Why do non-Catholics say "Merry Christmas"?

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JoeyWarren

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Etymology:
Middle English Christemasse, from Old English Cristes mæsse, literally, Christ’s mass

Christmas is from the Old English words Cristes moesse, ‘the mass or festival of Christ’. The abbreviation Xmas, thought as sacrilegious by some, is entirely appropriate. The letter X (chi) is the first letter in the Greek word for Christ.

It is just amazing that Anti-Catholics invoke a phrase that is very very very Catholic! :confused:

It’s like: They like everything we are responsible for(the bible, christmas, easter) etc, etc, etc…except us. 😦

But it’s not really surprising, most of them are in an extreme state of denial about the origin and definition of the word. :eek:

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Aye, they claim it has pagan origens, when the fools would dance about, praising the return of the sun(such minute differences couldnt be detected until stonehege was created, though other devices were later used{and yes they could be detected by an obseverent observer, but not proven until said inventions inventions.}) :cool:
 
Ya know. . .This was a thought that I had often during this Advent and Christmas season. As I drove about town, I noticed one particular large Protestant church with a sign out front that read:

“Don’t take ‘Christ’ out of ‘Christmas’!”

Hmmmm. . .? Everytime I drove past that sign I would think first, “Amen,” then my mind would sadly turn to the second part of the word Christmas. Christ is the very reason we celebrate the Mass!!!

Here’s my sign:

“Don’t take the ‘Mass’ out of ‘Christmas’!”
 
The holiday means various things to different people. Many don’t attach any religious meaning to it. It has as much Christian meaning to them as a Christmas tree has pagan meaning to a Christian. It’s just a nice holiday at the solstice. I doubt many Christians attach any meaning to the fact that Christmas occurs around the solstice, although many other groups would find meaning in that.
 
It’s a tradition they’ve grown up hearing and saying without really thinking about what it means. All it means to them is that we are celebrating the birth of Jesus, and nothing else. What’s just as strange is that many Protestants have no church services on Christmas Eve or Day citing it as a “family day!” And these same good folks will put out statues of the Holy Family all through December, but wouldn’t dream of putting out a statue of any of them, not even of Jesus, at any other time. :whacky:
 
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JaneFrances:
Here’s my sign:

“Don’t take the ‘Mass’ out of ‘Christmas’!”
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I think I will print up a Window Sticker that says that!
 
It is also funny, “holiday” is a contraction for “Holy Day”.
 
It’s the morphing of traditional Christian customs that have been around for hundreds of years in the modern secular world, watered-down to make it acceptable for nominal Christians.
 
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JoeyWarren:
Etymology:
Middle English Christemasse, from Old English Cristes mæsse, literally, Christ’s mass

Christmas is from the Old English words Cristes moesse, ‘the mass or festival of Christ’. The abbreviation Xmas, thought as sacrilegious by some, is entirely appropriate. The letter X (chi) is the first letter in the Greek word for Christ.

It is just amazing that Anti-Catholics invoke a phrase that is very very very Catholic! :confused:

It’s like: They like everything we are responsible for(the bible, christmas, easter) etc, etc, etc…except us. 😦

But it’s not really surprising, most of them are in an extreme state of denial about the origin and definition of the word. :eek:

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“Non-Catholics” == “anti-Catholics” - and they do, just occasionally, have time off from thinking about the countless abominations of the Scarlet-Coloured Beast of the City of the Seven Hills 😃​

IOW - don’t let’s flatter ourselves that non-Catholics think about nothing but Catholicism every waking second ##
 
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JoeyWarren:
It’s like: They like everything we are responsible for(the bible, christmas, easter) etc, etc, etc…except us. 😦
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Oh, but we DO like you :love:

I suppose that we say “Christmas” because that’s the holiday’s name, even as we Texan Protestants, who don’t belive in transubstantiation, still enjoyed the beaches of Corpus Christi.

BTW, the original form of the motto mentioned previously is, I believe, “Keep Christ in Christmas.” So a catchy Catholic slogan might say “Keep Mass in Christmas.”

A large percentage of Protestants won’t understand it, but the Catholics who see it should enjoy it heartily.
 
Gottle of Geer said:
## “Non-Catholics” == “anti-Catholics” - and they do, just occasionally, have time off from thinking about the countless abominations of the Scarlet-Coloured Beast of the City of the Seven Hills 😃

IOW - don’t let’s flatter ourselves that non-Catholics think about nothing but Catholicism every waking second ##
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LOL!
 
Seriously?
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Yep. There are plenty of things that the secular or non-Catholic world has taken and put into use from Catholic usage.

That is also funny to think about hardcore anti-Catholics who accuse “Papists” of taking on pagan customs do the same thing by taking on “Romish” customs and words.
 
The roots of the modern secular holiday (note the irony) known as Christmas can be traced to Charles Dickens’s a Christmas Carol. He popularized the notion of celebrating Christmas as a holiday for good will toward men.

Before Dickens Christmas had not been celebrated since the arrival of the Puritians on the scene in middle 17th centuray. They view all holiday’s as decedent and therefore only celebrated penances (during hard times) and Thanksgivings (during good times).*

*This is why American Thanksgiving resembles English Christmasses of old.
 
Because it’s the name of the holiday???

Seriously I don’t think most people really think about the etymological meaning of the word. Even those who do know what it really means, most of them probably say ‘Merry Christmas’ because that’s the name of the holiday.
 
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THutch04:
Because it’s the name of the holiday???

Seriously I don’t think most people really think about the etymological meaning of the word. Even those who do know what it really means, most of them probably say ‘Merry Christmas’ because that’s the name of the holiday.
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Which is exactly what we Catholics find so ironic. You see, the origins of words and expressions do mean something to us. Since we hold to all of Sacred Tradition (passed down from Christ and his Apostles to us), and not just the Bible, they would, wouldn’t they? 😉
 
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ComradeAndrei:
That is also funny to think about hardcore anti-Catholics who accuse “Papists” of taking on pagan customs do the same thing by taking on “Romish” customs and words.
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that notion has been added to my list of apologetic arguments…
 
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Della:
Which is exactly what we Catholics find so ironic. You see, the origins of words and expressions do mean something to us. Since we hold to all of Sacred Tradition (passed down from Christ and his Apostles to us), and not just the Bible, they would, wouldn’t they? 😉
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Nothing particularly ironic. The original meanings of words change with usage. The word “Christmas” means one thing to you and another to the athiest.

Do you find it ironic that an athiest says “good-bye” which came from “God be with you?”

Does an athiest find it ironic you have a tree in your house during the solstice season because that custom came from non-Christian Germanic tribes?

In all these cases meanings have changed over the years.
 
Along that line, what apologetic value would a pagan find in the fact that Christians, who claim not to believe in Thor, still refer to the fifth day of the week as Thursday?

And don’t even GET me started on Odin’s connection to the Wednesday night prayer meeting . . .
 
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