Santa is NOT a Christian figure
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- Опубликовано: 21 дек 2023
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I cannot STAND the over-secularization and over-commercialization of Christmas. But I do find this story very intriguing. Apparently, the original St. Nicholas even at one point in his life lived in a cave in Bethlehem-not the same one where Jesus was born-but really close to it. The podcast Catholic Talk Show recently did an episode on this, so I will recommend listening to it for more info.
I don't think at any point in history Christmas was straightforwardly a christian holiday. It would be remarkable if the Christian holidays falling roughly round prechristian celebrations (notably Easter and Christmas) was simply coincidence. There are plenty of pagan celebrations which coincide with the winter solstice (for example Saturnalia), which appear to have been christianised as the societies celebrating them became christian. This is evident in just how many pagan influences endure to this day. The puritans even banned Christmas celebrations. The secularisation and commercialisation of the holiday just reflects the society celebrating it itself becoming increasingly secular and placing less emphasis on the overtly christian elements. It's not that secular people are introducing nonchristian elements to a christian holiday, rather they are emphasising elements already present ( lights, revelry, and gift giving, but also things like mistletoe and decoration fir trees, and indeed father christmas.) in the holiday. If you are a devoted christian, by all means, emphasise the marking of birth of Jesus in your celebration.
He mentioned Odin giving gifts to children in their boots. I didn't know that story and it is uncomfortably similar to a story attributed here to Sinterklaas (St. Nicholas) which has him throwing gold into the shoes of a three daughters because the father couldn't afford the dowries. Today children in the Netherlands still leave their shoe out for saint nick and chocolate coins are a popular shoe filling. This might be another coincidence, though it might be another example of traditions explained by way of stories attributed to saints having prechristian roots.
@@egodeosumtake note that some other denominations celebrate Christmas on other dates later in the yesr
@@HistoryEnjoyer3010 I don't want to make the mistake of assuming everyone else on the internet is American, but this sort of speaks to the weird "war on christmas" outrage they have over there about people saying happy holidays. Of course the generally given justification of being inclusive of people who celebrate Hanukah or only new years is reasonable enough. However the greetings seems perfectly christian as this time of year has a whole spread of christian holidays from advent to epiphany and orthodox Christmas. Yes different churches emphasise different holidays or use the Julian rather than the Gregorian calendar.
@@egodeosum Hanukkah is a minor Jewish holiday. Some people will lump Kwanza as a holiday at this time but it is not. The only holiday celebrated is Christmas. So saying Happy Holidays would be incorrect.
@@emrookerYeah lol, Kwanzaa is a fake holiday invented in the 1960s
After I learned Saint Nicholas slapped a man across the face in council of nicaea I could never stop seeing Santa Claus punching a guy in face while saying, "Ho ho ho."
Yes , Saint Nicholas was a cool guy.
I'm not against secular celebrations but the problem is that they are replacing celebrating the birth of Christ with commercial things. They already have black Friday and every other day of the year. Christ is born! Thanks from an Swede belonging to the Antiochian Orthodox Churchl
Perhaps claiming back what was a pagan event ...
Swede? Wow youre a light in the dark
I wish jesus always guides your path 💕
@@Horoscopephobia Thanks for your kind words and likewise. Yes, Thanks to Christ I was lucky enough to find my home.
And that is how culture works. Churches replaced Odins day of winter renewell and giving presents with the birth of Jesus and giving him 3 presents, and corporations will replace Jesus day with a old jolly man and a red coat that gives presents to good children.
Don't forget about Hallowen.
If you deny the trinity the only thing you get this Christmas is a slap from Santa.
Damn, well then…Merry Christmas to you too, I guess.
I’ll make sure to dispose of the usual giving of gifts, and instead remind my friends and relatives about how we’re all going to hell at the hands of a perpetually angry God. How inspirational.
@@newyorknewsjunkie8883 Ever heard about the legend of St. Nicholas slapping Arius? That comment was supposed to be a little joke built on that legend.
@@bobskanal My apologies for that. Merry Christmas.
''No toys for you Heretic!''
I remember being devastated as a child when I learned the truth about Santa Claus. I was really young, only 4, when I found out. Having been raised in an atheistic household, where I never heard the word, "God", or the name, "Jesus", Santa was all I had. It was a crushing loss to me. Years later, after I had my conversion to Catholicism, and had a family of my own, I was sure that they knew about God and Jesus BEFORE hearing about Santa. When they finally figured out about the Santa myth, it was not a big deal, because Jesus is the hope and joy of the season.
What convinced you of a god?
What made you convert?
@@2l84me8 I became convinced of the reality of trolls the moment the internet came into existence
@@2l84me8 So this is part of my conversion story and growing up in a family with atheist parents and grandparents.
I remember even as a child, at age four, we had just moved to a new house. I went outside and saw the crocuses coming up from the earth. I was so surprised and moved that I ran to my mother and asked her, "Mommy, what is the thing, the thing that makes everything, the thing that takes care of everything, that is everywhere in the world?" She gave me a strange look and answered, "You're talking about God, and there is no such thing". She went on for a bit about how it was just a concept and it was not true, but I just looked at her thinking that she was wrong and I couldn't talk to her about it anymore.
