The Colors of Christmas

There are several colors which are traditionally associated with Christmas. This site uses Red, Green and Gold. But why do we have them and what do the colors represent?
Most the colors and their meanings come from the western/northern european traditions and customs, when Christmas is in the middle of winter and it's dark and cold.

Green

Evergreen plants, like Holly, Ivy and Mistletoe have been used for thousands of years to decorate and brighten up buildings during the long dark winter. They also reminded people that spring would come and that winter wouldn't last forever!
The Romans would exchange evergreen branches during January as a sign of good luck. The ancient Egyptians used to bring palm branches into their houses during the mid winter festivals.
In many parts of Europe during the middle ages, Paradise plays were performed, often on Christmas Eve. They told Bible stories to people who couldn't read. The 'Paradise Tree' in the garden of eden in the play was normally a pine tree with red apples tied to it.
Now the most common use of green at Christmas are Christmas Trees.

Red

As mentioned above, an early use of red at Christmas were the apples on the paradise tree. They represented the fall of Adam in the plays.
Red is also the color of Holly berries, which is said to represent the blood of Jesus when he died on the cross.
Red is also the color of Bishops robes. These would have been worn by St. Nicholas and then also became Santa's uniform!

Gold

Gold is the color of the Sun and light - both very important in the dark winter. And both red and gold are the colors of fire that you need to keep you warm.
Gold was also one of the presents brought to the baby Jesus by one of the wise men and traditionally it's the color used to show the star that the wise men followed.
Silver is sometimes used instead of (or with) gold. But gold is a 'warmer' color.

White

White is often associated with purity and peace in western cultures. The snow of winter is also very white!
White paper wafers were also sometimes used to decorate paradise trees. The wafers represented the bread eaten during Christian Communion or Mass, when Christians remember that Jesus died for them.
White is used by most churches as the color of Christmas, when the altar is covered with a white cloth (in the Russian Orthodox Church Gold is used for Christmas).

Blue

The color blue is often associated with Mary, the mother of Jesus. In medieval times blue dye and paint was more expensive than gold! So it would only be worn by Royal families and very rich people. Mary was often painted wearing blue to show she was very important.
Blue can also represent the color of the sky and heaven.
During Advent, purple and sometimes blue is used in most churches fort he colour of the altar cloth (in the Russian Orthodox Church red is used for advent).

A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols

Perhaps the most famous carol service, is the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols from King's College in Cambridge, UK. This service takes place at 3.00pm (UK Time) on Christmas Eve and is broadcast live on BBC Radio (and all over the world).
The service was created and performed in 1880 by Edward Benson, who was the then newly appointed Bishop of Truro (in Cornwall in the UK. Bishop Benson later became the Archbishop of Canterbury.). The Service took place at 10.00pm on Christmas Eve in a large wooden building that was being used as a temporary Cathedral as the main Truro Cathedral was being rebuilt.

King's College, Cambridge Chapel by Flcherb (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

The idea travelled around the UK and became quite a popular service to hold on Christmas Eve. However, it was made very famous by the choir from King's College, Cambridge, which was reckoned to be the best Church choir in the world at the time.
The Service was first performed at King's College in 1918 as a way of the college celebrating the end of the First World War. The new college Dean, Eric Milner-White, who had been an Army Chaplain in WWI, wanted a different and more positive way of celebrating Christmas for the choir and people in the college.
In 1919 he changed the opening hymn/carol to be ‘Once in Royal David’s City’ and set the main order and structure of the lessons/readings as it still is today.

Photo used with kind permission of the Provost and Fellows of King's College, Cambridge

A service of Nine Lessons and Carols has nine Bible readings (or lessons), that tell the Christmas story, with one or two carols between each lesson. Now, famously, the opening verse of ‘Once in Royal David’s City’ (Sing along to Once in Royal David's City!) is sung by a single boy chorister (or treble) but in the early years of the service at King's College it was sung by the whole choir. Several choristers train to perform the solo, but the boy who will sing it is only told a couple of minutes before the service starts, so he can’t get too nervous!

