From the beginning of the Christmas Tree, it was customary to decorate the tree with symbols of the newborn Christ. Candles represented the Light of the World, the star recalled that first Christmas night, and the shepherd's crook symbolized the humble shepherds in the fields near Bethlehem who were first to received the news, "Unto you is born a Savior".
Christmas tree decorations in Europe, from which our tradition comes, were customarily made of food, principally cookies and candy. This symbolically expresses thanks for "our daily bread" as well as providing a Christmas treat for the children. Thus, the shepherd's crook became the candy cane.
As time went on, many ornaments took on a more permanent nature but the Candy Cane retains the original use and meaning of Christmas Tree ornaments.
Candy Canes on the Christmas Tree symbolize the Shepherds in the fields on that first Christmas night, shepherds who heard the angel chorus and came to worship at the crib of the newborn King. They are also a sign of our thanks to God for the food He has given us all during the year, and not least of all, they are an inexpensive and delightful Christmas treat for the family.
Soon after Europeans adopted the use of Christmas trees, they began making special decorations for them. Food items predominated, with cookies and candy heavily represented. That is when straight, white sticks of sugar candy came into use at Christmas, probably during the seventeenth century.
Tradition has it that some of these candies were put to use in Cologne Cathedral about 1670 while restless youngsters were attending ceremonies around the living creche. To keep them quiet, the choir master persuaded craftsmen to make sticks of candy bent at the end to represent shepherds' crook, then he passed them out to boys and girls who came to the cathedral.
No comments:
Post a Comment