However, my family was atheistic. My dad was a scientist and my mom's favorite author was Jean-Paul Sartre. She would tell me that life is like a like and at the end of your life that's all there is, that line you drew. My dad would make fun of other religions, pointing out inconsistencies within them and how stupid he thought it made their worshipers After a while, I took to mocking other religions too, but part of me always had a doubt, and a curiosity about those with faith. Occasionally, I'd go to a friend's church service and I would be shocked that, according to that church, only members of that particular sect could go to Heaven. What about people who never hear of your sect? I'd ask. What about people born before this sect even existed? Or even before Christ was born? They would respond that they were just out of luck. It made me angry and sad. So, my atheism and nihilism continued.
I had some experiences going to mass on campus that led to my attending the RCIA. (The Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults) At first, it was just curiosity -- I wanted to learn more about this faith and why the people attending were so happy and seemed to have such peace. I asked if the Catholic Church teaches that only members of the Catholic Church can go to Heaven, and they said, "No, during Vatican II, in the 1960's, it was made part of the catechism of the church that as long as you have some kind of faith, and lived a good life, you could go to Heaven." As I continued studying, and attending mass,, I was drawn into it and even as I resisted, I could not. I realized that I believed in God, and I believed in Jesus. At the end of the RCIA, I was received into the Catholic faith with my Baptism, and Confirmation and received communion....not for the first time. And this is something that is worth hearing. You see, I didn't really understand that I wasn't supposed to receive communion until AFTER my Baptism. So a few weeks before the end of the RCIA, impulsively, I went up and received communion. I was pretty shocked because it was just a wafer. Afterwards I was told not to receive it again until my Baptism, and a few weeks later when I did I was amazed because it was not just a wafer, it had transformed and I felt the Spirit of the Lord enter into me in a way that I had not that first time. It was totally unexpected because no one had told me what communion would be like. It's been like that every time since I've been Baptized.
I don't know if I answered your question. I do know that about ten years after my conversion, my brother became Christian, and about 20 years after my conversion my parents said they did believe in God after all, and maybe even in Jesus, too, although they never attended any church.
@@bamboolaceway Thanks for the response.
I was the opposite: I was raised by religious parents and didn’t start questioning things until I was older.
It always struck me odd to believe that I had the “correct religion” and everyone else’s was apparently wrong.
I soon came to the realization that I
was just indoctrinated into following a faith and that I actually had no good reasons for belief. The universe seems to operate exactly how one would expect with no gods in it. Just cold indifference.
In Slovakia we actually have a pretty cool version of the christmas figures, because we get to keep Santa (kind of) and still not ruin the message of Christmas. Santa Claus, or more accordingly Saint Nicolaus has his own day (6. December). We depict him like a bishop in red and have a tradition of him leaving little bags of sweets in our shoes in the morning of that day (well, if you're not a kid you have to do it yourself). On the other hand, instead of Santa delivering the gifts on Christmas day, our story is that Baby Jesus does it. It is pretty much a cover-up for the kids but I think that it's a really nice thing to remind you what Christmas is really about, like not only is he bringing the presents but he's also coming right to your home and in your heart ❤
The same is true for Czechia. I think it's one of the nicest xmas traditions :)
Do you guys do Krampunacht or Kramuslauf on December 5th?
We kinda do the same in Mexico, still Santa it's the more popular one by a mile, a lot of family have the idea that christ its the one leaving the presents
Greetings from a Catholic from India!!! Since we have a Czech and a Slovak discussing Christmas on the same thread, here's a question I've always been wanting to ask:
Given your shared past, why do Slovaks have one of the highest adherence to Catholicism (and, therefore, Christianity) in Europe, whereas the Czechs are the least religious in the continent (I believe it is less than 25%)? What gives?
I think this is the case in a lot of catholic countries, or maybe countries with Austro-Hungarian history (I don't know, I'm not an expert), certainly in Croatia we have the same tradition. And also the Krampus 😂
I'm not sure how or when the tradition began in my Roman Catholic parish, but an actor dressed as St. Nicholas (not US Santa Claus) attends church functions. He greets children and families at Christmas time fundraisers and events. I even recall seeing him kneel and pay homage (to Jesus) at the Nativity scene inside the church in the hour before midnight mass. (The statue of the baby Jesus doesn't actually arrive until the procession at the start of mass.) I'm not sure if he was directed by the pastoral council or the Knights of Columbus or if he acted of his own accord, but I thought it was a nice gesture reinforcing the importance of our actual holiday that we celebrate as Catholics over the "fun" of the secular holiday season.
The pastor of our parish used to grow his beard long, dress as St. Nicholas an go around to all the classes, teaching the children about St. Nicholas
My Catholic church did something similar. One of our priests dressed up at St Nicholaus for the Christmas party
@@chesirecat136 How to find truth which is hidden in the plain sight?
Play with the letters and the word and you shall see that santa = satan.
Know the bible and what is written about the devil and you shall notice the same behaviour shared by santa, whom you yearly warmly welcome.
German Advent traditions:
1. Advent calendar = 24 bags or cardboard doors on a calendar for children to open with a gift (often sweets) for each day
2.Advent wreath with 4 candles and one more is lit every Sunday until Christmas
3rd St. Nicholas Day = December 6th -> put cleaned boots in front of the front door the evening before so that St. Nicholas can put something sweet (originally oranges, nuts, marzipan or chocolate) in them for the good and brave and nice children.
