1. Christmas and Advent Symbols

2. Twelve Days of Christmas
• During the early times of Christianity, when
Christians were persecuted, this song was
used as a means of teaching the catechism to
children. Each phrase means the following…

3. Twelve Days of Christmas
My true love God
Me The Christian
Partridge in a pear tree Jesus
Two Turtle Doves The old and new testaments
Three French hens Faith, hope and love
Four calling birds The four gospels
Five gold rings The first five books of the Bible
Six geese a-laying The six days of creation
Seven swans a-swimming The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit
Eight maids a-milking The beatitudes
Nine ladies dancing The nine fruits of the Holy Spirit
Ten lords a-leaping The ten commandments
Eleven pipers piping The eleven faithful disciples
Twelve drummers drumming The twelve points of the apostle
creed

4. Mistletoe
When Christianity became widespread in Europe after the 3rd century AD, the
religious or mystical respect for the mistletoe plant was integrated to an extent into
the new religion. In some way that is not presently understood, this may have led to
the widespread custom of kissing under the mistletoe plant during the Christmas
season. The earliest documented case of kissing under the mistletoe dates from 16th
century England, a custom that was apparently very popular at that time.
It was a Cornish tradition that mistletoe was originally a fine tree from which the
wood of the cross was made, but afterwards it was been condemned to live on only
as a parasite.
According to custom, the mistletoe must not touch the ground between its cutting
and its removal as the last of Christmas greens at Candlemas it may remain hanging
through the year, often to preserve the house from lightning or fire, until it is
replaced the following Christmas Eve. The tradition has spread throughout the
English-speaking world but is largely unknown in the rest of Europe.

5. Wreaths
• Advent • Christmas
– The wreath symbolizes the • The circle of the wreath, which has
no beginning or end, symbolizes the
eternity of our souls and of eternity of God, the immortality of
God. the soul, and the everlasting life
– The purple candles signify found in Christ. Any pine cones, nuts,
penitence, reminding us that or seedpods used to decorate the
wreath also symbolize life and
Advent is a time of readying resurrection. All together, the wreath
ourselves for the second of evergreens depicts the immortality
coming of Christ. of our soul and the new, everlasting
– The rose candle is for Gaudete life promised to us through Christ,
the eternal Word of the Father, who
Sunday, a time for rejoicing. entered our world becoming true
man and who was victorious over sin
and death through His own passion,
death, and resurrection.

6. Manger Scene
• Saint Francis of Assisi is
credited with creating the
first nativity scene in 1223
(a "living" one) wanting to
promote the worship of
Christ, having been inspired
by his recent visit to the
Holy Land where he had
seen Jesus' traditional
birthplace. The scene's
popularity inspired
communities throughout
Catholic countries to stage
similar pantomimes.

7. Poinsettia
It gets its name from John Poinsett,
the first US minister (ambassador) to
Mexico who brought the plant back
to the US in 1832. The plant's use for
Christmas decor began in 16th
century Mexico, where a young girl,
the story says, was too poor to afford
gifts for Christmas. The tale She was
told by an angel to pick weeds and
place them by the altar in church.
Crimson "blossoms" sprouted from
the weeds and became beautiful
poinsettias. From the 17th century,
Franciscan friars in Mexico included
the plants in their Christmas
celebrations. The star shape is said
to represent the star of Bethlehem,
while the red color represents Jesus’
sacrifice.

8. Christmas Trees
• The evergreen tree represents everlasting life
in Christ. "The use of evergreen trees,
wreaths, and garlands to symbolize eternal
life was a custom of the ancient Egyptians,
Chinese, and Hebrews. Tree worship was
common among the pagan Europeans and
survived their conversion to Christianity in
the Scandinavian customs of decorating the
house and barn with evergreens at the New
Year to scare away the devil and of setting up
a tree for the birds during Christmastime."
• Alternatively, it is identified with the "tree of
paradise" of medieval mystery plays that
were given on Christmas Eve. In such plays,
a tree decorated with apples (to represent
the forbidden fruit in Eden) and wafers (to
represent the Eucharist and redemption) was
used as a setting for the play. Like the
manger, the Paradise tree was later placed in
homes. The apples were replaced by round
objects such as shiny red balls.

9. Holly
• The prickles on holly are
said to represent the
crown of thorns of
Christ, while the berries
represent drops of His
blood.

10. Candy Canes
• In 1670, it is believed that
a choirmaster in Cologne,
Germany wanted to keep
his young charges quiet,
so he had a local candy
maker create a treat for
them to keep busy. He
asked them to make it
shaped as a shepherd’s
crook since Jesus is the
Good Shepherd. The
white represents Jesus’
sinless purity, while the
red represents his
sacrifice.

11. Red and Green
Back in the 1300's Adam and Eve's Day
was celebrated on Christmas Eve.
Churches in those days presented a lot of
plays because most people were
illiterate. The plays were focused on
religious stories of importance to the
church and were called miracle plays. On
Adam and Eve's Day the play was called
the paradise play and portrayed what
happened in the Garden of Eden. There
wasn't an apple tree available in the
winter so they made one by tying apples
to a pine tree and it served as the tree
that bore the forbidden fruit. This pine
tree with the red apples eventually
became a tradition in all churches and
was used in their Christmas celebrations
every year.
So, green and red became the symbols of
Christmas day as well.

12. Santa Claus
Or, Saint Nicholas, was a
Greek bishop in 4th century
who had a reputation for
giving secret gifts.
One story tells of him
helping a poor man with 3
daughters for whom he had
no dowry so they could
marry and avoid a life of
poverty and sin. Nicholas is
said to have thrown bags of
money into the man’s house
so the girls would be able to
marry.

13. Gifting Giving
• Some believe it is traced
back to Saint Nicholas’
gift-giving.
• Others trace it to the
gifts given by the Magi
to the baby Jesus.

14. Stockings
• Some legends around
Saint Nicholas say that
he left gifts for children
in the socks left on the
clotheslines at night. So
we relive that on
Christmas by putting
stockings out.