And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. Luke 2:7.
At the release of the album, “Christmas in Harvard Square,” by the St. Paul’s Choir School, 21 boys, clad in matching red robes with white cottas and ruffs, stand in front of the Cambridge, MA, cathedral altar adorned with not one, but two, lighted evergreens, tall white tapers tied with red bows and an abundance of red poinsettias.
While the soprano voices of these lads are angelic, it is their garb that catches my eye. Oh, to be a fly on the wall in the rehearsal room when 21st century preteen and young teen boys don 16th century Elizabethan pleated collars, ruffs, for the first time. Those starched collars must be annoying, but they certainly require the young wearers to hold their heads high. Standing sentry-like, they, in clear, crystal tones, begin to sing “O Come All Ye Faithful.”
Christmas, in sound and sight. But when, given the scriptures, did red and green become the colors most associated with this holy season? The Christmas story, as found in the Gospel of Luke, speaks in earth tones. A stable and rough hewn manger surely are wooden in color, never painted. The straw, tan. The animals sharing this shelter have muted coats. Perhaps, the swaddling cloth is white as we depict these days in our nativity scenes, but more than likely, it, too, is of natural tones. After all, only the wealthy had access to dyes of many colors. Also, the blue always draping Mary’s head and shoulders in today’s nativity plays and paintings, probably is a neutral hue. Only the star, the one of a kind star, shines brilliantly.
So who declared that bright green and bright red would symbolize this holy season? Unlike Caesar's decree sending Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem, no one person ordained the colors of Christmas. Rather, they have evolved over the years to become tradition.
For centuries, women have brought evergreens into their homes, maybe even their caves, to add a bit of color, especially in the bleak midwinter. This tradition with origins in the old world, came to the new world with the settlers. Tour our national historic sites at Christmas and see that volunteers have decorated these houses in greenery from the surrounding yards. Some of the Southern sites even add a few cotton bolls for a bit color.
Songs of the greenery abound: “The Holly and the Ivy,” “Deck the Halls with boughs of holly,” O Tannebaum,” “Jesus Christ the Apple Tree.” And legends, there are many.
The Germans introduced the Christmas tree in the 16th century. Many believe that Martin Luther, inspired by the stars, added candles to this seasonal tree. When German immigrants brought their holiday tradition to the new world in the 18th century, other settlers considered it an oddity. It wasn’t until the 1890s that the general population adopted the tradition of hauling a live tree inside to celebrate the holy days. True to our nature, we Americans sought to improve the original idea. While the German tradition centered around a small tree placed on a tabletop, we stretched ours from floor to ceiling.
Wearing red robes, the boys stand in front of two lighted evergreens to sing “Jesus Christ the Apple Tree, the tree of life my soul hath seen, Laden with fruit and always green...”
And the red? It started with the holly berries. One legend declares that holly first sprang from the footsteps of Christ, and its thorny leaves and scarlet berries, like drops of blood, are symbolic of His sufferings. In northern Europe, this plant is called ‘Christ Thorn’.
The Germans used red apples as the first decorations on Christmas trees. Mexico added the poinsettia, which, according to legend, begins when a poor young girl has no present to give the Baby Jesus at the annual Christmas service. Her cousin assures her that even the smallest gift from someone who loves the Lord pleases Him. Thus, she gathers a bouquet of weeds to lay at the base of the nativity scene and suddenly, they burst into flaming red flowers - “Flores de Noche Buena - Flowers of the Holy Night.” U. S. Ambassador to Mexico, Joel Roberts Poinsett, in 1825, added this plant to his South Carolina greenhouses where he grew flowers to share with his friends and botanical gardens. While the flower bears a Latin botanical name, the plant is best known by the ambassador’s name.
Time and time again, God, who made the colors and flung them across the universe, who sent His son to live among us, sets the secular into our places of worship and claims it as His own. What God has created is good; how we use or abuse these gifts determines their value.
Clad in red robes, the boys of St. Paul’s Choir School stand in front of two lighted evergreens to sing the fourth stanza of “In the Bleak Midwinter.” 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 I can I give Him, give my heart.
2015
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