4th Christmas Eve = December 24th -> the Christ child brings quietly and secretly
Gifts. Usually when the children in the family are at children's church. After eating together, the presents are opened. When the children are older, we attend Christmas mass together after dinner and then open presents. On the 25th and/or 26th, the remaining relatives or friends are visited or come to visit.
Family tradition: as soon as you are an adult and have your own money/household, you no longer give (expensive) gifts* to each other. Only the children receive gifts.
* For example, a photo calendar or a self-designed photo book with the highlights of the year, or official photos of the children from the photographer or an invitation to go on vacation together, etc.
Santa deniers be like "That was your parents who slapped Arius at the Council of Nicaea."
A weird thing is that here in the Netherlands you see also pictures of Santa Claus everywhere... while we still celebrate Sinterklaas as a big, seperate happening here. So the Dutch Sinterklaas inspired the American Santa Claus and now the American Santa Claus is shown next to the Dutch Sinterklaas. Sure, Santa Claus has absolutely not the same role and status as he has in the US and Sinterklaas has here; he is more used as Christmas decoration. But still.
I love getting that big chocolate letter.
@@boink800 As a Child my dream / goal was having my name spelled out in chocolate letters. My mother gave in one year only, and gave us enough letters to do so.
In the Netherlands Saint Nick (Sint Nicholaas) is called Sinterklaas and is celebrated December 5th while the entire month of November has Sinterklaas themes. The American Santa Claus is called "de Kerstman" literally "the Christmas Man".
I'd also like to add that we as Dutch Catholics also have Sint Nicolaas as the actual Saint. So we have three versions of the Good man. Sinterklaas from Spain. The Kerstman from the North Pole and lastly Saint Nicholas from Myra, Bari and Lido... Sounds a bit like that old gameshow: Who is the real Nicholas?
Just in case a non Dutch reads this XD
It reminds me of the endearing speech Linus gave in A Charlie Brown Christmas 50 some years ago
Santa and Christmas can coexist together. One is not trying to replace the other. Every year my family does all the Christmas traditions, we attend every advent sunday mass, then the midnight mass, we pray a novena from the 16th and on Christmas morning the children open their gifts from Santa. While the image of Santa Claus has not replaced our nativity scene, he is still present in our annual traditions.
Novenas are awesome. 🇨🇴
Thank you for sharing this! I agree! It is my opinion that we as Christians need to stop waging war against Christmas as a holiday, because it is exactly the same thing that we accuse others of doing. We should absolutely speak out against the ills of the capitalism and its seemingly never-ending exploitation and commodification of religious traditions, but this isn't to say that we need to outright reject the childlike majesty and magic that more recent traditions (lights, gift-giving for children, Christmas cartoons, Santa, etc) bring to the table. Just as one can read both a non-fiction book about theology as well as a fiction book, we too can share space between theology and mythology without needing to be on the defensive. After all, if we lose sight of the childlike awe and magic, then maybe it's time we should re-visit Matthew 18:1-3. It's important to see awe and mystery in our lives, even if it's playful and quasi-fictional things like Santa and elves.
Santa should be removed from Christmas. Christmas is about celebrating the birth of Christ our savior it should be a day dedicated to Him and thanking God the Father for gifting us with Christ. Also for thanking our Blessed Mother for saying yes to God and to St. Joseph for also doing God's will not to celebrate/incorporate some fictional character that has absolutely nothing to do with the birth of our savior. We can celebrate St. Nicholas on Dec. 6th. You can give presents to kids that day or the day the 3 wisemen are celebrated. Or even on Christmas but letting them it was from you and that you are imitating the love and generosity of God the Father. Also a lie is a lie and it doesn't benefit anyone. If you are well off sure it can be great from a materialistic perspective (although it robs kids from the true meaning of Christmas) but think of the poor, those kids might be well behaved and kind children but not get anything or very little making them feel aweful. And sure life isn't fair but you shouldn't make kids believe that some fictional character is going to bring you presents because you were good when in reality it depends on your family's income, not your behavior.
@@MD-il8dlwe never tell our grandson ( and never told our kids) that his gifts depend on his behavior.
In our town, the families in need let the local parish know the ages and toy preferences of the kids they cannot afford gifts for.
That information is put on cards tied on a tree in the narthex of the church.
Their actual identities are known only to the organizers.
The parishioners pick a card for a child ( or as many as they want) and shop for the presents, returning the gifts to be wrapped and delivered to the families.
Every year every card is gone and every child gets a gift.
I know other organizations that do this,too.
If it’s the only “ magic” those kids get that year, at least they got that.😊
@@c.m.cordero1772 That's great! I don't oppose the gift giving per se as long as there isn't a lie attached to it and as long as people keep Christ at the center of Christmas and it doesn't lead to materialism. In America and other countries there is the whole naughty or nice tradition which can raise questions in children and lead to disappointment. Even without the whole naughty or nice thing it's like why would Santa or Baby Jesus(in other countries) get those kids more or better things or things they asked for but not me. It's better to be honest and just say where the gift came from and why they got X gift. Also we don't need Christmas to be assocoated with anything other Christ and his birth. I think Dec.6 or Jan. 6/the Epiphany might be better days of gift giving to Children that way Christ can actually be celebrated on Christmas and children don't associate the day with Santa or materialism.
