmas Trivia: True or False?

The answers to the following can be found within the various posts on this blog, as well as below...

Holiday Names and Greetings

1. “X-mas” is an irreverent, non-Christian name for the holiday.

2. “Noel” comes from Old French, meaning “new birth”.

3. “Yule” comes from an ancient Viking celebration of the turning of the sun.

4. “Feliz Navidad” directly translated into English means “Happy Birth”.

5. “Mele Kalikimaka” is Hawaiian for “enjoy the holiday feast”.

The Nativity of Jesus

6. Modern calendar years are based on the verified year of the birth of Christ.

7. The number of visitors, known as Magi, Wise Men or Kings, was three.

8. The Wise Men, or Kings, came to see the newborn baby lying in the manger.

9. Early Christians believed Christ was born on December 25th.

10. Shepherds watched their flocks on the cold winter’s night of Christ’s birth.

The Twelve Days of Christmas
11. The Twelve Days of Christmas begin on December 13th.

12. The gifts given on each day in the song represent items at a Christmas party.

13. The “Two Turtle Doves” represented the Old and New Testaments.

14. The last two gifts were 11 lords a leaping and 12 drummers drumming.

Santa Claus

15. St. Nicholas, who preceded Santa Claus, was born in Germany in 1622.

16. Santa’s flying sleigh and reindeer originated from stories in the 1800’s.

17. Although he’s known by many names in many places, Santa is always a man.

18. Kris Kringle was the name of an early Dutch Santa Claus figure.

19. Santa Claus is largely unknown in places like Japan and China.

Reindeer

20. Rudolph’s story was a promotional creation of Montgomery Ward stores.

21. Blixen is the name of Santa’s eighth reindeer.

22. Donner, the seventh reindeer, is sometimes incorrectly called Donder.

23. The reindeer were first named in “Twas the Night Before Christmas”.

24. Instead of reindeer, in Sweden, a goat pulls Santa’s (Tomten’s) sled.

Christmas Trees

25. The custom of decorating trees for Christmas originated in Germany.

26. Before the 1500’s, Christmas trees were considered a pagan custom.

27. Martin Luther is credited with first putting candles, or lights, on the tree.

28. There is no mention of a Christmas tree in Dicken’s “A Christmas Carol.”

29. Hanging the tree upside down from the ceiling used to be popular.

Miscellaneous
30. The first Christmas card was created and sent in London in 1840.

31. The most popular selling Christmas Carol of all time is “Silent Night”.

32. Mistletoe used to be hung for enemies to meet under and call a truce.

33. Poinsettias were first brought to the U.S. from Mexico by Mr. Poinsett.

34. Christmas mince pie contained rabbit, pheasant and partridge meat.

35. “Nog” in eggnog refers to a heavy noggin (head) from drinking too much.

36. The tradition of filling stockings originated in the country of Turkey.

37. Sleigh rides with jingle bells is a favorite Christmas activity in Australia.

38. Celebrating Christmas was once outlawed in Merry Olde England.

39. Candy canes were created to keep children quiet during church services.

40. Swedish Christmas celebrates St. Lucia, who helped needy people in Italy.

Answers:

