I’m Father Greg Friedman from Franciscan Communications, with an advent Catholic treasure, just in time to help you get ready for Christmas. Do you know the religious symbolism behind our custom of the Christmas tree?
In medieval times, religious dramas called "mystery plays" sometimes featured evergreen trees decorated with apples. These were a reference to the Tree of Life from the Genesis story of the Garden of Eden.
The apple stood for the forbidden fruit eaten by Adam and Eve.
In later centuries in Germany, it became the custom at Christmas to decorate a fir tree with both apples and wafers, much like the hosts used at Mass.
These two edible decorations contrasted how one forbidden fruit brought death, and another fruit of the Earth, the consecrated bread, which is the Eucharist, brings life. As time passed, oranges were added along with apples and then brightly coloured balls. The wafers became cookies shaped like angels, animals, stars, and so on.
Lighted candles recalled Christ’s coming as the light of the world shining in the darkness. German immigrants brought this custom to America. The evergreen still fills our Christmas celebrations in our homes with its symbolism of life.
It reminds us of the hope-filled birth of the infant Jesus, the Messiah, commemorated at Christmastime in our advent Catholic treasure, the Christmas tree.
I’m Father Greg Friedman from the Franciscans.
There’s more about Catholic customs and beliefs at AmericanCatholic.org.