The BBC first broadcast the service, on the radio, in 1928 and apart from 1930 it’s been broadcast every year since - even during WWII. In the early 1930s, the BBC started broadcasting the service overseas. It was first broadcasted live in the USA in 1979 where it’s presented by Michael Barone.

Photo used with kind permission of the Provost and Fellows of King's College, Cambridge

On Christmas morning, some of the boy choristers wake up and have a pillow fight with their school friends! The boy choristers leave the choir at 13 to move on to senior school, so the choir always needs new boys to sing in it. You can find out more about what life is like for choristers at King's on their Become a Chorister website.

You can find out more about the Service of Nine Lessons and Carols at King's College, Cambridge and download previous service sheets from their website.

Many churches hold their own services which follow the patten of A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols. Sometimes you also get carol services which are a combination of Nine Lessons and Carols and Carols by Candlelight! So you have Nine Lessons and Carols by Candlelight!

Some Fact behind Christmas Carols

I Saw Three Ships

The tune of this carol is a traditional English folk song and the words of this carol (of which there are several versions) were written by wandering minstrels as they travelled through the country. In the original version of the carol, the Three Ships were the ones taking the supposed skulls of the wise men to Cologne cathedral in Germany. However, since the Middle Ages, when it was first written, there have been many different lyrics with different Bible characters being on the ships. The most common lyrics used today are about Mary and Jesus travelling to Bethlehem. Sing along to I Saw Three Ships! (on a different site)

I saw three ship come sailing in,
on Christmas day on Christmas day.
I saw three ship come sailing in,
on Christmas Day in the morning.
And what was in those ships all three?
on Christmas day on Christmas day.
And what was in those ships all three?
on Christmas Day in the morning.
Our Saviour Christ and His lady,
on Christmas day on Christmas day.
Our Saviour Christ and His lady,
on Christmas Day in the morning.
And where they sailed those ships all three?
on Christmas day on Christmas day.
And where they sailed those ships all three?
on Christmas Day in the morning.
All they sailed in to Bethlehem,
on Christmas day on Christmas day.
All they sailed in to Bethlehem,
on Christmas Day in the morning.
And all the bells on earth shall ring,
on Christmas day on Christmas day.
And all the bells on earth shall ring,
on Christmas Day in the morning.
And all the angels in heaven shall sing,
on Christmas day on Christmas day.
And all the the angels in heaven shall sing,
on Christmas Day in the morning.
And all the souls on earth shall sing,
on Christmas day on Christmas day.
And all the souls on earth shall sing,
on Christmas Day in the morning.
And let us all rejoice again,
on Christmas day on Christmas day.
And let us all rejoice again,
on Christmas Day in the morning.

Good King Wenceslas

This carol was written in Victorian Britain by John Mason Neale to a traditional folk tune. It was written in the town of East Grinstead, in the county of West Sussex, at Sackville College where he was staying at the time. The story in the carol is about the King (or Duke) of Bohemia (an area in Central Europe which is now part of the Czech Republic) from over 1000 years ago, seeing peasants, on Boxing Day, from his castle and taking food and wood to them. The story in the carol was probably completely made up! In fact the real story of King Wenceslas (907-935) is rather gory!
Wenceslas' father was the Duke of Bohemia and a Christian but it's thought that his mother might have been a pagan. His father died when he was 12 and, as he was not old enough to become Duke until he was 18, his mother took control of the land as regent. During this time his grandmother, Ludmilla, took care of Wenceslas and brought him up as a Christian (she smuggled priests into the house to help teach him). It's thought that His mother had Ludmilla banished to a distant castle where she was murdered by the Queen's guards!

Wenceslas was still a Christian after this and learned to read and write, something which was unusual for even a King/Duke in those days! He had local Bishops smuggled in at night to teach him the Bible. When he reached 18, Wenceslas took control of his dukedom. He then defended Bohemia from a couple of invasions by Dukes of neighbouring regions and legend says that he banished his mother and her pagan followers from his castle.

Wenceslas put in a good education system and a successful law and order system, so the parts of the carol story about him being a kind King are certainly true!

After four years of happiness, when Wenceslas was 22, his brother Boleslav, became very jealous of Wenceslas and plotted (possibly with the pagan followers of their mother) to kill Wenceslas. Boleslav invited Wenceslas to celebrate a saint's day with him, but on the way to the Church, Wenceslas was attacked and stabbed to death by three of Boleslav's followers!