1. False. “X” comes from the Greek letter that start’s Christ’s name and represents Christ.
2. True. Oui, oui. Noel is tres French, an old word which is related to the nouvelle, meaning “new”.
3. True. The word “yule” is old Norse for wheel, meaning the wheel in the sky that turns to give more light.
4. True. “Feliz” means “happy”. “Navidad” translates to nativity, which also means birth.
5. False. It means nothing in Hawaiian. It is an attempt to spell English “Merry Christmas” using Hawaiian letters.
6. False. There is no historical verification to the year of Christ’s birth. Some scholars believe it was in 2 to 4 B.C.
7. False. Three gifts are mentioned, but no number of the visitors is given. Some believe there were 12 or more.
8. False. They arrived well after Christ was born, and most likely saw him inside a home in a regular bed.
9. False. No exact date was known. When Romans became Christian, the Dec. 25th date replaced a pagan holiday.
10. False. Shepherds were not in the fields with their flocks during winter. This most likely occurred in the spring.
11. False. They start on Christmas Day, Dec. 25th, and last until Jan. 6th, the Eastern Orthodox Christmas Day.
12. True. In Old England, a party was held on “12th Night”. All the gifts were represented through food or fun.
13. True. The gifts and numbers were created to represent / disguise gospel principles for early persecuted believers.
14. False. There are 10 lords a leaping, not 11. Correct answer: 11 pipers piping, 12 drummers drumming.
15. False. St. Nicholas was born in Asia Minor, now known as Turkey, sometime during the 3rd Century.
16. False. The idea originated from early legends of Viking gods flying through the skies on animal-pulled sleighs.
17. False. In Italy, the gift giver is an old woman known as La Befana. In parts of Russia, she is known as Babushka.
18. False. Kris Kringle is an Americanization of the German gift giver “Christ-kindl”, or “Christ Child”.
19. False. Santa Claus has become a popular holiday figure in both Japan and China, not necessarily for Christmas.
20. True. It was a 1939 promotional gimmick given to those who did Christmas shopping at Montgomery Ward.
21. False. The name of the eighth reindeer is spelled Blitzen, not Blixen.
22. False. The original text of “Twas the Night Before Christmas” spells the seventh reindeer’s name as Donder.
23. True. “Twas the Night Before Christmas” by Clement C. Moore was the first text that named the eight reindeer.
24. True. Although many reindeer are in Northern Sweden, Tomten rides a sled through the forest pulled by a goat.
25. False. The Germans adapted modern tree traditions from customs of the ancient Romans and Celtic druids.
26. False. 7th Century Catholic monk St. Boniface used the indoor evergreen’s triangle shape to teach of the Godhead.
27. True. Legend claims Martin Luther first put candles on his tree, to represent the light of Christ for his children.
28. True. Christmas trees did not become popular in England until after Dickens wrote “A Christmas Carol”.
29. True. Many trees were originally hung upside down in Old Europe and in early Pennsylvania settlements.
30. True. John C. Horsley created his own card in 1840. The idea caught on, and his card was re-printed in 1843.
31. False. Although “Silent Night” is popular in many countries, Bing Crosby’s “White Christmas” is the top seller.
32. True. Used for many things, mistletoe brought people together, including those who needed to kiss and make-up.
33. True. Joel Roberts Poinsett, Ambassador to Mexico, introduced the “Holy Night Flowers” to the U.S. in 1825.
34. True. Originally, mince pie was a meat pie. Fruits and spices were later added, and then the meat was dropped.
35. False. “Nog” is another term for “grog”, which is a rum-based drink. Eggnog is sometimes served with rum.
36. True. St. Nicholas, who lived in Turkey, is claimed to have assisted the needy by leaving gold coins in stockings.
37. False. Christmas in Australia occurs during summertime. A beach barbecue is a popular Christmas Day event.
38. True. From 1645 to 1660, because of Oliver Cromwell and the Puritans, celebrating Christmas was illegal.
39. True. A Cologne Cathedral Choirmaster gave shepherds crook-shaped candy to kids during long nativity services.
40. True. Though celebrated in Sweden, Lucia’s legend began with her Christian services and martyrdom in Italy.

Correct Answers Rating:40 - Cheater, you peeked! Not even Santa knew all of these.
35 to 39 - Next in line to be Santa. How’s your “ho, ho, ho”?
30 to 34 - A true Christmas elf. Santa’s looking to promote you.
25 to 29 - On Santa’s Nice List, but you could do better.
20 to 24 - Rockin’ around the Christmas tree, but you’re missing some good stuff.
15 to 19 - You like Christmas, but your favorite holiday is Halloween, right?
10 to 14 - Christmas is coming, and you haven’t got a ha’penny. God bless you.
Less than 10 - Bah humbug. You need to pay more attention if you want more than coal in your stocking. Better watch out or you’ll get run over by a reindeer.

Ben Stein: A Jew's Confession About Christmas

The following was written by Ben Stein, an American actor, writer, lawyer, and commentator on political and economic issues.  This was recited by him on television on a CBS Sunday Morning Commentary.

My confession:

I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejewelled trees, Christmas trees. I don't feel threatened. I don't feel discriminated against. That's what they are, Christmas trees.

It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, “Merry Christmas” to me. I don't think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn't bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu. If people want a crib, it's just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away.

I don't like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don't think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians.

- Ben Stein

The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree

The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree is a large Christmas tree placed annually in Rockefeller Center in mid-town Manhattan in New York City. The tree is erected and lit in late November or early December. In recent years, the lighting has been broadcast live nationwide on NBC's Christmas in Rockefeller Center show. The tree, usually a Norway spruce 69 to 100 feet (21 to 30 m) tall, has been put up every year since 1933.

