Learned Christmas

 

This article, written by Joseph S. Bayana, was first published in the December 1998 issue of Universitas. Banner photo by Gareth Harper on Unsplash.

 

Everybody knows that Christmas is an annual religious festival held around the world in celebration of the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Yet, viewed from an academician’s (presumably) objective standpoint, the history and economics of Christmas and the means by which it is globally observed today transforms it into a multicultural social phenomenon. Christmas is celebrated in all the seven continents and by over 200 countries. Year in and year out, the whole world anticipates the yuletide festivities uniquely patterned to every nation’s distinctive culture.

Approximately, the total combined expenses for this season reaches trillions of dollars worldwide. The season is an economically viable annual opportunity to raise a manufacturer’s production and marketing capability to profit from the heightened purchasing power of consumers, who traditionally get bonuses and 13th month compensations during this season.

Putting Christmas “in a box” in this case, admittedly takes the fun and mystique out of the season. However, we also have to admit that Christmas cannot be deemed only a s a unique western practice of a religious custom. The end of this century and the dawn of a new millennium permits an observation of Christmas in a totally different manner. The event is no longer constrained within the beliefs of Christians alone, but shared by the majority of the modern civilized world.

But, for curiosity’s sake: why is Christmas so successful around the world? Why has Christmas not been rationalized by an empirical and systematic method to explain why it works, both socially and economically?

In my attempt to come up with a logical summation of such an event, I realized that there has not been any singular exhaustive study about Christmas as a social phenomenon. Coffee table books, yes. Analytical examination, nil.

Aware of the probability that the conclusion may make the magic and mystery disappear, I present my findings, risking the possibility that Christmas may keep me staying forever a Tiny Tim.

 

CHRISTMAS PAST

According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, the word Christmas was originally Cristes Maesse, the Mass of Christ, first found in 1038, and Cristes-messe, in 1131. During the early part of this millennium, the Dutch, French, Italian, and German languages already had specific terms pertaining to this day. Christmas is also known in Latin as Dies Natalis.

The observance of this event was first recorded in a letter by Pope Siricius (384-399) to Himerius, Bishop of Tarragond in 384 A.D. A certain priest named Chrysostom preached an important sermon celebrating the birth of Christ to unite Antioch sometime between 386 A.D. to 388 A.D. With a colleague named Arcadius, Chrysostom was also the one who brought Christmas to Constantinople from Italy, where “according to the histories,” it had been kept from the Apostolic times. Other historians argue that as early as 330 A.D. to 335 A.D., the feast was already observed by the Emperor Constantine. Another civil calendar dated December 25 and compiled in 354 A.D. marks the day as Natalis Invicti. In the Deposition Martyrum, a list of Roman or early and universally venerated martyrs, under December 25 is found VIII kal. Ian. Natus Christus in Betleem Iudae.

The date of Christmas was fixed in the fourth century when every Western Calendar assigned it for December 25. The well-known solar feast, however, of Natalis Invicti, celebrated on December 25, holds a strong sway over determining the December date.

Until the 10th century, Christmas was, according to the Pope, the beginning of the ecclesiastical year. It was Boniface VIII (1294-1303) who temporarily restored this usage.

St. Francis of Assisi in 1223 originated the crib by laicizing this custom, while the ox and the ass first appeared in a fourth century Nativity scene, as discovered in 1877 in the St. Sebastian catacombs. The earliest Noëls have been traced as early as the 11th century A.D., and the earliest Christmas carols, from the 13th century. One of the most popular airs, Adeste Fideles, goes back to the 17th century, at the earliest; however, it is surmised that the words have existed long before they were put down in writing.

St. Nicholas, and his “reformed” equivalent, Father Christmas—evolved into the present day American original, Santa Claus.

With the spread of Christianity in Europe, and then the colonization of the New World and Asia, Christmas gained wide acceptance. Likewise, its celebration expanded from being a polemically religious activity, into a social, historical, and economic phenomenon.

