Spruce is a world tree, a symbol of immortality and eternal life, rebirth, non-fading, health, longevity, loyalty, integrity, honesty, patience. And at the same time - a symbol of death, communication with the afterlife. The ancients believed that the trees were inhabited by spirits who needed to be propitiated with gifts. Evergreen spruce occupied a special place among the trees. On it every year, at the end of December (when the sunny year began), people hung various gifts for the spirits. The ancient Germans decorated the fir-tree with ribbons, amulets, apples, eggs; candles were lit at the foot - so they appeased the forest spirits and prayed to the gods to grant a happy year.

Tradition says that the first decorated Christmas trees appeared in Germany in the 8th century. The first mention of spruce is associated with the monk Saint Boniface, who preached a sermon on Christmas to the Druids. To convince idolaters that the oak is not a sacred tree, he cut down one of the oak trees. Falling, this oak knocked down all the trees in its path, except for the spruce. Boniface interpreted this as a miracle and exclaimed: "Let this tree be the tree of Christ."

With the arrival of the Reformation, Protestants began to "evangelize" folk customs. For the first time, decorating a Christmas tree for Christmas began in Germany in the 16th century. On Christmas Eve, the tree was installed in the church on the choir and decorated with apples. When playing scenes about Adam and Eve, she symbolized the Tree of Paradise and reminded of the tempting fruit. Over time, other decorations were added, each of which made sense. Unleavened dough cakes symbolized communion, fruits - redemption, apples - fertility, eggs - well-being and harmony, nuts - the incomprehensibility of Divine Providence. The top of the tree was decorated with an eight-pointed star in memory of the Star of Bethlehem, which showed the way to the Magi who went to bow to the newborn Savior. The bells on the tree were reminiscent of those that the shepherds hung on their sheep. Candles and lanterns were symbols of the stars and bonfires that illuminated the path of the shepherds on that Holy Night. Gradually, believers replaced spruce branches in their homes with whole trees, decorated in the above way. Martin Luther wrote: "as the eternal God was incarnated in the form of a little baby, so the eternal green spruce comes to our house in order to proclaim the joy of the Nativity of Christ."

Over time, the tradition of decorating a Christmas tree for Christmas spread throughout Western Europe.

In Russia, Peter I issued a decree in 1699, which ordered to keep chronology not from the Creation of the world, but from the Nativity of Christ, and celebrate the New Year in a European way - on January 1 (on the day of the Circumcision of the Lord, the 8th after Christmas). By the Tsar's decree, all residents of Moscow were ordered to celebrate the New Year: to light bonfires on New Year's Eve, set off fireworks, congratulate each other, decorate houses with branches of coniferous trees (pines, firs, junipers).

After the death of Peter I, they stopped erecting Christmas trees. New Year's festivities and the tradition of putting up Christmas trees were revived under Catherine II. And they began to decorate the trees only in the middle of the nineteenth century. It is believed that the first Christmas tree in St. Petersburg was arranged by the Germans who lived there. The townspeople liked this custom so much that they began to install Christmas trees in their homes. From the capital of the empire, this tradition began to spread throughout the country.

Despite the growing popularity of the Christmas tree in Russia, the attitude towards it from the very beginning was not completely unanimous. Adherents of Russian antiquity saw in the tree another Western innovation, encroaching on national identity. Already at the end of the 19th century, voices began to be heard in Russia in defense of nature and, above all, forests. The Orthodox Church has become a serious opponent of the Christmas tree as a foreign (Western, non-Orthodox) and, moreover, pagan in its origin custom. Until the 1917 revolution, the Holy Synod issued decrees prohibiting the arrangement of trees in schools and gymnasiums.

Among the peasants, the custom of decorating a Christmas tree took root with difficulty - this is due to the fact that the ancient Slavs had a spruce as a symbol of death (they buried them under the trees, covered the last path with spruce paws, decorated the graves with spruce garlands and branches). The peasants went to the forest only to buy trees for their masters or to chop them up for sale in the city.