An 80-foot Norway spruce that made it through Superstorm Sandy was transformed into a beacon of shimmering glory Wednesday Nov. 28th when New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and others turned its lights on at Rockefeller Center for the 80th Christmas tree lighting. 

Officials turned on the lights just before 9 p.m. Wednesday in the 80th annual celebration. Prior to that, the tree-lighting event include performances from Rod Stewart, CeeLo Green, Scotty McCreery, Il Volo, Victoria Justice, Brooke White, Mariah Carey, Trace Adkins and Tony Bennett, along with appearances by Billy Crystal and Bette Midler.
The tree, which weighs 10 tons and is 50 feet in diameter, was loaded on a 115-foot-long flatbed truck and erected at Rockefeller Center on Wednesday, November 14. Workers then strung 45,000 lights on the branches.

The unofficial tradition began during the Depression-era construction of Rockefeller Center, when workers decorated a smaller 20 feet (6.1 m) balsam fir tree with "strings of cranberries, garlands of paper, and even a few tin cans" on Christmas Eve (December 24, 1931), as recounted by Daniel Okrent in his history of Rockefeller Center. Some accounts have the tree decorated with the tin foil ends of blasting caps. There was no Rockefeller Center Christmas tree in 1932.

The tallest Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center was a 100 feet (30 m) spruce erected on November 11, 1999.

The decorated Christmas tree remains lit at Rockefeller Center through January 6, which is the Christian feast of The Epiphany.  After its stint in the spotlight, it will be turned into lumber for Habitat for Humanity.

Christmas Gifts: Four Gifts from God

For a few moments, may we set aside the catalogs of Christmas, with their gifts of exotic description. Let’s even turn from the flowers for Mother, the special tie for Father, the cute doll, the train that whistles, the long-awaited bicycle—even the “Star Trek” books and videos—and direct our thoughts to those God-given gifts that endure. I have chosen from a long list just four:

1. The gift of birth.
2. The gift of peace.
3. The gift of love.
4. The gift of life eternal.

First, the gift of birth. It has been universally bestowed on each of us. Ours was the divine privilege to depart our heavenly home to tabernacle in the flesh and to demonstrate by our lives our worthiness and qualifications to one day return to Him, precious loved ones, and a kingdom called celestial. Our mothers and our fathers bestowed this marvelous gift on us. Ours is the responsibility to show our gratitude by the actions of our lives.

Second, the gift of peace. In the raucous world in which we live, the din of traffic, the blaring commercials of the media, and the sheer demands placed on our time—to say nothing of the problems of the world—cause headache, inflict pain, and sap our strength to cope. The burden of sickness or the grief of mourning a loved one departed brings us to our knees seeking heavenly help. With the ancients we may wonder, “Is there no balm in Gilead?” There is a certain sadness, even hopelessness, in the verse:

There is never a life without sadness,
There is never a heart free from pain;
If one seeks in this world for true solace,
He seeks it forever in vain.

He who was burdened with sorrow and acquainted with grief speaks to every troubled heart and bestows the gift of peace. “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”

Third, the gift of love. “Master, which is the great commandment in the law?” queried the lawyer who spoke to Jesus. Came the prompt reply: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

Fourth, the gift of life—even immortality. Our Heavenly Father’s plan contains the ultimate expressions of true love. All that we hold dear, even our families, our friends, our joy, our knowledge, our testimonies, would vanish were it not for our Father and His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Among the most cherished thoughts and writings in this world is the divine statement of truth: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

- by Thomas S. Monson

Santa Claus and Grandma

I remember my first Christmas adventure with Grandma. I was just a kid. I remember tearing across town on my bike to visit her on the day my big sister dropped the bomb: "There is no Santa Claus," she jeered. "Even dummies know that!"

My Grandma was not the gushy kind, never had been. I fled to her that day because I knew she would be straight with me. I knew Grandma always told the truth, and I knew that the truth always went down a whole lot easier when swallowed with one of her "world-famous" cinnamon buns. I knew they were world-famous, because Grandma said so. It had to be true.

Grandma was home, and the buns were still warm. Between bites, I told her everything. She was ready for me. "No Santa Claus?" she snorted......"Ridiculous! Don't believe it. That rumor has been going around for years, and it makes me mad, plain mad!!! Now, put on your coat, and let's go."