New follower here .. thank you for this and for all the topics you have had to discuss for insights ❤
Thank you. Between Santa and the Easter bunny - I'm thinking we've headed down a wrong path, but are now convinced it's good to feel right 'because it's for the kids'.
That’s why I also like celebrating the epiphany with the character, La Befana, the Italian gift giver for the feast of the epiphany. The legend has it that she is just an old lady that was alive at the time of the birth of Christ, and when the 3 wise men were traveling they stopped at her house to ask for directions to the Christ Child. She originally declined to go with them, as she wanted to keep sweeping her house, but eventually she decided she too wanted to find the Christ Child, although she was never able to find Him. So, now on every January 6th she will leave present for every child she comes across, in hopes that it might be the Christ Child.
It’s still “ a lie!” according to some commentators here.
And she cleans the house because Mary would have been too tired to clean while recovering from childbirth. ❤
In our family, (edit: when I was a child) before we opened gifts, my mother, who passed away last February, would read from Luke 2, the Birth of Christ. We would (being on the poorer side).use bedsheets to create robes and act out the different parts (6 kids). Of Course there was only one angle and one Shepherd, and she jumped forward to the Three Wise men (played by one sibling).
However, I always loved doing that because it helped us focus on Christ first. When we were done, then Santa and the commercialization came into play.
However, she always made sure we knew what Christmas was all about first.
Edit: Some of my siblings still do this, but I admit, it been hard keeping the tradition in my home. My wife was only able to have two kids (emergency hysterectomy after birth of our second) and 11 year later (5 years ago) She almost died on Christmas, but did survive a few day more. Christmas has been difficult evee since.
Thank you for sharing your memories. I'm sorry for your loss and pray for God to wrap their souls in His divine mercy.
As someone who has experienced death in the family close to Christmas, I understand how difficult it can make things. It also can remind us that we need a Savior to come. When the world (the Northern hemisphere, anyway) is at its darkest, we remember the Light of the World coming to us. Death reminds us that we and our world are broken from sin. We need Christ, our Redeemer. It's okay for this time of year to be hard, because life is hard. We just remember at this time of year that God loved us enough to send His own Son into the darkness of the world to be our hope and salvation.
Christmas is both a religious and secular holiday. Near the darkest time of the year for the bulk of the popular north of the equator. With most farming at a stand still, people in general were trying to find a reason to have a party, as well many of the faithful wanted a reason to celebrate. The biblical text on the birth of Christ, as a passage was both entertaining, and simple enough for children and the average folks to get. As Christianity expanded and get converts from other cultures, those cultures would mix in as well. However, the secular mass appeal does draw more people to church than what usually happens, so is a good opportunity to try to get some of the lost sheep back.
Thanks for another educational video! It's fascinating how many different elements of religion and folklore were blended together to create this character. I was familiar with some of them, but not all.
It's kinda ironic that here in the Czech Republic, the most atheist country in the worlds, presents are traditionally brought by Baby Jesus...
In Colombia baby Jesus brings the gifts❤
In Brazil, where I am from. It was baby Jesus who brought presents until I was around 4. It then became Santa Claus, most likely because TV brought a lot of influence from the US. I guess the interconnectivity of the modern world makes it difficult to maintain different cultural traditions
@@zcpl1727 That's really interesting.
I always love your teaching and I learn a lot from you.
As usual amazing video... Thanks for the lesson
Great video!
Santa is used or misused😊 to sell things, but so is Jesus. Santa may be pagan, but the archetype is not necessarily about commercialism. When I play Santa, I notice that almost invariably it’s the parents who want children to ask about gifts. Children themselves are much more spiritual. They want to know about kindness and compassion. And reindeer. They always ask about reindeer.
Thank you so much for sharing this. God bless you
You missed what I think is the most problematic thing about the Santa myth: that material gifts are correlated to the goodness or naughtiness of a child.
Or, in the morality of modern capitalism, kids with rich parents are good and kids with poor parents are bad.
"material gifts are correlated to the goodness or naughtiness of a child."
That isn't problematic, its what parents do with their children anyway. Material reward for behavior is taught in scripture.
"in the morality of modern capitalism, kids with rich parents are good and kids with poor parents are bad."
No one thinks that. And capitalism is state sponsored usury.
Thank you, Father Casey. This is one of my favorite of your videos so far (I only recently discovered your channel). I was a bit off-put by the title of this one at first. I have a number of friends from high school and college, champions of "separation of church and state" (by which they mean separation of Christianity from every facet of American life), and there is no shortage of "historians" who trot out these facts every year, along with the argument that Julius I made Christmas coincide with Saturnalia, to "prove" all Christianity is a fraud. Thank you for fighting fire with fire, using the same facts to demonstrate our Faith is greater than their worldly cynicism.
