Your Christmas Tree, will you have one this year?

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I love, love the smell of evergreen trees - pine, fir, whatever. Just love the fresh, foresty smell of nature.

I love Christmas trees and think they are a wonderful custom. However, we haven’t had one for several years, mainly because of our cats and dogs and their, shall we say, inquisitive natures.

I tend not to do much decorating, either, even though I love the decorations in other people’s homes. I myself find it depressing to later put everything away.

People in our neighborhood, and indeed the whole metro area, love to decorate early. Some houses have had lights and big blow-up snowmen on their lawns since before Thanksgiving! I never understand what the rush is. But, it sure does make the nights sparkle with all the lights. You can see why the ancients started the custom of stringing lights around - gives hope and warmth to the dark.
 
I prefer to decorate on Christmas Eve and keep the decorations up until the Baptism of the Lord. Real trees don’t do well in Southern California. 😉
 
Normally we have a live tree. This year we will be in Rome for Christmas, so no tree!! I do plan to get out the Advent wreath for my front door and the Nativity set. —KCT
 
Joe Kelley:
I prefer to decorate on Christmas Eve and keep the decorations up until the Baptism of the Lord. Real trees don’t do well in Southern California. 😉
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Ditto it all… We will just have lights up until Christmas Eve…
 
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Ana:
Was that option about worshiping the tree a joke? I mean people don’t actually worship the tree … do they?/QUOTE]

That option was meant for those who are offended about having a Christmas tree in the home. I have known some people who refuse to have a tree in their home because it detracts from Christ’s birth. That is why I put that comment in there…yet there are environmetalists who defend the cutting down of pine trees. So that option is for them too.

If you have the common sense to know that having a Christmas tree in the home DOES NOT take you away fromt he real meaning of the season, then, get your tree up and make it a remberance for the family this year.

Go with God!
Edwin
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Nope. No room for one. Plus, I’ve got a fireplace in the teeny living room. Plus, can’t afford the ten bucks for one this year, either.

Moved recently… can’t find my nativity set. It’s around somewhere. Wish I could find it.
 
Of course! We went yesterday to Indiana in the snow and rain and cut a seven footer, brought it home, and decorated it. It was our 26th tree cut from the same lot. Afterwards, we shop a little, and get something to eat. It’s a tradition with my wife and I. I broke my hip earlier this year, so I didn’t know how the sawing would go, but thank God, I did fine. We will do the same thing every year as long as I am able to do it. It may be early, but have a holy advent season, and a merry Christmas.
 
I decorated the house differently this year. Instead of one large decorated tree, I bought several sizes of smaller artificial Christmas trees. I placed these things all over the house. Some are flocked and are decorated with clear, white lights. Ledges of the china cabinets are draped with garlands resembling spruce or other type of pine tree. These garlands are decorated like I would have a large Christmas tree. I intend to put up the Nativity set in a spot everyone can see it and give it somewhat of an enviroment by surrounding it with some potted pine trees and poinsettias.
 
We always have a real “tree”. I put that in quotes because we’ve had to buy smaller (4 or 5 foot) potted Norfolk pines lately. I get all blubbery when it’s time to take the tree down (can’t stand all the dead trees by the side of the road after Christmas), so my hubby has said “no more”! We decorate the inside tree with all our ornaments, then string popcorn for the birds to eat from all our past christmas trees which are taking over our yard. Then, when Christmas is over, we lug the newest tree out to the yard and plant it. Christmas has to be the most sentimental time of the year for me…and a yard full of trees for the birds suits my nutty self just fine 🙂
 
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Edwin1961:
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Ana:
Was that option about worshiping the tree a joke? I mean people don’t actually worship the tree … do they?/QUOTE]

That option was meant for those who are offended about having a Christmas tree in the home. I have known some people who refuse to have a tree in their home because it detracts from Christ’s birth. That is why I put that comment in there…yet there are environmetalists who defend the cutting down of pine trees. So that option is for them too.

If you have the common sense to know that having a Christmas tree in the home DOES NOT take you away fromt he real meaning of the season, then, get your tree up and make it a remberance for the family this year.