"Go? Go where, Grandma?" I asked. I hadn't even finished my second world-famous cinnamon bun. "Where" turned out to be Kerby's General Store, the one store in town that had a little bit of just about everything. As we walked through its doors, Grandma handed me ten dollars. That was a bundle in those days. "Take this money," she said, "and buy something for someone who needs it. I'll wait for you in the car." Then she turned and walked out of Kerby's.

I was only eight years old. I'd often gone shopping with my mother, but never had I shopped for anything all by myself. The store seemed big and crowded, full of people scrambling to finish their Christmas shopping.

For a few moments I just stood there, confused, clutching that ten-dollar bill, wondering what to buy, and who on earth to buy it for.

I thought of everybody I knew: my family, my friends, my neighbors, the kids at school, the people who went to my church.

I was just about thought out, when I suddenly thought of Bobby Decker. He was a kid with bad breath and messy hair, and he sat right behind me in Mrs. Pollock's grade-two class. Bobby Decker didn't have a coat. I knew that because he never went out to recess during the winter. His mother always wrote a note, telling the teacher that he had a cough, but all we kids knew that Bobby Decker didn't have a cough; he didn't have a good coat. I fingered the ten-dollar bill with growing excitement. I would buy Bobby Decker a coat!

I settled on a red corduroy one that had a hood to it. It looked real warm, and he would like that.

"Is this a Christmas present for someone?" the lady behind the counter asked kindly, as I laid my ten dollars down. "Yes, ma'am," I replied shyly. "It's for Bobby."
The nice lady smiled at me, as I told her about how Bobby really needed a good winter coat. I didn't get any change, but she put the coat in a bag, smiled again, and wished me a Merry Christmas.

That evening, Grandma helped me wrap the coat (a little tag fell out of the coat, and Grandma tucked it in her Bible) in Christmas paper and ribbons and wrote, "To Bobby, From Santa Claus" on it. Grandma said that Santa always insisted on secrecy. Then she drove me over to Bobby Decker's house, explaining as we went that I was now and forever officially, one of Santa's helpers. Grandma parked down the street from Bobby's house, and she and I crept noiselessly and hid in the bushes by his front walk. Then Grandma gave me a nudge. "All right, Santa Claus," she whispered, "get going."

I took a deep breath, dashed for his front door, threw the present down on his step, pounded his door and flew back to the safety of the bushes and Grandma. Together we waited breathlessly in the darkness for the front door to open. Finally it did, and there stood Bobby.

Fifty years haven't dimmed the thrill of those moments spent shivering, beside my Grandma, in Bobby Decker's bushes. That night, I realized that those awful rumors about Santa Claus were just what Grandma said they were - ridiculous. Santa was alive and well, and we were on his team.

I still have the Bible, with the coat tag tucked inside: $19.95.

May you always have LOVE to share, HEALTH to spare and FRIENDS that care. And may you always believe in the magic of Santa Claus!

- Unknown

Credo at Christmas by Daniel Roselle

At Christmas time I believe the things that children do.

I believe with English children that holly placed in windows will protect our homes from evil.

I believe with Swiss children that the touch of edelweiss will charm a person with love.

I believe with Italian children that La Befana is not an ugly doll but a good fairy who will gladden the heart of all.

I believe with Greek children that coins concealed in freshly baked loaves of bread will bring good luck to anyone who finds them.

I believe with German children that the sight of a Christmas tree will lessen hostility among adults.

I believe with French children that lentils soaked and planted in a bowl will rekindle life in people who have lost hope.

I believe with Dutch children that the horse Sleipner will fly through the sky and fill the earth with joy.

I believe with Swedish children that Jultomte will come and deliver gifts to the poor as well as to the rich.

I believe with Finnish children that parties held on St. Stephen's Day will erase sorrow.

I believe with Danish children that the music of a band playing from a church tower will strengthen humankind.

I believe with Bulgarian children that sparks from a Christmas log will create warmth in human souls.

I believe with American children that the sending of Christmas cards will build friendships.

I believe with all children that there will be peace on earth.

- Daniel Roselle

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel - Mormon Tabernacle Choir

One Solitary Life - Bing Crosby

One Solitary Life

He was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman.
He grew up in another obscure village, where He worked in a carpenter shop until He was thirty.

Then, for three years He was an itinerant preacher.
He never had a family or owned a home.
He never set foot inside a big city.

He never traveled two hundred miles from the place He was born.
He never held and office or did any of the things that usually accompany greatness.
While He was still a young man, the tide of popular opinion turned against Him.
His friends deserted Him.