The Irish keep Santa in green instead of red. I found this vid on the Russian version of Santa. They say he wears blue, his sleigh is pulled by 3 horses 🐎, makes 2 trips on X-Mas and New Years. And this was huge news to me, his granddaughter assists him. With Jesus's birthday, we always thought it was Christmas, but then people who study time and dates started saying he was really born in the autumn, and recently now its in the summer. There a planetary alignment called The Great Conjunction that happens every 20 years. But with the addition of the Star of Bethlehem (Christmas star) in between Jupiter and Saturn, that only happens once every 800 years, and was there on Jesus's day. It happened again in December 2020
The closest one to the years estimated by the majority of early Church Fathers was June 17, 2 BC, between Venus and Jupiter.
Merry Christmas
i'll be 61 next month and went to catholic school from grades 1--12. up until 5th or 6th grade we celebrated the feast day of st. nick, which is dec. 6th. we were always told to put our shoes by the entrance door of our houses and we would find candy in them in the morning. we always did, too, usually 3 or 4 small pieces of candy.
The story of King David and the prophet Nathan retold at Mass over the past few days made me think of this. Much as God said to David "you're going to build a house for me? Let me tell you what I'm going to do for you," I like to think that Jesus says to us today "you're going to bring me presents? Is it a chest filled with gold? How about I bring you the presents..."
Eight magical reindeer? Did you forget Rudolph? Lol. One of my pet peeves is when Christians mix in Santa in their nativity displays as a visiting Magi. Love your work. God bless. Merry Christmas.
If Fr. Casey doesn’t remember Rudolph the rednosed reindeer, then I don’t think he should be teaching us about Santa. Where’s Fr. Patrick?
Rudolph doesn't appear in Clement Moore's poem. The Montgomery Ward Company invented Rudolph about 100 years ago as a sales gimmick.
We definitely need to get our caribou canon straight.
great video
Fr Casey is there any RUclips channels you recommend that I can go to and watch the history of Catholic Saints?
Great! Thanks!
I cannot believe Fr. Casey is spreading misinformation! Santa doesn’t have eight reindeer! He has nine! 0:35
Well traditionally there is 8 if it is a clear night and 9 if it is a foggy night (Rudolph).
As a German living in Greece my children are familiar with Saint Nikolaus, who brings sweets and fruit on the 6th of December, Christkind (Christ child) who brings gifts on Christmas Eve with the help of angels and Saint Basil, who brings gifts on New Year's Eve.
I don't agree with the whole Santa myth, but my husband's family of origin does, which is why I had to tell my children that Santa works for Baby Jesus and that the letters have to be to Baby Jesus. Thank you very much for this video, father Casey.
Your very wrong about Odin. Odin has very little in common with Santa. Odin does have an army but it’s not elves, it’s warriors who died in battle. I don’t believe Asgard is a frozen lands nor does Huginn and Muninn tell Odin who bad and good. They inform about the world and what’s is happening. Nor does he give any gifts to children. He’s not that type of God. Odin is terrible, tricky, and knowledge seeking god. Prof Jackson Crawford has a good video showing why Odin isn’t Santa.
Was looking for this comment as well. I don't blame Fr Casey because literature is riddled with recyled misconceptions about the many so claimed pagan origins of Santa/Christmas trees/easter/etc but they don't stand any further scrutiny. Jackson Crawford indeed and Religion For Breakfast have some good videos about it
Any basic perusal of Nordic myth and legend would tell us this. I find it rather disappointing that Fr. Casey has decided to take the low road and indulge in this sort of nonsense. Even reading something like D'Aulaires' Norse Myths for kids would have disabused him of this false take.
We had a song about Santa in our school that started with:
Hangover Santa Daruu pike langta
In Spain, the ones bringing gifts to children are the three wise men that visit baby Jesus. They come on the day of the epiphany (January 6th). I may be biased, but I think it's a great way to keep the tradition close to the actual celebration of the birth of Jesus without overshadowing it.
Nowadays, however, Santa also comes to Spain
Our grandson gets a gift at Christmas from Santa and one on Epiphany from the Magi.
We double down around here.
Best Fr Casey video ever
Amén Padre!
Hes more Eastern Orthodox, which is why hes called Saint Nicolas of Myra and Saint Nicholas of Bari. I think the E.O. still has his relics, where myrhh or something has been said to ooze from his bones.
Martin Luther: let’s remove any reverence for a holy man because that too catholic.
Martin Luther: creates a pagan deity
What’s the logic?
An incredible movie i recommend Is "the man who invented Christmas" is the story of the writing of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Incredible Movie!! It set London on fire to celebrate a holiday that was not special at all to a holiday of Giving, Love, Family, Caring, generosity, tolerance'. It became a Celebration that kept gaining magnitude.
Hey, sometime Santa Claus has to throw heretics a beatdown.
It would be interesting see how this plays out. Given how society seems to moving towards a more secular mode of existence, 100 years from now, few my even celebrate the birth of Christ at all.