The (fictitious) story told in the song was written by a Czech poet Václav Alois Svoboda in 1847. He wrote many 'manuscripts' that tried to prove that Czech literature was much older and more developed than it really was. The poem was written in three languages, Czech, German, Latin, and was called 'Sankt Wenceslaw und Podiwin' (Saint Wenceslas and the Crocheteer). The Poem found it's way into the UK in the 19th Century where JM Neale put the translated words to the tune of a 13th century spring carol 'Tempus Adest Floridum' ('It is time for flowering') that was came from a collection of old religious songs called 'Piae Cantiones' that was published in 1582 in Sweden/Finland!
So this Christmas song has got quite a confusing story behind it!
Sing along to Good King Wenceslas! (on a different site)

ALL:
Good King Wenceslas looked out,
upon the Feast of Stephen,
when the snow lay round about,
deep and crisp and even:
brightly shone the moon that night,
though the frost was cruel,
when a poor man came in site,
gathering winter fuel.
KING:
Hither page and stand by me!
I you know it telling:
yonder man who is he,
where and what his dwelling?
PAGE:
Sir he lives a good way hence,
underneath the mountain;
right against the forest fence,
by Saint Agnes' fountain:
KING:
Bring me food and bring me wine,
bring me pine logs hither:
you and I will see him dine,
when we take them thither.
ALL:
Page and monarch forth they went,
forth they went together,
through the wild wind's loud lament,
and the bitter weather.
PAGE:
Sir the night is darker now,
and the wind grows stronger;
fails my heart - I know not how,
I can go no longer.
KING:
Mark my footsteps well my page,
follow in them boldly:
you shall find the winter's rage,
chills your blood less coldly.
ALL:
In his masters steps he trod,
where the snow lay even,
strong to do the will of God,
in the hope of Heaven:
therefore Christians all be sure,
grace and wealth possessing,
you that now will bless the poor,
shall yourselves find blessing.

Silent Night

The words of Silent Night were written by a Priest called Fr. Joseph Mohr in Mariapfarr, Austria, in 1816 and the music was added in 1818, by his school teacher friend Franz Xaver Gruber, for the Christmas service at St. Nicholas church in Oberndorf, Austria.
Fr. Mohr asked Franz Gruber to compose the melody with a guitar arrangement. It was several years later that Franz Gruber wrote an arrangement for the organ. Historians who have conducted research in recent years believe that Fr. Mohr wanted a new carol that he could play on his guitar.
There is a legend associated with the carol that says, Fr. Mohr wanted the carol to be sung by the children of the village at the midnight Christmas Eve service, as a surprise for their parents. But in the middle of practising, the organ broke and not a note would come from it! So the children had to learn the carol only accompanied by a guitar. They learnt the carol so well that they could sing it on its own without accompaniment.
However, there are no records to indicate that a children's choir was involved or that the organ was broken!

At Midnight Mass in 1818, Fr. Mohr and Franz Gruber sang each of the six verses with the church choir repeating the last two lines of each verse. Mohr set down the guitar arrangement on paper around 1820 and that is the earliest manuscript that still exists. It is displayed in the Carolino Augusteum Museum in Salzburg. There are a number of manuscripts of various 'Stille Nacht' arrangement that were written by Franz Gruber in later years.
The original words of the song were in German (and it was called 'Stille Nacht! Heilige Nacht') and translated in to English went:
Silent night, holy night,
Bethlehem sleeps, yet what light,
Floats around the heavenly pair;
Songs of angels fills the air.
Strains of heavenly peace.
It's thought that the song might have travelled around the area with an organ repairman, Karl Mauracher, who could have taken an early arrangement with him in about 1820. Then two singing families (like the 'Von Trappes' in The Sound of Music) seem to have discovered the song and performed it as part of their concerts. In December 1832, the Strasser family performed it at a concert in Leipzig. It was first performed in the USA in 1839 by the Rainer family, who sang 'Stille Nacht' at the Alexander Hamilton Monument outside Trinity Church in New York City. During this time the tune changed to the one we know and sing today!