He was turned over to his enemies, and went through the mockery of a trial.
He was nailed to a cross between two thieves.
While He was dying, His executioners gambled for the only piece of property He had-His coat.
When He was dead, He was taken down and laid in a borrowed grave.

Two thousand years have come and gone, and today He is the central figure for much of the human race. All the armies that ever marched and all the navies that ever sailed and all the parliaments that ever sat and all the kings that ever reigned, put together, have not affected the life of man upon this earth as powerfully as this “One Solitary Life".

by Dr. James Allen Francis

Christmas Is

Christmas is
more than trees and twinkling lights, more than toys and gifts and baubles of a hundred varieties.

It is love. It is the love of the Son of God for all mankind. It reaches out beyond our power to comprehend. It is magnificent and beautiful.

It is peace. It is the peace which comforts, which sustains, which blesses all who accept it.

It is faith. It is faith in God and His Eternal Son. It is faith in His wondrous ways and message. It is faith in Him as our Redeemer and our Lord. We testify of His living reality.

We testify of the divinity of His nature. In our times of grateful meditation, we acknowledge His priceless gift to us and pledge our love and faith.

This is what Christmas is really about.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

Christmas Clips: The Polar Express

Christmas Clips: Elf

Christmas Clips: The Nutcracker Ballet

Christmas Clips: Luke 2 with Amy Grant's "Breath of Heaven"

Christmas Clips: Home Alone

Christmas Clips: "Mrs. Santa Claus", Angela Lansbury. Song 2

Christmas Clips: One Magic Christmas

Christmas Clips: The Nativity Story

Christmas Clips: Amahl & the Night Visitors - 1st Hallmark Hall of Fame

Christmas Clips: Mr. Krueger's Christmas

Christmas Clips: Little Drummer Boy

Christmas Clips: "A Christmas Story"

Christmas Clips:The Santa Clause

Christmas Clips: It's a Wonderful Life

Christmas Clips: "December 25th" - Scrooge

Christmas Clips: Muppets Christmas Carol

Christmas Clips: Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer

Christmas Clips: Frosty the Snowman

Christmas Clips: How The Grinch Stole Christmas

Christmas Clips: "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas", JudyGarland

Christmas Clips: "We Need A Little Christmas", Lucille Ball

Mormon Tabernacle Choir - Hallelujah Chorus

Handel's "Messiah"

One of the greatest works of Christmas music ever written was the celebration of our Savior in Handel's "Messiah". We all have heard the "Hallelujah Chorus", but the oratorio it comes from has so much more great music. Here's some background on the composer and his work:

Excerpt from "Handel and the Gift of Messiah", by Spencer J. Condie

George Frideric Handel seemed to have been born a musician. As a young lad in Germany, he became proficient on both the violin and the organ. After composing his first opera in Germany, he moved to Italy, the operatic center of the world, to try his hand at musical composition in the Italian style. There he achieved some success in composing operas and chamber music.

In 1711, at age 26, Handel decided to move to England, where his operas and oratorios initially gained acceptance. By the late 1730s, however, British audiences had become less enthusiastic about operas sung in German or Italian; instead, they favored comedic performances such as The Beggar’s Opera. Thus, for several years Handel struggled to keep the wolves—his creditors—away from the door.

In 1737, after pushing himself to his physical limits by composing four operas within 12 months, the 52-year-old composer suffered a stroke, leaving his right arm temporarily paralyzed. A doctor told Handel’s faithful secretary: “We may save the man—but the musician is lost forever. It seems to me that his brain has been permanently injured.”

The composer defied the diagnosis. Over time his body responded to treatment in the thermal springs at Aix-la-Chapelle (Aachen, Germany), and he recovered his physical strength. After testing his ability to play the organ at a nearby cathedral, he jubilantly proclaimed, “I have come back from Hades.”

When he returned to London and resumed composing operas, his work was not well received, and creditors began to hound him again. In the depths of despondency, he began to wonder, “Why did God permit my resurrection, only to allow my fellow-men to bury me again?” In April 1741 Handel held what he assumed would be a farewell concert. His creativity was spent. A biographer wrote: “There was nothing to begin or to finish. Handel was faced with emptiness.”

Late one August afternoon that same year, Handel returned from a long and tiring walk to find that a poet and previous collaborator, Charles Jennens, had left him a manuscript. This libretto quoted liberally from the scriptures, particularly the words of Isaiah, foretelling the birth of Jesus Christ and describing His ministry, Crucifixion, and Resurrection. The work was to be an oratorio. Given his previous failures, Handel was apprehensive as he began to read through the text.