Ohh, that’s how you pronounce *wreath* 😅 I always thought it rhymes with „breath“ 🙈
I think one important point that was missed in this video was that Catholics need to embrace being weird. Catholics, especially in the United States, have tried to fit in and look “normal” for too long, to blend in with the Protestant majority. We should be questioning if traditions represent our faith and not be afraid of changing or getting rid of them if they do not. With all the different ways people mark events in their lives, our family has fully embraced and re-weirded our faith. For us, Saint Nicholas visits on Dec. 6, and fills our four kids stockings with chocolate gold and pickled food. They love it! Saint Nicholas is part of Advent and prepares the way for Christ. Christmas is the day Jesus is born and our kids open one of the twelve small gifts we give them to remember Christ’s birth and gifts from each other. Our Christmas morning is a lot calmer. We are not anti-Santa, but Christ focused.
Adopting pagan customs where necessary is what caused the widespread Christianisation of Europe
Good video
xmas is about a demon named KRAMPUS
What effect has the Santa myth had on the veneration of St. Nicholas?
Also, what would a Catholic Christmas look like? How would it be decorated? Would people still get presents?
Catholic Christmas starts on Christmas Eve and runs to Epiphany.
There might be presents, but would be closer to the 12 days of Christmas song.
Santa myth helps the town of Bari Italy where many people pilgrimage to see the remains of the Saint Nicholas.
In Slovakia we have tradition on st. Nicholas feast day on 6th december, that he brings sweets and fruit and we are to have clean and prepared boots for him, where he will put it at night. I also think you should put those shoes on your window from the outside. So we basically give each other bags of sweets, tangerines, peanuts etc. and I love it.
On Christmas we say baby Jesus brings gifts, no santa here.
My family lived in the German Republic of the Volga. One of them Russian Republics. The Christ Tradition was for an elder Santa would go from house to house in the village giving a small gift to the children who had been good all year. Going from house to house with Santa was a Jewish boy who gave naughty children a lump of coal. I don't know how widespread this tradition was in Europe and if anyone remembers hearing of such a tradition at their family gatherings.
Aww no, Fr. Casey now we're fighting. ( :) ) Santa is generosity, kindness, reverence, joy, and hope. BTW, nothing you said was wrong. I just like Santa and think he's good tool to highlight the spirit of giving (not getting) and spreading cheer. Maybe it's in how you roll with it. I mean.. let's not dig too deeply into the historical accuracy of Christmas anyway.. dates/symbolism, trees, mangers.. etc. It's a thorny road! Merry Christmas!
As far as I'm aware, in Norse mythology, Odin does not send out Hugin and Munin (his ravens) to find out who has been good or bad, he only sends them out to see what's happening around the world. I don't think that the character of Odin would have particularly cared enough to keep a naught and nice list, his main concern was collecting knowledge and preparing for Ragnarok.
I'm not sure if he had an army of elves or not, and I have never heard of him leaving presents for kids, but that doesn't mean that those aren't historical myths. He does have an eight legged horse, though, it's name is Sleipnir.
All that is beside the point, of course, I'm just a mythology nerd!
Yeah, he seems to be wrong about Odin.
Yeah, Odin would care about "Did you die with honor in battle?" and "Have you sacrificed to me, a human life, by the noose?"
Naughty and nice are completely irrelevant to pagan Norse morality.
I've never understood the aversion to Santa; it's always seemed clear to me that Santa is a way of introducing young children to the idea of God. A generous, omniscient figure often depicted as a bearded old man that lives in a place where no humans live, but is surrounded by willing servants (that share some human aspects but are not human) that works to reward people with material things that seemingly come from out of nowhere at the end of the year (which feels like an eternity to a small child) for the good they do throughout the year and punish wrongdoers with coal (which is primarily used as fuel for fire and often contains sulphur, a.k.a. brimstone).
Also,...the British version of Santa Claus is known as "Father Christmas". Sinterklaus is also supposed to be a cross between St. Nicholas and Odin from Norse Pagan Mythology.
I think we really should prioritize Christ and family for Christmas and tell everyone that their "Santa Claus" does not live at the North Pole but rests in peace at Bari, Italy; that doesn't refute how good man Saint Nicolas was when alive though, he's definitely an example of a Saint we can follow for moral character. Although, it might be time to have presents be labeled from family members over Santa
Yes! Kids (and adults) need to be looking forward to Christmas for the right reason which is Christ. Also lie is a lie and it benefits no one. I think about the children who are poor but well behaved who get no presents, presents of less value, or less presents than a kid with parents who have more money and might not be as well behaved or even if well behaved they should technically get the same amount of gifts and of the same value according to the Santa Clause logic. It makes those kids feel aweful.
@@MD-il8dl You know, sometimes I thing that is Santa Claus was replaced with a young lovely mother-like figure, it wouldn't make a difference
I've seen some good advice for parents who have kids in the Santa Clause believing stage, make the expensive stuff from you. That way when they return to school in January they're not boasting about some expensive gift that Santa brought them while their classmate is wondering why Santa didn't bring them something cool like that.@@MD-il8dl
Kinda makes you stop and think…..
I would like to point out that I’m 3:45 you made an over generalization on Norse culture calling them Vikings. Not all Nordic’s were Vikings, just like how not all Caribbean people were pirates. Vikings was a title not a general term for the people.
My belief in Santa ended because I got presents even when I cried, pouted, and shouted the previous year.
I started doubting when I realized the presents came in packaging as if they were bought at the local Target
Can catholics practice Hesychasm?
I watched a History Documentary about the Origin of the Santa Claus Myth and it said that the Gnome Character was called "Yule Tomtom" instead of "Nissa".