It was translated into English in 1863 by John Freeman Young. The carol was sung during the Christmas Truce in the First World War in December 1914 as it was a song that soldiers on both sides knew!

By the time that the carol was famous, Fr Mohr had died. Franz Gruber wrote to music authorities in Berlin saying that he had composed the tune, but no one believed him and it was thought that Haydn, Mozart or Beethoven had written it! But then the 1820 manuscript was found and in the top right corner Fr Mohr had written: 'Melodie von Fr. Xav. Gruber.'.
It's now one of the most, if the the most, recorded songs in the world! I've got over 40 versions in my collection of Christmas music! Sing along to Silent Night! (on a different site)

The 12 Days of Christmas

In England, between 1558 and 1829, it was not legal for Catholics to practice their kind of Christianity in public or private. Being a Catholic was treated as a bad crime. If you even owned a Catholic Bible, you could be put in prison! Catholics were stopped from worshipping because King Henry VIII fell out with the Catholic Church and started his own 'Protestant' Church (what is now the Church of England). There were many people who were still Catholics and they worshipped in secret.
'The Twelve Days of Christmas' was written in England at the beginning of this time. Some people think that it was written to help children learn about their Catholic religion. In the carol, the days are supposed to represent special symbols and have hidden meanings, because it was illegal to have anything in writing that would indicate that you were a Catholic.

But there's no evidence that this is true and it seems most likely just to be a folk song and that the meanings were added at a later date! Also, all the symbols can be used by Protestants and other Christians! There was another song called 'A New Dial', written in 1625, which gave religious meanings to the 12 Days of Christmas, but not so people could practise their faith is secret. If you'd like to know more about this, please go to the 12 Days of Christmas page on snopes.com
The 12 Days of Christmas refer to the twelve day period that starts with Christmas day and ends on Epiphany (6th January). The song begins, On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me... The 'true love' was meant to represent God, the true love of the world. The 'me' in the carol is the Christian man or woman who receives these presents. The meanings given to the 12 Days are:

	The 'partridge in a pear tree' is Jesus who died on the cross. In ancient times a partridge was often used as mythological symbol of a divine, sacred king.
	The 'two turtle doves' are the Old and New Testaments of the Bible - another gift from God. Doves also symbolise peace.
	The 'three French hens' are faith, hope and love - the three gifts of the Holy Spirit. (See 1 Corinthians 13). The French hens can also represent God the Father, His Son Jesus and the Holy Spirit.
	The 'four calling birds' are the four Gospels in the New Testament of the Bible.
	The 'five golden rings' are the first five books of the Bible also called the Pentateuch, the Books of Moses or the Torah.
	The 'six geese a-laying' are the six days of creation.
	The 'seven swans a swimming' are the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. (See 1 Corinthians 12:8-11, Romans 12, Ephesians 4, 1 Peter 4:10-11)
	The 'eight maids a milking' are the eight beatitudes, Jesus' teachings on happiness. (See Matthew 5:3-10)
	The 'nine ladies dancing' are nine fruits of the Holy Spirit. (See Galatians 5:22)
	The 'ten lords a-leaping' are the Ten Commandments in the Bible. (See Exodus 20)
	The 'eleven pipers piping' are the eleven faithful disciples of Jesus.
	The 'twelve drummers drumming' were the twelve points of the Apostles' Creed.

How many gifts are there in total in the 12 Days of Christmas?

If you were receive all the presents in the song, you'd get 364!
Day 1 - receive 1 gift
Day 2 - receives 3 additional gifts, making 4 total gifts
Day 3 - receives 6 additional gifts, making 10 total gifts
Day 4 - receives 10 additional gifts, making 20 total gifts
Day 5 - receives 15 additional gifts, making 35 total gifts
Day 6 - receives 21 additional gifts, making 56 total gifts
Day 7 - receives 28 additional gifts, making 84 total gifts
Day 8 - receives 36 additional gifts, making 120 total gifts
Day 9 - receives 45 additional gifts, making 165 total gifts
Day 10 - receives 55 additional gifts, making 220 total gifts
Day 11 - receives 66 additional gifts, making 286 total gifts
Day 12 - receives 78 additional gifts, making 364 total gifts received.