“Comfort Ye,” the first words of the manuscript, seemed to leap from the page. They dissipated dark clouds that had been pressing upon Handel for so long. His depression waned and his emotions warmed from interest to excitement as he continued to read of angelic proclamations of the Savior’s birth and of Isaiah’s prophecies of the Messiah, who would come to earth to be born as other mortal infants. A familiar melody Handel had composed earlier flooded into his mind as he read “For unto Us a Child Is Born.”

The notes distilled upon his mind faster than he could put pencil to paper as he captured the image of the loving Good Shepherd in the aria titled “He Shall Feed His Flock.” Then came the overpowering exultation reflected in the “Hallelujah Chorus,” followed by the soft, supernal testimony of “I Know That My Redeemer Liveth.” The work came to its majestic conclusion with “Worthy Is the Lamb.”

After all the music he had composed throughout his lifetime, Handel would eventually beknown worldwide for this singular work, Messiah, largely composed in just three weeks during the late summer of 1741. Upon completing his composition, he humbly acknowledged, “God has visited me.” Those who feel the touch of the Holy Spirit as they experience the overpowering testimony of Handel’s Messiah would agree.

List of Christmas Carols

There are so many new and lesser known carols that are not listed here, but I have attempted to create a fairly comprehensive listing of the better known and favorite Christmas Carols, including some lesser known. Please comment if you have some to add.

For histories on some of these carols, check out the posting dated 12/12/08.

All I Want for Christmas
Angels We Have Heard On High
Are My Ears on Straight?
Ave Maria
Away in a Manger
Believe
Blue Christmas
Breath of Heaven
Bring the Torch Jeanette, Isabella
Candlelight Carol
Carol of the Bells
C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S
Christmas Bells Are Ringing
Christmas at Our House
Christmas in Killarney
Christmas Time is Here
Christmas Is
Christmas Is Coming
Come Thou Long Expected Jesus
Coventry Carol
Cover Him, Joseph
Deck the Halls
Ding Dong Merrily on High
Do You Hear What I Hear?
Far, Far Away on Judeas Plain
Feliz Navidad
First Christmas Morning
Frosty the Snowman
From Our House to Yours
Gesu Bambino
Go Tell It On The Mountain
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
Good King Wenceslaus
Good Christian Men Rejoice
Grown Up Christmas List
Hallelujah Chorus
Happy Holiday
Hark the Herald Angels Sing
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
He’ll Be Coming Down the Chimney, Down
Here We Come A-Caroling
Here Comes Santa Claus
Hey Santa
Holly Jolly Christmas
Home for the Holidays
I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
I Saw Three Ships
I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day
I Wonder As I Wander
Il Est Ne Le Divin Enfant (French)
It Came Upon a Midnight Clear
It Must Have Been Old Santa Claus
It Must Have Been the Mistletoe
It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas
I’ll Be Home For Christmas
Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring
Jingle Bells
Jingle Bell Rock
Jolly Old St. Nicholas
Joseph Dear, Joseph Mine
Joy to the World
Let it Snow
Little Drummer Boy
Lo, How A Rose E’er Blooming
Lullay, Thou Little Tiny Child
Marshmallow World
Mary Did You Know?
Mary's Little Boy Child
Mary’s Lullaby
Masters in This Hall
Mele Kalikimaka
Merry Christmas Darling
O Come, O Come Emmanuel
O Little Town of Bethlehem
O Holy Night
O Tannenbaum (Christmas Tree)
O Come All Ye Faithful
Once in Royal David's City
Our First Christmas
Pat a Pan
Pine Cones and Holly Berries
Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree
Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer
Santa Claus is Coming to Town
Santa Baby
Santa Bring My Baby Home
Silent Night
Silver Bells
Sing We Now of Christmas
Sleigh Ride
Still, Still, Still
That Christmas Feeling
The Best Gift
The Christmas Song (Chestnuts)
The Christmas Waltz
The First Noel
The First Snowfall of the Year
The Gift
The Holly and the Ivy
The Most Wonderful Time of The Year
The Star Carol
The Twelve Days of Christmas
This Time of Year
Twas the Night Before Christmas
Up on the Housetop
We Three Kings
We Need A Little Christmas
We Are Santa’s Elves
We Wish You A Merry Christmas
What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?
What Child is This?
Where Are You Christmas?
Wexford Carol
While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks By Night
White Christmas
Winter Wonderland
With Wondering Awe

Barbra Streisand Singing "Silent Night"

Andy Williams - O Holy Night

Johnny Mathis - "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year"

Nat King cole - The Christmas Song

Josh Groban - "Believe"

Christmas in Sweden

God Jul och Gott Nytt År!
(Good Yule and Good New Year!)