Nevertheless, by the beginning of the 20th century, the Christmas tree was becoming a common occurrence in Russia. After 1917, the trees were preserved for several years: let us recall the paintings "Fir-tree in Sokolniki", "Fir-tree in Gorki". But in 1925, a planned struggle against religion and Orthodox holidays began, the result of which was the final cancellation of Christmas in 1929. Christmas Day has become a regular working day. Along with Christmas, the tree was canceled, already firmly intertwined with it. The Christmas tree, which the Orthodox Church once opposed, now began to be called the "priest's" custom. And then the tree "went underground": it was secretly continued to be erected for Christmas, the windows were tightly curtained.

The situation changed after IV Stalin uttered the words: "You need to live better, you need to live more fun." At the end of 1935, the tree was not so much revived as turned into a new holiday, which received a simple and clear wording: "The New Year tree is a holiday of a joyful and happy childhood in our country." Arranging Christmas trees for children of employees of institutions and industrial enterprises is becoming mandatory. The connection of the tree with Christmas was consigned to oblivion. The Christmas tree has become an attribute of the national holiday of the New Year, one of the three (along with October and May Day) major Soviet holidays. The eight-pointed star of Bethlehem at the top of the "Christmas tree" has now been replaced by a five-pointed star - the same as on the Kremlin towers.

In 1991, Christmas began to be celebrated in Russia again. January 7 was declared a non-working day. Today both Christmas and New Year are public holidays. Children and adults are still preparing for them in advance, waiting for gifts, happy meetings and the fulfillment of desires, gathering in a family and friendly circle at a festive table, under a fragrant New Year tree. And yet, for the majority of the population of the former Soviet country, New Year is still the most favorite holiday. He has overshadowed Christmas, which is a more important holiday for believers only.

It is interesting that the Orthodox Church has forgotten about its once hostile attitude towards the tree. Now green trees stand not only in the homes of believers, but also in churches during the Christmas service. And at Sunday School we take round dances around the tree and sing songs.

Thus, the tradition of decorating the tree for New Year and Christmas has ancient pagan roots and came to us from Protestants relatively recently.

Christians lived without trees for 15 centuries, and the Holy Scriptures say nothing about Christmas trees (as well as about Easter cakes, cheese Easter, painted eggs, etc.). But there are traditions that have taken root among Christians, and everyone observes them. The whole point is in our attitude to these festive traditions. If the tree and the gifts under it are in the center of our attention, and Christ is forgotten and we do nothing for Him on this day, then, perhaps, the tree itself becomes a symbol of paganism. But if the tree for us is a symbol of eternal life, the candles on it tell us that the Light - Christ has come into the world, and the gifts for the children under the tree remind us that God gave us His Son, then everything is in its place.

Pre-revolutionary children's literature is full of stories about the joy of children from the meeting with the Christmas tree. K. Lukashevich ("My Sweet Childhood"), M. Tolmacheva ("How Tasya Lived"), Nun Varvara ("Christmas - Golden Childhood"), A. Fedorov-Davydov ("Instead of a Christmas Tree") and a lot others. Everyone knows and

0 RU Christmas is one of the brightest and cleanest days of the year. Long-awaited days that always bring joy and fun to both children and adults. A Christmas tree is decorated in every home on these happy days. The tradition connects the emergence of the custom of putting a fir tree in houses on the feast of the Nativity of Christ with the name of the apostle of Germany, St. Boniface (+ June 5, 754). Preaching among the pagans and telling them about the Nativity of Christ, he cut down an oak dedicated to Thor, the god of thunder, to show the pagans how powerless their gods were. The oak fell down and knocked down several trees, except for the spruce.