The History Behind Christmas Carols

Carols were first sung in Europe thousands of years ago, but these were not Christmas Carols. They were pagan songs, sung at the Winter Solstice celebrations as people danced round stone circles (The word carol originally meant to dance to something). The Winter Solstice is the shortest day of the year, usually taking place around the 22nd December. The word Carol actually means dance or a song of praise and joy! Carols used to be written and sung during all four seasons, but only the tradition of singing them at Christmas has really survived.

Early Christians took over the pagan solstice celebrations for Christmas and gave people Christian songs to sing instead of pagan ones. In AD 129, a Roman Bishop said that a song called "Angel's Hymn" should be sung at a Christmas service in Rome. Another famous early Christmas Hymn was written in 760AD, by Comas of Jerusalem, for the Greek Orthodox Church. Soon after this many composers all over Europe started to write 'Christmas carols'. However, not many people liked them as they were all written and sung in Latin, a language that the normal people couldn't understand. By the time of the Middles Ages (the 1200s), most people had lost interest in celebrating Christmas altogether.
This was changed by St. Francis of Assisi when, in 1223, he started his Nativity Plays in Italy. The people in the plays sang songs or 'canticles' that told the story during the plays. Sometimes, the choruses of these new carols were in Latin; but normally they were all in a language that the people watching the play could understand and join in! The new carols spread to France, Spain, Germany and other European countries.

The earliest carol, like this, was written in 1410. Sadly only a very small fragment of it still exists. The carol was about Mary and Jesus meeting different people in Bethlehem. Most Carols from this time and the Elizabethan period are untrue stories, very loosely based on the Christmas story, about the holy family and were seen as entertaining rather than religious songs. They were usually sung in homes rather than in churches! Traveling singers or Minstrels started singing these carols and the words were changed for the local people wherever they were traveling. One carols that changed like this is 'I Saw Three Ships'.

When Oliver Cromwell and the Puritans came to power in England in 1647, the celebration of Christmas and singing carols was stopped. However, the carols survived as people still sang them in secret. Carols remained mainly unsung until Victorian times, when two men called William Sandys and Davis Gilbert collected lots of old Christmas music from villages in England.
Before carol singing in public became popular, there were sometimes official carol singers called 'Waits'. These were bands of people led by important local leaders (such as council leaders) who had the only power in the towns and villages to take money from the public (if others did this, they were sometimes charged as beggars!). They were called 'Waits' because they only sang on Christmas Eve (This was sometimes known as 'watchnight' or 'waitnight' because of the shepherds were watching their sheep when the angels appeared to them.), when the Christmas celebrations began.
Also, at this time, many orchestras and choirs were being set up in the cities of England and people wanted Christmas songs to sing, so carols once again became popular. Many new carols, such as 'Good King Wenceslas', were also written in the Victorian period.

New carols services were created and became popular, as did the custom of singing carols in the streets. Both of these customs are still popular today! One of the most popular types of Carols services are Carols by Candlelight services. At this service, the church is only lit by candlelight and it feels very Christmassy! Carols by Candlelight services are held in countries all over the world.
The most famous type of Carol Service might be a Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols, where carols and Bible readings tell the Christmas Story.

Chrismons and Chrismon Patterns and symbol

Chrismons are Christmas decorations with Christian symbols on them. They help Christians to remember that Christmas is the celebration of Jesus's birthday. They are often used on Christmas Trees in Churches and Christians homes.

They were first made by Frances Kipps Spencer at the Ascension Lutheran Church in Danville, Virginia, USA. She also thought of the word, Chrismon, which is a combination of Christ and monogram (meaning symbol). The idea quickly spread to other churches. It is traditional that Christian groups can make their own Chrismons with their favourite symbols on.

Each year a 20ft (6 metre) Christmas Tree is decorated in the Ascension Lutheran Church, as Mrs Spencer intended, and visitors come and the hear the story of Jesus explained through her original Chrismons and a few gifts from around the world.