 

CHRISTMAS PRESENT

The premise from which the social phenomenon of Christmas may be explained is the potent global influence of the United States of America. As the world’s leading political, social, and economic power, this North American country was founded along the tenets of Christianity, the world’s largest religion. Eighty-five percent of this nation’s population profess to follow Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. Migration from the European countries at the turn of this century allowed an evolution, assimilation, and integration of multi-cultural customs and traditions, the more popular results of which are the figure of Santa Claus and rock-and-roll versions of Christmas carols.

The world’s biggest genuine democracy empowers the people to pursue the freedoms of “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” wherein the latter is heightened in its revelry during the Christmas season. This is where American global influence is most felt.

According to an article by Judith Loeck of the Deutsche Press Agentur, some $500 billion (B) worth of advertising was spent on marketing children’s food and toys in 1997. The trend in toys, which is set by the standards of America, the main consumer market worldwide, can be epitomized by the Cabbage Patch Dolls in 1984, the G.I Joe action dolls in 1986, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in 1990, and the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers in 1993-94. Eighty percent of these toys are imported, and the new division of labor assigns the manufacturing sector specifically to the Third World. South American and Southeast Asian demand for these products come in as early as February or March and are set for delivery the last quarter of the year. Video game manufacturers expect 12 million (M) players to attack the store shelves and spend $49.95 apiece. With 6,500 gift catalogs, the $40B-a-year mail-order industry primes up by late August. The company TOYS ‘R’ US, founded by Charles Lazarus, earned $2B in 1985 where 50% of their toys were sold during the Christmas holidays. This is where Christmas indirectly affects global economics: by diverting labor to other countries, where cheaper manpower is harnessed for production, while consumption, not to mention royalties, are reverted back to the U.S.

Joyce C. Hall, founder of the business that would become Hallmark Cards, would be surprised to learn that his company is worth $1.5B selling 2,500 Christmas designs to 100 countries in 20 languages. The ubiquitous network of satellite television allowed the Home Shopping Network to market more than $3M dollars worth of merchandise in one day within a Christmas season. MTV, Cable News Network, and others like HBO convey an almost totally American pattern for culture. Information technology not only permits products to be sold, but also recognize, retain, and assimilate American customs and traditions.

The business world pays $1.4B annually for gifts, two thirds of which are spent in December. It is common practice for generosity to be relayed , especially with business partners or corporate peers. It is also common knowledge that the gift-giving season takes on monumental proportions that the rush hours are redefined to conform to the annual regimen called the Christmas rush.

 

CHRISTMAS WITHIN

I admit the a 200-word article about the social phenomenon of Christmas would be too short to allow a proper evaluation. What has been presented here is circumstantial. Something that may achieve, at least, a notion of what Christmas has become in today’s society. But it is as near as I could get to satisfy my need and attempt to justify its social phenomenon. The facts and data presented are not wholly absolute or infallible. This is perhaps why my position is a “presumably objective standpoint.” The season always gets to me, and this can affect the outcome of the study. As much as I try to detach myself from it, I am part of this inescapable social phenomenon.

For how can one explain a society that condones the Irish musician Bob Geldof who helped raise millions of dollars for the starving masses in Ethiopia and Somalia with the song Do They Know It’s Christmas? and have himself knighted by the Queen for it?

Why ponder on the intents of individuals and groups who poured $50M in Salvation Army kettles during the last season, or rationalize the 30 to 90 annual ceasefires between the Philippine Army and the MILF?

But most of all, how does one evaluate the motives and consequences of the decisions of Fidel Castro who declares December 25 as Christmas Day during Pope John Paul II’s visit to Cuba last year, after nationally banning the celebration since 1969?

The conclusion therefore admits that this is a hitherto unexplainable social phenomenon because [of] the want of adequate information. Until then, this religious event is definitely for the books. After having written this, I still prefer to be “objective” and reacquire and reaffirm the knowledge that, as one who is forever a Tiny Tim, a 2000-year-old custom can and will always be attributed to the birth of the babe, Saviour, Redeemer, Our Lord Jesus Christ.#