Christmas in Sweden is a culturally strong event. The season of Christmas lasts a month, starting with the celebration, or procession, of Sankta Lucia on December 13th, and ending the season with "Twentieth Canute", or 20 days after Christmas on January 13th, in a final celebration.

(See previous posting on the celebration of Sankta Lucia.)

Preparations
The julgrann, or Christmas tree, is often set up and decorated following the Santa Lucia celebration. Swedish Christmas trees are often decorated with candles, apples, Swedish flags, small gnomes and straw ornaments. If the room is big enough, the tree will be set in the middle and everyone joins in a circle around it to dance and sing favorite Christmas carols.

The house may be filled with the smell of favorite yuletide baking, including pepparkakor, or gingerbread cookies, shaped round or as a heart, star, or goat and saffron breads and sweet rolls. A lighted star or candle will often be placed in the windows of Swedish homes. The advent candles, lit on the four Sundays prior to Christmas Eve, are also common in many homes.

Christmas Eve
Julafton, or Christmas Eve, is the pinnacle of the Swedish yuletide celebrations. Stores close early and families come together to celebrate. The Christmas Eve dinner is usually a smorgasbord, or buffet with julskinka, or Christmas ham, lutfisk, or dried codfish, and ptoatoes and many vegetables. Dessert involves many different kinds of sweets, including risgryngrot, a special rice porridge with an almond hidden in it. Tradition has it that the person who finds the almond in his or her bowl will marry in the coming year. Yuletide drinks include glogg, a hot and spicy wine, and julmust, a soft-drink somewhat similar to root-beer.

After Christmas Eve dinner, a friend or family member dresses up as Jul Tomten or Christmas gnome. Swedish legend says that Tomten rides through the countryside with his julklappar, or gifts, on a sled which is pulled by a goat. Tomten, wearing a white beard and dressed in furry robes, enters the home after knocking on the door and distributes gifts from his sack. Sometimes the gifts are given with a funny rhyme that hints at the contents.

Christmas Day and 2nd Day Christmas
Since the gifts were received and opened the night before, many Swedes will attend Jullotta, a special Christmas church service, held early Christmas morning. The nativity story is told and favorite hymns and carols are sung. The rest of the day is spent in celebration with the family by eating, playing games, etc. Since this is so enjoyable, Swedes have chosen to do it all over again in the celebration of 2nd Day Christmas, also an official holiday.

The Twentieth Day of Christmas
On the 13th of January, which is 20 days after Christmas Eve and one month after the Feast of St. Lucia, was designated by King Canute to be celebrated as the yuletide finale. January 13th is known as Canute's Day, or Twentieth Canute. On this day, the tree will have its final moments of glory, as everyone comes together again to dance and sing around it. Afterwards a feast or party, the tree is taken down and the holidays are officially over.

See also these posts on Swedish Christmas traditions:
http://joychristmas.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-swedish-christmas.html
http://joychristmas.blogspot.com/2009/12/christmas-around-world-sweden.html
http://joychristmas.blogspot.com/2010/12/night-time-walks-heavily-round-farm-and.html
http://joychristmas.blogspot.com/2010/12/christmas-santa-lucia-sweden.html
http://joychristmas.blogspot.com/2010/12/vitae-lux-light-of-life-lux-aurumque.html

Sankta Lucia: A Swedish Christmas Tradition

Imagine this - You're in a small town in Sweden. It is early in the morning of December 13th and darkness prevails. The streets are quiet and deserted, the houses covered in a thick layer of sparkling white snow. The wind is still, but the cold is numbing your frozen feet and fingers. There is no sign of life anywhere. Then suddenly... in the distance, the faint sounds of singing voices. As they grow louder, a shimmering of light moves between the houses.

Then the procession arrives, led by Sankta Lucia, a young woman in a white dress with a red sash. She wears a crown of lingonberry twigs and blazing candles in her long, blonde hair. Lucia is followed by her attendants, girls in white dresses holding lit candles, and the star boys in white robes and star speckled cone hats holding star wands. Everyone joins in singing the Sankta Lucia anthem:

Hark! through the darksome night sounds come a winging:
Lo! 'tis the Queen of Light joyfully singing.
Clad in her garment white, wearing her crown of light,
Sankta Lucia, Sankta Lucia!