Chrismons are traditionally coloured white and gold. White is the liturgical (or Church) colour for Christmas and symbolises that Jesus was pure and perfect. Gold symbolises His Majesty and Glory. Chrismons can be made from nearly anything, but paper and embroidered ones are the most widely used.

Below are some symbols that are common Chrismons and what they represent to Christians.
Click on a Chrismon to open a larger version which you can use as a patten to make Chrismons.

	The Cross symbolises that Christians believe Jesus Christ died for everyone on a Cross.
	The Latin Cross, also sometimes called the Roman Cross. The base of the Cross has three steps that symbolise faith, hope, and love.
	The Irish or Celtic Cross is a normal cross with a circle in the middle to symbolise eternity.
	The Triumphant Cross represents the earth with the cross on top. It symbolises Jesus is triumphant over anything we can face in the world.
	The Jerusalem Cross was worn by the crusaders going to Jerusalem, in the middle ages. It can symbolise the Four Gospels in the Bible, the spread of the Gospel to the four corners of the earth or the five wounds of Jesus when he died on the cross.
	The Eastern Cross is used by many Eastern or Orthodox Churches.
	The Furca or Upsilon Cross comes from the Greek letter Y. It is also called The Thieves' Cross from the two robbers who were crucified on each side of Jesus. It also symbolises the choice between good and evil.
	The Anchor Cross reminds Christian's that Jesus is the anchor of their faith.
	The Fish is one of the oldest Christian symbols. The letters, from the Greek word for fish (ichthus), stand for Jesus (I), Christ (X), God (Q), Son (Y), Savior (S). Some of Jesus' disciples were fishermen.
	Alpha and Omega are the first and the last letters of the Greek alphabet. Used together, they are the symbolise that Christians believe Jesus is the beginning and end of all things.
	The Chi-Rho looks like a 'P' with an 'X' on top of it. These two letters are the first two letters of the Greek word 'Christos' which means Christ.
	The Star of David, sometimes called the Star of Creation, is a symbol that Jesus was a Jew and a descendant of King David.
	A Five Pointed Star represents the five wounds of Jesus on the cross.
	The Nativity Star is the symbol of the Star of Bethlehem or Epiphany, when the Wisemen visited Jesus.
	An Eight Pointed Star represents baptism and regeneration.
	The Crown is the symbol that Jesus in King. It shows that Christians believe Jesus is ruler over heaven and the earth.
	The Shepherd's Crook or Staff remembers that Jesus sometimes called himself a shepherd. It can also represent the shepherds who were the first people told about the birth of Jesus.
	Both of these symbols represent the Christian 'Trinity' of God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. The Triquerta is made of three loops making a triangle representing the three parts of the trinity. The Trefoil (at the bottom) is three equal circles intertwined to form a whole.
	Hands in Prayer help Christians remember that they should pray to God.
	The Scroll represents the Bible.
	The Dove is the symbol of peace and the Holy Spirit. It is shown pointing down to represent the Holy Spirit that appeared as a Dove when Jesus was baptised.
	The Lamp and The Candle both represents that Christians believe Jesus in the Light of the World.
	The Shell is a symbol for baptism. It reminds Christians of the water that they are baptised in. It is also a sign of Pilgrimage, as Pilgrims to the Holy Land (Israel) would use a shell as a drinking vessel.
	The Keys are a symbol for the Church in all the world. Jesus told his friend Peter that "I will give you keys to heaven", so this means that Christians have to tell other people about Jesus.
	The Ship is also a symbol of the Church, sailing towards heaven.
	The Cup or Chalice is a symbol of the Mass, Eucharist or Communion. It also represents God's forgiveness.
	The Angel reminds Christians of the angels who told the shepherds about the birth of Jesus. It can also represent the second coming of Jesus, which the bible says will start with an Angel blowing a trumpet.
	The Lamb is a symbol for Jesus who is sometimes called 'The Lamb of God'.
	The Butterfly is a symbol for transformation and the immortal soul.
	The Heart is a symbol of love and reminds Christians that God is love.
	The Lion is a symbol for Jesus who is sometimes called 'The Lion of Judah'. Jesus is also represented as Aslan the Lion in the Chronicle of Narnia books by C S Lewis.
	The White Rose is a symbol for purity and can represent Mary.