0 RU As a result, the Christmas tree was erased from the face of the Russian land: it was replaced by a "New Year tree" - which has nothing to do with Christmas. Decades have passed. Millions of children again saw the guiding star of Bethlehem over the decorated Christmas tree. And under it is the Divine Infant, Who was born in order for the spiritual night to end for us. Let's hope that by the grace of God this tradition will come back and wherever Orthodox people are, Christmas will be celebrated with our traditional Christmas tree!

Then Bonifatius called the spruce the tree of the Christ Child. The first written source mentioning the decoration of a Christmas tree dates back to 1561. As the chronicler wrote, “for Christmas, Christmas trees are set up in houses here, and roses made of colored paper, apples, cookies, sugar cubes and tinsel are hung on their branches”. This custom soon passed on to the German neighbors, and then spread throughout Europe. About 200 years ago, magnificent beauties began to be regularly installed in the royal and royal palaces of France, Germany, England, Norway, Denmark and Russia. The Christmas tree became ubiquitous in Europe only in the 19th century. In Russia, Peter the Great tried to introduce this custom for the first time, however, not at Christmas, but at New Year. But the new tradition took root with difficulty. The tradition of putting up a Christmas tree, but not a New Year tree, but a Christmas tree, returned to Russia only in the 20s of the 19th century. Although at first it was rather private than public - in the houses of St. Petersburg Germans. Paying tribute to national customs, a small Christmas tree was placed here in the center of the table, candles, sweets, gingerbread, and nuts were attached to the branches. The royal family was no exception in this sense: on the initiative of Alexandra Feodorovna, the wife of Emperor Nicholas I, in 1819 a Christmas tree was first set up in the Anichkov Palace. Three years later, this wonderful tradition has become universal. First, dazzling lights on a slender green beauty were lit in the premises of the Catherine (now Moscow) railway station in St. Petersburg, and by the end of the 19th century, the tree became the main decoration of city and village houses everywhere (at Christmas, because the New Year was just a natural continuation of the Christmas holidays) ... With the beginning of the persecution of Orthodoxy, the Christmas tree also fell out of favor. In the 20th century, Christmas trees “existed” until 1918. As a symbol of Christmas, the bow was banned for as long as 17 (!) Years. Only in 1935 was the first New Year's party for children organized - of course, with a new semantic coloring: a festive New Year ... Russian Orthodox people; especially in those areas where the Soviet government needed to eliminate all spiritual

HOLIDAY TREE - CHRISTMAS OR NEW YEAR

The history of the "Russian tree" is interesting and instructive. R Christmas tree in modern understanding, that is, how whole decorated tree, fixed in St. Petersburg in the homes of German Protestants at the beginningXIXcentury (decree of PeterIof December 20, 1699 on the celebration of the New Year has no direct relation to her). The first Orthodox the house where the tree was installed was, apparently, the Winter Palace: with In the 1830s, the evergreen beauty amused the family of Emperor Nicholas I and his guests. The first official message about her appeared in the "Northern Bee" on the eve of 1840: the newspaper wrote about the Christmas trees being sold "charmingly decorated and decorated with lanterns, garlands, wreaths". “By the middle of the 19th century, German custom had become firmly established in the life of the Russian capital. The Christmas tree is becoming quite common for a resident of St. Petersburg. "

Not everyone approved of the innovation! Thus, the famous St. Petersburg Archpriest Ioann Polisadov (+ 1886) in one of his sermons, angrily denouncing the "renovationists", called the custom of arranging a Christmas tree for children "completely ridiculous, purely German, or, more precisely, some kind of pagan, completely indecent to Christ's holiday, pure nonsense. " I wonder what he would have said to our Patriarch Kirill, having found him doing this “pagan” and “indecent” deed - the consecration of the country's main Christmas tree for children ?! A good lesson for modern "zealots" who are hostile to any "foreign innovations". At the same time, without the slightest retrospective glance, it is argued that everything seems to be our rituals and traditions (after all, people quickly get used to the new) - "primordially Orthodox", ascending almost to Christ and the apostles! But let us turn to the situation formulated by the subtitle.