But "tomte" and "nisse" are the same thing here in Sweden, we will even call Santa's helpers "nissar" instead of elves.
I don’t know any adults who still believe in Santa.
This is a non-issue.
It’s part of the magic of Christmas for children.
We’re going to put out cookies and milk on Sunday night with our grandson.
And some carrots for the reindeer.
Childhood doesn’t last, so we’re going to enjoy every minute.
Right, it’s good to have fun.
I think we should be aware of when families raise their kids to believe in a Santa and how kids might take it when they find out that they’ve been lied to about Santa’s existence. Sometimes there’s a logical next step where they start wondering if their parents lied about God’s existence too
@@killianmiller6107 everybody wonders about God’s existence at some point or another with or without Santa.
You can’t ride your parents’ coat-tails regarding faith all your life.
Eventually you come to your own conclusions and claim your own faith…or not.
Santa doesn’t equate to God.
There’s a practical reason for the Santa thing on Christmas if you want your kid to have that magical experience for a few years.
Pretty much everyone around here sitting in the pews today had the “Santa experience” and turned out fine.
If they were like me, Santa got replaced with the understanding that your family was being nice to you and the game turned into figuring out where the gifts were being hidden. My husband never told his parents that he had figured it out because he wanted to continue to get his “ Santa present” in addition to family gifts. He was pretty peeved when his younger sister blew it for both of them by announcing SHE had figured it out.
People can parse this.
Instead of Elf on the Shelf, I've seen a new incentive where you take statues of Mary and Joseph and their donkey and place them in various spots around the house watching over as they travel the road to Bethlehem and arrive there on Christmas eve.
We used to put the wise men in some random part of the house when putting the nativity set up, so I like the moving Mary and Joseph idea.
ST. NICHOLAS PRAY FOR US ON THE BIRTH OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST 🇻🇦
Amen ✝️✡️🙏
Our Church co-opted multiple pagan celebrations and symbols and Christianized them. So having corporatism do the same seems par for the course. Humans readily give up their values for promises of something better...better or not. We want to "trade-up". Corporatists just used it against us rather than for our benefit. Santa isn't the issue. It's the human need to "trade-up".
Merry Christmas 🎄 Father Casey
May baby Jesus birth bring you peace ✌️ and joy!
Happy to be early
I knew Yule was originally a pagan festival, but I had no idea Odin was actually part of the Santa myth. Christmas is way more metal now.
My mother celebrates Jesus on Christmas not Santa. I grew up with Santa. But she is now in a healthy blend mostly because of her grandkids (not my kids)
Let's not forget/dismiss the similarities between Santa Claus and the norse God, Odin who, during the yule festival (oddly the same time of year) flew an 8 legged goat and left presents under the yule tree.
The video mentioned that too...
But that is not true.
Thanks for the video. I dislike Santa Claus. It see it as an American pop culture, highly influenced by Coca Cola advertisement (I'm not an American). And nowadays, I feel that Christmas is about Santa Claus, reindeers, snowmen.
Krampus
This is a potentially worrisome video for a Catholic to make. Rather than explain how the Church has used palimpsest* over the millennia to convert the gentiles (a.ka., us) to the worship of Jesus, it succumbs to a very protestant style cultural iconoclasm in the vein of a light weight version of Puritanism as you might on protestant radio stations this time of year where they decry Catholicism, paganism, commercialism, and non-Americanism all in the same breath. The heavy commercial focus of secular Christmas celebrations can and should be critiqued, and the misuse of Santa Claus is part of that. But it could be done in a way that restores focus to both the Christian origins of Santa in St. Nicholas and the Nativity as well as to the various folk celebrations that have little to do with modern commercialism and more to do with the celebration of the seasons and the reinforcement of the spirit of the various communities. There is a danger that the trajectory of this type of thinking will lead away from Catholicism into protestantism and take those who employ it along with it.
*Palimpsest: ideas or traditions found in communities that are being evangelized which can be reoriented in order to convey Christian ideas but which use basically right minded notions found in the original.
I am so glad you brought this up, father! When I was a kid, my father was a professional Santa, so I was always told that it was a Christian dipiction. And yet, when my mother and father told me "Santa isn't real" I was so angry it wasn't even funny. Why lie about it? Why make up a story about a fat man going down my chimney to bring me stuff? So, hence, with my kids, we didn't do Santa in my house. It wasn't until very very recently, that I even was allowing St. Nicholas day in the house because I was so determined not to lie to my kids and skew their expectations. They went through some rough stuff in school, and I'm sure when I'm older I'll hear tons about it. That said, I can die happy knowing that the one thing my kids can say is I have never lied to them. There is no Santa, no Easter Bunny and no Tooth Fairy. They still got gifts in stockings, they helped me stuff them, and they also got easter baskets for egg hunts at church. But, under no circumstances, do my kids think fake creature things are giving them gifts.
I don't mind the secular part of Christmas. Not everyone practices Christianity, not even a lot of cradle Christians. Nor do I mind the consumerism part of Christmas - America is a capitalist society and we have a consumerism-driven economy. These things don't detract from the reality that God chose to become one of us for our salvation. And if others want to knock themselves out this holiday season instead of focusing on the gift of Jesus, then God bless them. It's their loss.