Go with God!
Edwin
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I know what you’re saying about people who donot like a christmas trees, because it detracts from Christ’ birth. Besides that they will tell you that it is of pagan origin, and Jesus was not really born on Dec. 25. They totally miss the point of the joyfullness of the season. When that subject comes up I just tell them that I consider a decorated christmas tree part of the decoration to celebrate Jesus’s birth, just like peole who, for someone’s birthday will decorate the room with balloons, banners, crepe garlands, etc. Pagan customs are the farthest thing from my mind. .
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Ana:
Ummmmmm … Jesus died on a cross which came from a tree. As was aleady mentioned the evergreen points to the unchangeableness of God, the lights to Jesus being THE LIGHT. The star on the top represents the North star or the angel for the announcement.

On a practical note, it’s pretty, it’s fun and it encourages a sense of joy and togetherness in our family as a visible reminder of what a special and Holy season it is.

Personally I don’t care where it originated.Whether pagans used it inappropriately or not … who cares? .
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and :amen: to that, Ana! smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/28/28_4_9.gif

Annunciata 😃
 
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Exporter:
I do not find Christmas Trees in the Bible nor in the writings of the Early Church Fathers.

Do you think the Apostles put up Christmas trees in their geographical region? They didn’t have evergreen trees.

I am an uneducated man, so possibly someone can enlighten me about this Christmas Tree Fad.
  1. When were Christmas Trees introduced?
  2. What is the Spiritual Relavence? ( Could they be a Pagan Custom?)
  3. What is the Practical significance of a Christmas Tree.
Most certainly some of you enlightened posters can help me. Thanks.
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Well, you are probably not going to like what I have heard. According to my German teacher (who hails from Berlin), Martin Luther (according to German legend) was the first one to introduce the Christmas tree. Apparently, Luther came home one wintry night bringing a fresh cut tree to his wife and children…Not exactly inspirational stuff for us Catholics, eh? Since that is the German legend of the Christmas tree’s origins, then Exporter you are wholly within your rights as a Catholic to proudly go Christmas tree-less. 😉
 
Even when I was a single woman, living alone, I put-up and decorated a real Christmas tree. I love the feeling of sitting at night with all the lights off except for the tree lights. I love putting on ornaments that have been in our family for years. As we put the ornament on the branch, we reminisce about who gave it to us, or who made it. We have some very antique ornaments that were my great-grandmothers’ and that mean a lot.

I love the warmth of sitting with the family on Christmas Eve around the tree, Carols playing in the background, and us slowly opening our gifts. We never rush and rip, but each take turns and truly appreciate the choices we have given each other.

I always drink a Tom and Jerry next to the tree on Christmas. I don’t know if this is only a Wisconsin thing, but I only drink a Tom and Jerry on Christmas, and it is delicious.
 
Re: Martin Luther and Christmas trees, see excerpt below. If you give St. Boniface the credit, that makes it a Catholic tradition, doesn’t it? 🙂 I have a Protestant kid’s Xmas book that tells the story of the triangle shape of the Xmas tree being a symbol of the Trinity.

As an aside, I’d never heard in my 30 years of Protestant life that Martin Luther married and had children! I guess maybe because I came from the Presbyterian church (founded by John Knox).

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_tree

Like many other Christmas traditions, the universally-popular Christmas tree is derived from a fusion of Christian ideas with older pagan traditions. The custom originated in Germany. According to one legend, Saint Boniface attempted to introduce the idea of trinity to the pagan tribes using the Cone-shaped evergreen trees because of their triangular appearance. The tradition of hanging decorations (representing fruit or gifts) on the trees is very old, with some early reports coming from Germany’s upper Rhine region, **but the tradition of attaching candles is attributed to **Martin Luther. A related tradition was hanging evergreen branches throughout the home. With time, these evergreen branches gave way to garlands, vines and wreaths.
 
Oh, and we put out an advent wreath, empty nativity set stable (adding figures over time) and that’s it until the last possible day we can wait before Christmas. I like to wait until Xmas eve to get a tree, but then there are hardly any left and they are quite dry. I don’t decorate the house with other things until the last minute either. This is our first year in our own house so we never did outside lights before but the neighbors had them all up and ready to go by Thanksgiving morning! I suppose we will at least put a strand around the door to be neighborly until we can aquire some lights at the after-Christmas sales.