It is well known that one cannot serve two masters and sit on two chairs. If our Orthodox "zealots" seriously reject the astronomically and symbolically unconditional day of Christmas - December 25 according to the Gregorian calendar, then they should be consistent to the end and ignore the so-called "civil New Year". But in our temples seriously(and not hypocritically!) are serving the New Year's prayer on the evening of December 31. And His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II congratulated the Russians on the onset of the third millennium on December 31, 2000 and wished them Happy New Year on December 31 according to the Gregorian calendar (and not January 13, on the eve of the folkloric "Old New Year")!

This dichotomy initially deprives Rozhdestvenskaya tree of all-Russian missionary status. It is well known that, banned by the communists in the twenties of the last century, the tree was "rethought" and returned by them in 1935 as secular and only New Year's. Inevitably, the New Year and the ceremonial of this only permitted winter holiday took over all the merry Christmas rituals - a decorated Christmas tree, festivities, fairs, carols, and exchange of gifts. And now many conservative Orthodox Christians, who live according to the principle of "man for the Sabbath," do not recognize NS tons of celebrations during Lent (it is easy to imagine what it is like for their poor children when New Year's "lights" are held in kindergartens and schools and gifts with sweets are handed out!). In such a situation, blessing first the "state" and all-Russian New Year tree in the Kremlin and throughout the country, and then the Orthodox (more private) Christmas tree, the Church makes a compromise. Is he justified?

But imagine that everything returned to normal, and the Nativity of Christ, like earlier, Celebrated before , but not after New Year. Then December 25 becomes a public holiday and a day off. After the solemn Christmas service, His Holiness the Patriarch consecrates in the Kremlin not the “communist” one that falls on fasting, but the traditional Christian Christmas tree. (Thus, the question of the second tree, "New Year", disappears by itself!) neutral the status of an important chronological milestone, but it loses the sacred halo imposed on it. Schoolchildren begin their Christmas holidays, and from the New Year, adults also join them on a completely legal basis (according to the decree of the State Duma on New Year's holidays). Orthodox Christians finally equalize in rights with other citizens, and can go with children to winter resorts with a pure heart or spend Christmas days, depending on their wealth and desire. And after the feast of the Holy Epiphany (Baptism of the Lord), January 6 - as in old Russia! - everyone will return to work.

"Saturday for a person or a person for Saturday?" Authoritative the answer to this question was given a long time ago, but "for some reason" not all Christians agree with it. Elementary common sense or "human concept", as Mother Schweigentil optimistically assured in Thomas Mann, "always has enough for everything!" Let's hope that we are not completely devoid of this valuable quality. Although sometimes, to be honest, belief in this almost disappears.

Notes (edit)

The sketch about the Christmas tree is borrowed from the book: Ruban Yu. From Christmas to Meeting. Holidays of the Christmas cycle / Scientific ed. prof. archim. Iannuariy (Ivliev). SPb .: Kolo, 2015 .-- S. 96-99.

Quoted by: Dushechkina E.V... Russian tree. History, mythology, literature. ... SPb., 2012 .-- P. 54.

In the same place. - S. 63.

Cit. on: Bulgakov S.V. Handbook for clergymen. M., 1993.T. 1.. - P. 526, approx. 1.

There is such a popular legend: when Christ was born, trees brought him gifts, an apple tree - apples, cherry - cherries. Only the tree did not approach and cried quietly, fearing to prick the Baby. But He took pity on her, an orphan, and gave her toys and sweets, which is why today she is adorned. In addition to this romantic one, there are several versions of the appearance of the Christmas tree as the main Christmas tree.

The first information about the Christmas tree as a symbol of Christian Christmas is found in the story of the missionary work of Saint Boniface, the apostle of Germany. In the 6th century, the apostle, telling the pagans about the Nativity of Christ, cut down an oak dedicated to Thor, the god of thunder. Saint Boniface only wanted to show the impotence of pagan idols. But the oak, falling, knocked down all the trees around, except for the spruce. Since then, according to folk legend, the spruce has become the main Christmas tree among the Germanic tribes of Central Europe.