Deep in the northern sky bright stars are beaming;
Christmas is drawing nigh, candles are gleaming.
Welcome thou vision rare, lights glowing in thy hair,
Sankta Lucia, Sankta Lucia!

Lucia and the attendants sing favorite Christmas carols, often inviting family and friends to join in the singing. Lucia then gives freely of her Christmas treats: lussekatter or sweet rolls, pepparkakor or gingerbread cookies, juice and hot drinks. Lucia and her attendants will also visit places like schools, hospitals, offices and churches.

On this dark and cold winter day, Lucia, the Queen of Light, has brought the promise that light and warmth will return to the land; a celebration of light in the middle of the deep winter darkness. The hope for light and warmth returning with the sun may be more significant in northern lands where daylight at this time of the year only lasts for a few hours around noon. A deeper religious significance of Sankta Lucia can be drawn with the promise of the greater light and hope that will return with the Son of God, whose birth is celebrated in Sweden beginning with the Sankta Lucia procession.

The Swedish Christmas season has now officially begun.

The Sankta Lucia celebration is a tradition that has been practiced in Sweden for over 400 years, originating from the story of the Italian virgin saint who was martyred. The Swedish version goes that during the early days of Christian persecution, St. Lucia risked her life to bring food to fellow Christians in hiding in unlit tunnels. She would light the way with a wreath that she wore on her head containing lit candles.

A thousand years ago, Sweden’s King Canute declared that Christmas would last an entire month beginning on December 13th, the Feast of St. Lucia to January 13th, St. Canute’s Day.

Sankta Lucia lyrics, Swedish text:
Natten går tunga fjätt, runt gård och stuva
Kring jord som soln förlätt, skuggorna ruva
Då i vårt mörka hus, stiger med tända ljus
Sankta Lucia, Sankta Lucia

Natten är stor och stum, ny hör det svingar
I alla tysta rum, sus som av vingar
Se, på vår tröskel står, vitklädd, med ljus i hår
Sankta Lucia, Sankta Lucia

Mörkret skall flykta snart ur jordens dalar
Så hon ett underbart ord till oss talar
Dagen skall åter ny stiga ur rosig sky
Sankta Lucia, Sankta Lucia

English translation of the Swedish text:
Night time walks heavily, ‘round farm and cottage
On earth that sun forgot, shadows are falling
Our dark house then grows bright, she comes with candle light
Sankta Lucia, Sankta Lucia

Though night is vast and still, hear now a new sound
In all the silent rooms, like wings are rustling
At door and dressed in white, with crown of candle light
Sankta Lucia, Sankta Lucia

Darkness will soon take flight, from all the earth
These words she speaks to us, wonderful tidings
Daytime will come again, rise in a rosy sky
Sankta Lucia, Sankta Lucia

The following photos and videos are from the Young Family Christmas Eve Sankta Lucia, 2007:





See also these posts on Sankta Lucia and Swedish Christmas traditions:

http://joychristmas.blogspot.com/2010/12/christmas-santa-lucia-sweden.html

http://joychristmas.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-swedish-christmas.html

http://joychristmas.blogspot.com/2010/12/christmas-in-sweden.html

Christmas Clip - Sankta Lucia in Sweden

Christmas Prose

Let not the useless sorrow
Pursue you night and morrow:
If e’er you hoped, hope now;
Take heart,—uncloud your faces,
And join in our embraces
Under the Holly Bough.
by Charles Mackay

Be merry all, be merry all,
With holly dress the festive hall;
Prepare the song, the feast, the ball,
To welcome merry Christmas.
by William Robert Spencer

Were earth a thousand times as fair,
Beset with gold and jewels rare,
She yet were far too poor to be,
A narrow cradle, Lord, for Thee.
by Martin Luther

We honor on His day of birth,
The Child born to bring peace on earth.
The God who was born in a stable.
from The Lord of Misrule by Norah Lofts

What can I give Him, Poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd I would bring a lamb,
If I were a wise man I would do my part
Yet what can I give Him?
Give my heart.
by Christina Rossetti

O Father, may that holy Star grow every year more bright,
And send its glorious beam afar to fill the world with light.
by William Cullen Bryant

Let's dance and sing, and make good cheer,
For Christmas comes but once a year!
- from an old ballad