Tag Archives: Christmas Tree

St. Boniface of Mainz

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The cathedral of Mainz became the ecclesiastical center north of the Alps, through the work of St. Boniface. It acquired the title of “Holy See” during the 10th century. The columnin the plaza is from the Roman period of the area; its base is adorned with small monuments to four different periods of the city’s history.

St. Boniface of Mainz was born in England and was a leading figure in the Anglo-Saxon mission to the Germanic parts of the Frankish Empire during the 8th century. He organized significant foundations of the Church in Germany and was made archbishop of Mainz by Pope Gregory III. He was martyred on June 5, AD 754, along with 52 others, and his remains were returned to Fulda, where they rest in a sarcophagus which became a site of pilgrimage. He became the patron saint of Germania, known as the “Apostle of the Germans.”

St. Boniface is said to have been killed by pagans as he was chopping down one of the sacred trees they worshipped, thinking it was sacred to Odin or Thor. Boniface was known for cutting down the sacred trees and groves to demonstrate how powerless the old pagan gods were to defend their trees. He is sometimes given credit for inventing the Christmas tree as a further demonstration that the old gods were vanquished: not only could they not prevent the Christians from chopping down the sacred trees but the Christians were able to bring the trees indoors–something no devout pagan would ever do!–and use the trees to celebrate the birth of Christ.

The cathedral in Mainz, first built shortly after St. Boniface was killed, was one of the most important medieval churches north of the Alps. Besides Rome, the diocese of Mainz is the only diocese in the world with an episcopal see that is called a Holy See (sancta sedes). The Archbishops of Mainz traditionally were primas germaniae, the substitutes of the Pope north of the Alps. During the Middle Ages, the Archbishop of Mainz also had the right to crown German kings (and queens). The crowning in Mainz awarded the monarch the kingdom of Germany, and a subsequent in Rome granted him the Holy Roman Empire (this was simply a technical distinction). Once crowned in Mainz, the monarch had claim to rule Western Europe.

During the Nazi period, the Bishop of Mainz, Albert Stohr, formed an organization to help Jews escape from Germany.

Good Yule 2017!

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Yule Holiday Scene

Yule or Yuletide (“Yule time”) was a religious festival observed by the Germanic peoples, later being absorbed into and equated with Christmas. Scholars have connected the celebration to the Wild Hunt, the god Odin and the pagan Anglo-Saxon Modranicht.

Terms with an etymological equivalent to Yule are used in the Nordic countries for Christmas with its religious rites, but also for the holidays of this season. Yule is also used to a lesser extent in English-speaking countries to refer to Christmas. Customs such as the Yule log, Yule goat, Yule boar, Yule singing, and others stem from Yule.

Yule is the modern English representative of the Old English words ġéol or ġéohol and ġéola or ġéoli, with the former indicating the 12-day festival of “Yule” (later: “Christmastime”) and the latter indicating the month of “Yule”, whereby ǽrra ġéola referred to the period before the Yule festival (December) and æftera ġéola referred to the period after Yule (January). Both words are thought to be derived from Common Germanic, and are cognate to Gothic (fruma) jiuleis and Old Norse (Icelandic and Faroese) jól (Danish and Swedish jul and Norwegian jul or jol) as well as ýlir, Estonian jõulud and Finnish joulu. The etymological pedigree of the word, however, remains uncertain, though numerous speculative attempts have been made to find Indo-European cognates outside the Germanic group, too.

The noun Yuletide is first attested from around 1475.

The word is attested in an explicitly pre-Christian context primarily in Old Norse. Among many others, the long-bearded god Odin bears the names jólfaðr (Old Norse ‘Yule father’) and jólnir (Old Norse ‘the Yule one’). In plural (Old Norse jólnar; ‘the Yule ones’) may refer to the Norse gods in general. In Old Norse poetry, the word is often employed as a synonym for ‘feast.’

“…How Lovely Are Thy Branches!”

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Our Christmas Tree at home this season (2016).

This season’s Christmas Tree in Washington Square Park (2016).

Christmas trees are among the most popular holiday customs of the modern world. Of all sizes and of many shapes, trees are set up in homes and shopping malls and store aisles to be decked with lights, tinsel, and ornaments. Children look forward to the arrival of the tree and share in its decoration. The decorated tree is the surest sign that the “holiday season” has arrived. But some disparage Christmas trees and call them little more than pagan intrusions into the Christian celebration. They cite the sacred trees of the Germanic tribes and assert that the decorated trees in modern houses are an ongoing homage to Thor, Odin, and the other gods of Valhalla. Although certain trees were considered sacred and might be decorated to celebrate certain days, no Germanic pagan would ever dream of cutting down the sacred trees or bringing them indoors. Cutting down the trees was the work of the Christian missionaries, especially St. Boniface of Mainz.

Depiction of St. Boniface cutting down Thor's Oak.

Depiction of St. Boniface cutting down Thor’s Oak.

Cutting down the holy trees was an act of desecration against the gods of Valhalla and an assertion that they were powerless to stop such a violation of their memory. When St. Boniface began to cut down Thor’s Oak, it is said that  “suddenly a great wind, as if by miracle, blew the ancient oak over. When the god did not strike him down, the people were amazed and converted to Christianity. He built a chapel dedicated to Saint Peter from its wood…”

Although the pagan Germanic celebration of the midwinter feast of Yule describes great feasting, there are no mentions of decorated trees. The “Yule logs” were ordinary trees that were cut down and brought in to be burnt, not the sacred trees. To cut down and bring the tree indoors, decorate it, and then burn it is an act specific to the newly-converted Germanic peoples to celebrate the end of the old gods and the birthday of the new.