The second (also German) version refers to 1513: according to it, Martin Luther, the head of the Reformation in Western Europe, proved to be a reformer not only in matters of faith. According to popular legend, during an evening walk on Christmas Eve, Luther, amazed by the beauty of a winter forest covered with sparkling snow, cut down one of the trees, which turned out to be a Christmas tree, and brought it to his house. Before Luther's innovation, the Germans put in their homes a wooden structure in the form of a pyramid, under which gifts were placed.

Having appeared in Central Europe in the 16th century, the tree gradually began to enter other European homes, but it was not until the end of the 17th century that it began to be installed everywhere. Christmas trees were brought to America by German settlers, in Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Greece and Albania, they appeared only after the Second World War. These conifers even penetrated into Muslim countries (Iran and Morocco), where only a small part of the population celebrated Christmas. In Turkey, in the 1930s, Christians were prohibited from installing a Christmas tree at Christmas by a government decree: the refusal was motivated by "fear of harming nature."

In Russia, the tradition of putting up Christmas trees at Christmas dates back to the time of Peter I. Prior to that, the nativity scene was also a symbol of Christmas, which also came from Europe. Among the decrees regulating different aspects of the life of all estates, Peter I also issued a decree to put “decorations from pine and spruce trees on the noble and driveable streets at the gates and houses, in the manner of foreign customs”. However, at first, the tree did not take root in any way: back in the 30s of the 19th century, it was installed only in the houses of St. Petersburg Germans and among the most noble Russian nobles, while the poor and the middle class ignored the innovation. Only by the end of the 19th century, the Christmas tree entered the homes of all segments of the population.

After the fall of the monarchy in 1917, the Soviet authorities took up arms against the tree, considering it a symbol of religious propaganda. The tree remained banned until 1935, when it was decided not to celebrate Christmas, but New Year. With the revival of church life in Russia, the spruce regained its status as a symbol of Christmas.

For a long time, the spruce was not decorated, only by the middle of the 18th century they first began to hang nuts, sweets and painted chicken eggs on it. The first glass ball - a Christmas tree toy - was blown out in Thuringia at the beginning of the 17th century.

But not everywhere the tree is the protagonist of Christmas. For example, Mexicans dress up palm trees, in New Zealand they put on a hutukala for a holiday - a plant that blooms in red flowers on the eve of Catholic Christmas. In Shanghai, toys are hung on willow and bamboo branches, while the Chinese are used to seeing candied fruits and nuts on the branches of dwarf tangerine trees. You can understand that Christmas has come in Israel by the elegant cypress tree. And finally, in hot Africa, the baobabs are preaching the gospel of the birth of Christ. In the village, small branches of giants are cut down and decorated with colorful ribbons and bunches of herbs. In cities, however, residents often hang mistletoe wreaths on their doors, decorated with bells and colored garlands.

Nika Kravchuk

Do you know what the Christmas tree symbolizes?

In Soviet times, the Christmas tree almost imperceptibly began to be called the New Year. It was adorned with a five-pointed red star and almost completely deprived of its deep religious meaning. But is a decorated spruce, the smell of pine needles, lights of garlands and various balls on thorny branches - this is such an addition to the celebration and nothing more? It turns out that things are not so simple. The Christmas tree has a Christian connotation and symbolizes ... However, read about this and many interesting facts below.

Christmas tree - a tree with religious connotations

It is believed that the tradition of decorating spruce for Christmas dates back to medieval Germany. When this event first happened - only God knows. It is often said that the first in history was a tree that Martin Luther installed in his home. Again, the exact date is unknown.

What did the decorated coniferous tree symbolize? On the one hand, the Christmas tree reminded of paradise Tree of life, The Garden of Eden and the Fall of Adam and Eve. Just before Christmas, December 24, Western Christians celebrated the day of remembrance of the first parents Adam and Eve.