In Muslim countries where figures of the prophets, which includes Jesus, cannot be depicted, Santa Claus is actually the best possible representation.
My kids still believe in Santa and i almost watched thos in the same room as them ooops
Santa Claus is more christian that modern excess make him appear. We should rediscover his root and not worry so much about deviations.
+
It does indeed seem like there are some problems with capitalism
🎄🎅🏻 so, now...I'm not a Christian figure?...why not, ask a Muslim or a Jew what they think....
If you rearrange the letters in the name “Santa” you get something quite disturbing.
I mean that's just language and a coincidence.
Looking for secret meanings in rearrangements of letter is superstition.
As Ant. You are right. It is telling us that Santa is antlike!
Santa Claus is very emblematic of how secular culture can pervert what is holy, and do so while many are unaware that it is even being done. Christmas time is not just a time to celebrate our Lord coming into this world to redeem us, it is also a cautionary tale that sometimes, even the most seemingly innocuous traditions that we append to our faith, can veer us down a wrong path.
Or we could do both 🤔
@@stopsign997
As Christians, frankly, no.
I've seen a fair number of variations of this comment here. All the pagan elements which endure in our Christmas celebrations are remnants of prechristian celebrations co-opted for the marking of the birth of Christ. As the societies christianised, so too did their festivities. Secular culture isn't actually introducing anything new , merely emphasising different elements already present in the tradition (e.g. light, gift giving and charity, revelry).
If you were to excise all the elements of the holidays which are not straightforwardly christian (which includes even when they are celebrated) it would be something wholly unrecognisable as Christmas and equally ahistorical. By all means, have that holiday, but that would be an innovation, not something originally pure rid of recent secular perversion.
@@egodeosum That is very well said.
Christmas is only a Christian holiday. Historically, Christmas wasn’t called Christmas at all until Christianity came along.
Leave Santa alone. If a symbol and a metaphor inspires kindness, generosity, and love then so be it. Don’t be rigid and cynical.
I think the Catholic Church should capitalize on a Saint
Well, I found out the Santa is fake when I was 12 years old. Anyway. what I learned.. that's word, " Santa Claus" sound like "Satan caused". is that make sense to you ??? I am SDA for 33 years after I left Catholic.
Wow! Sad but true. Sorry Claus not gonna give you any cookies or milk anymore.its mine now.
Saint Nicholas >>>>>>>>>> thr imposter santa clause
I don't see anything wrong whatsoever with "santa claus" or celebrating christmas itself. Same goes with "pAgAn" traditions combined in there aswell. It's pretty harmless and is pretty much a part of different countries cultures which I heavily respect. My grandparents are christian but does it mean that it's horrible that They don't prioritize jesus when celebrating? No besides we also have advent at the table etc and christian christmas decorations. The only thing that's actually about christmas is spending time with family and relatives. Having a wonderful time. Eating delicious food yadda yadda.
If Santa isn’t a Christian figure, then why is he so filled with joy? Checkmate.
The Devil was once an angel too
Interestingly, I was just having a conversation in which some of the European commenters were complaining that American celebrations don’t have a Krampus to scare kids into shape. lol.
Buncha Scrooges on this comment section.
If you don’t want to give presents, don’t.
But don’t throw water on other people’s festivities.
Sour attitudes are only livable if they are able to be foisted off on others.
We give presents and don't really mention Santa Claus at home to our son. We also don't go out of our way to exclude Santa from stuff. Santa visits the school? Fine. We watch Christmas movies featuring Santa? Fine. We just don't pretend that he's real. I think Santa is unavoidable, but it also baffles me that people at church ask my kid what he wants Santa to bring him for Christmas. Why do we assume everybody includes Santa?
@@angiebee2225 I think it is because it is a part of the cultural form of Christmas celebration in the contemporary West. They assume, reasonably enough, that most if not all people include Santa Claus whether they take him as literally real or simply allegorical. The movement to exclude Santa is a conscious effort to move against the currents of the cultural form.
Discovery: Biblical creation is not the creation of a material universe. The things of creation are metaphors for spiritual nature not material nature. Over time and experience Old Seers have found spiritual interpretations to be correct. Material creation is incorrect.
There now exists two distinctly opposing understandings of biblical Creation. No others are possible. The universe contains only 2 things that everything can be derived from, material nature and spiritual nature. No other interpretations are possible but these two
SAMPLE: In the beginning there was created the sprit and soul. And the soul was without knowledge and ignorance was upon the surface of the man/mind. And it was caused that he be enlightened, and man became a "living soul". This is the first knowledge. (day)
wears red, check
violates private property, check
endoctrinates children with materialism, check
promises to solve all your problems with free gifts, check
santa is karl marx in disguise.
this is a joke!
Congratulations on your 700th milestone and Saint Nicholas is 8 of Diamonds 💎💎💎💎💎💎💎💎 the Sun 😎 Card ♦️♦️♦️♦️♦️♦️♦️♦️ Merry Christmas 🎄🎁🎅 Blessings and Hugs 💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜Santa Claus replaces the BABE of Bethlehem Saint Nicholas for all points TO the BABE of Bethlehem