Trees: yes, the real thing, but we have little kids so it’s a must. 🙂 Maybe we’ll buy a live one this year since our yard is in need of some landscaping!
 
La Chiara,
A belated Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours. Thanks for your keen insight. You understood me exactly. Yes I have read/heard about “The Yule Log”, of placing a living tree on the heighest part of a new building and of course the German custom of having a decorated tree in the house. I believe the Yule Log preceded the Tree. I believe your German teacher may have embelished a bit. Didn’t the Yule Tree appear before Luther?

There is another major problem I would like to eradicate. And that is the Easter Bunny and Easter Eggs!, Bunnies do not lay eggs! What has a rabbit to do with the Resurrection of Our Lord? I spoke to a Benedictine Father about this nucience in about the year 1962. He too was disgusted with the materielistic approach to Our Most Holy Day. I believe that Easter Bunnies and Easter Eggs were thought up by some non-Catholcs in New York City to try to make money from us Catholics and the protestors.
 
According to the ancient tradition of the East, Mary Magdalene was a wealthy woman from whom Christ expelled seven “demons.” During the three years of Jesus’ ministry she helped support Him and His other disciples with her money. When almost everyone else fled, she stayed with Him at the cross. On Easter morning, she was the first to bear witness to His resurrection. She is called “Equal to the Apostles.” The Eastern tradition tells us that after the Ascension she journeyed to Rome where she was admitted to the Court of Tiberias Caesar because of her high social standing. After describing how poorly Pilate had administered justice at Jesus’ trial, she told Caesar that Jesus had risen from the dead. To help explain His resurrection she picked up an egg from the dinner table. Caesar responded that a human being could no more rise from the dead than the egg in her hand turn red. The egg turned red immediately, which is why red eggs have been exchanged at Easter for centuries in the Byzantine East.

I agree about the Easter Bunny though. It’s totally nonsensical and unfortunately St. Nicholas get placed on the same level as that character.
 
The Hidden Life said:
According to the ancient tradition of the East, Mary Magdalene was a wealthy woman from whom Christ expelled seven “demons.” During the three years of Jesus’ ministry she helped support Him and His other disciples with her money. When almost everyone else fled, she stayed with Him at the cross. On Easter morning, she was the first to bear witness to His resurrection. She is called “Equal to the Apostles.” The Eastern tradition tells us that after the Ascension she journeyed to Rome where she was admitted to the Court of Tiberias Caesar because of her high social standing. After describing how poorly Pilate had administered justice at Jesus’ trial, she told Caesar that Jesus had risen from the dead. To help explain His resurrection she picked up an egg from the dinner table. Caesar responded that a human being could no more rise from the dead than the egg in her hand turn red. The egg turned red immediately, which is why red eggs have been exchanged at Easter for centuries in the Byzantine East.

I agree about the Easter Bunny though. It’s totally nonsensical and unfortunately St. Nicholas get placed on the same level as that character.
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It is a shame that St. Nicholas is (pushed aside) in the culture today. Many people seem to misinterpet what his life was all about. Yes, the idea of ‘Santa Claus’ came from HIm but he was just as important to the Church. (I know this is getting off topic, but if someone was to start a thread about St. Nicholas, go right ahead).

As for the tree, my blue lite tree has an neat dark glow to it, as it sits in the corner. I got the idea from the tree that was decorated last year in our church. We had three trees at church, 2 white lit trees on either side of the blue lit tree int he middle. It was a unique site.
 
I’m a “Bah Humbug” this year. We’re moving a few days after Christmas, and won’t even be here for Christmas itself. The only place the Christmas decorations are going is in the moving boxes.
 
Last year, when I lived in Hawaii, I had a 6-foot potted palm tree in my home that I decorated for Christmas. In the neighborhood I now live in, nearly every home is decorated with lights, etc., and trees in the front window.

I’ll put a tree up, but it won’t be until a week or so before Christmas because I don’t have time!
 
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