But the Christmas tree is not a tree of sad memories. Because, on the other hand, it is - the symbol of the born Christ... God became Man in order to come into the world and redeem all people, reconcile them with the Creator. In other words, to restore the connection that Adam and Eve broke in due time.

What do the Christmas tree decorations symbolize?

Once you have learned about the deep Christian symbolism of the Christmas tree, you understand why it is dressed up this way.

The Christmas tree is necessarily decorated with lanterns, garlands and an eight-pointed star on the crown. Why is it necessarily a star? And remember the story of the wise men who came from the East to worship Christ. The Christmas star showed them the way.

According to one Germanic legend, Luther, going into the forest, also saw how an angel decorated the top of the tree with a star.

Why various fruits were attached to the Christmas tree is also understandable: after all, it reminded of the paradise Tree of Life.

What do all kinds of other decorations - Christmas tree decorations - indicate? If the tree is Christ, then the colored balls and lights are all believers who abide in Christ, that is, the true Church.

This is the deep Christian symbolism that a decorated Christmas tree has. It is understandable why the Bolsheviks immediately canceled this pious custom, and then, at the request of "Soviet citizens", allowed it, turning the symbol of Christ into an ordinary New Year tree. But more on that later, but first we will tell you how the tradition of decorating the Christmas tree arose.

Who first dressed up a conifer for Christmas?

In historical sources, the first mention of a Christmas tree comes down to 1510 year and no longer to Germany, but to the Latvian capital - Riga. True, the residents of Tallinn strongly disagree with this. The Estonians allegedly proved that their tree, decorated for Christmas, appeared four centuries earlier than the Latvians.

It got to the point that a diplomatic scandal broke out between Riga and Tallinn before the New Year 2011: in which country did the Christmas tree first appear? Who should celebrate the birthday of the Christmas tree?

But be that as it may, we know for sure when the tree first appeared in the future Russian Empire - after the decree of Peter I of December 20, 1699.

How the Christmas tree took root in the Russian Empire

Before issuing the decree, Peter I visited Europe, and during the trip he really liked the trees decorated for Christmas. After returning home, he carried out a calendar reform: the chronology was now conducted from the Nativity of Christ, and the New Year began on January 1. To convey the atmosphere of the holiday, Peter I ordered to decorate Christmas trees and light the lights.

But this custom did not take root right away: at first, Christmas trees were installed and decorated only by German families living in the Russian Empire.

But by the middle of the 19th century, the situation had changed: in 1852 year the first public Christmas tree appeared in St. Petersburg, followed by a parade of fir trees installed in places of gatherings of nobles, merchants, in clubs and theaters. Then, first in prosperous families, to show their status, and then in ordinary ones - to the delight of children - they began to decorate the Christmas trees.

A corresponding Christmas business appeared all over the world: they made decorations and sweets. Such commerce brought good income and joy to both adults and children.

New Year or Christmas?

With the advent of Soviet power, everything gradually changed. Christmas and Christmas tree like "Priestly custom" were canceled to prevent children from absorbing religiosity from an early age.

True, the persecution of the coniferous beauty did not last long. Already in 1935, the party leader Postyshev got Stalin to rehabilitate the tree. She returned, but not as a symbol of Christ, but as a New Year's tree. And it was no longer decorated with an eight-pointed star of Bethlehem, but a five-pointed red one.

But time brings everything back to normal: the celebration of Christmas, and carols, and solemn services, and, of course, a decorated tree with garlands and an eight-pointed (or six-pointed) star at the top.

We invite you to watch "The Legend of the Christmas Tree" with your children:

Take it for yourself, tell your friends!

Read also on our website:

How to spend Christmas Eve? Is it possible to eat food before the first star appears in the sky? What does the tradition of preparing 12 meatless dishes symbolize and is it justifiable? Why is it so important to prioritize services first, and then cleaning and cooking? Read about all this in the article.