Nativity was in order and, if so, what its shape and tone would be. The Advent season that eventually evolved depended on the Christmas-Epiphany interval. So, to appreciate Advent, we need to explore the development of Christmas.
Clement of Alexandria, a Greek philosopher who converted to Christianity about 190, wrote and taught in defense of Christianity. From his writings we can surmise that as early as 150 the birth of Christ was celebrated on January 6 in both the East and the West. Early Christians dated key events in Jesus’ life based on the Jewish calendar, nature’s seasons, and a date that agreed somewhat with other dates from his life. Once the date of the crucifixion was determined and Jesus’ age was estimated, January 6 was deemed a sensible birth date.
The Egyptians’ epiphany of the rebirth of their sun god may also have had a role in the January date. Celebrations of the divine child, Horus, were held at the end of the twelfth night after the winter solstice. Christians may have appropriated this feast to commemorate the birth of the Son of God.1
Ancient cultures lived by the sun and moon. Annually, the winter solstice and the lengthening days that followed were cause for great celebration. Ancient existence was influenced by the sun, which dictated the time to work and the time to rest, but most importantly, provided vitality to crops. As a result, the sun was deified. The religious ceremonies that celebrated the sun god may have influenced when and how Christmas is celebrated in the West. How much of a role specific worship of a sun god played in establishing our Christmas is unknown, but the most prominent pagan religious practices in and around Rome, including the Saturnalia, Mithraism, and Deus Sol Invictus, no doubt influenced the terrain of our Christmas feast.
The Roman Saturnalia was a week-long celebration of wild joy, from December 17 to 24, to honor the Italian deity Saturnus, or Saturn, the god of agriculture and time. Some Christians held that Saturn was in reality a prototype of Adam or Noah. Legend has it that when Noah first sighted the mountaintops above the subsiding flood, he held a feast in honor of Adam. Noah’s feast instituted the Saturnalia.2 Celebrations included the greening of homes, candle lighting, singing and gift giving. Goodwill to all prevailed, with equality between the rich and the poor, and the courts closed so that no one could be convicted of crime. The slaves were freed for the week and, during the feasting, were allowed to speak their minds and eat their fill while served by their masters. The theme of goodwill to all and many of the festive customs observed today find their roots in this ancient festival.
Twelve days after the winter solstice and peak of Saturnalia, December 21, came the Kalends of January, the first day of the new solar year. The twelve days between these two Roman festivals may have originated the twelve days of Christmas (December 25-January 5).
Mithraism spread to Rome during the second century and prevailed until the fourth century when its rivals, Deus Sol Invictus and Christianity, became dominant. Mithra was the Persian sun god, born December 25, who reigned in the middle zone between heaven and hell. God of light and defender of truth, Mithra helped the faithful fight the powers of darkness, was assumed into heaven and was to watch over all the earth until his second coming. Mithra celebrations were private and solemn. Many of the rites of Mithraism are similar to Christian rites. Adherents, primarily from the military ranks, were initiated by a baptism, honored the seventh day as sun day, celebrated Mithra’s birth on December 25, and believed in the existence of heaven and hell, immortality of the soul and the resurrection of the dead. However, during the feast of Mithra’s birth, only the king feasted; the people sacrificed horses to assuage their invincible god: Deo Soli Invicto Mithrae, “to the god the sun, the invincible Mithras.”3
Deus Sol Invictus was the sun god adopted by Emperor Lucius Domitius Aurelianus in 274 as the official deity of the Roman Empire. Aurelian organized the numerous gods of Rome, indigenous and imported, into one symbol and then proclaimed Deus Sol Invictus, the sun god, the sum of all the attributes and functions of the gods. The religion of Deus Sol Invictus was intended to have a universal appeal to the Romans since it was a synthesis of religions. It answered the general religious trend toward monotheism and created unity and stability for the state. Aurelian took on the title Deus to politically unify Rome under him with one god, Deus Sol Invictus, to protect the state. In the process of adapting from other religions the comprehensive system of Deus Sol Invictus, the holiday of dies Natalis Invicti, “the birthday of the Unconquerable Sun,” was established on December 25. The reserved festival of Mithraism was easily overshadowed by the the joyful abandonment of the Saturnalia and the events honoring Deus Sol Invictus—a grand celebration of the victory of light over darkness because the Rising Sun reigned supreme, protecting the empire and ennobling the emperor.
The Roman emperors enjoyed their deification and attendant power until the reign of Emperor Constantine from 306 to 337. Constantine’s reign was dubbed “the Sun Emperorship” because he took the cult of Deus Sol Invictus to its extreme, claiming to be the personification of Deus Sol Invictus on earth until his conversion around 323. At that time Constantine dissolved his relationship with the sun god in favor of the Christian God, who created the sun. Constantine had already shown favor to the Christians with the Edict of Milan in 313, when he legalized Christianity. Slowly, the Christians won him over, to the point that he renounced his own deification and consequently his absolute power. When the sun cult fell from imperial favor, the status of both Christianity and secular life changed in Rome.
One change was the transfer of the date of the feast of the Nativity of Jesus Christ from January 6 to December 25. Since the actual birthday of Jesus was unknown, the previous amalgamation of the many pagan gods into Deus Sol Invictus provided a short step for supplanting the birthday of the sun god, the Natalis Invicti, with the birthday of the Son of God, Sol Iustitiae. Between 354 and 360, the feast of the Nativity, Christmas Day, was established in the Christian calendar as December 25.
Tracing the origins of Christmas and Epiphany is difficult enough, but gaining knowledge about the origins of Advent is harder yet. Its beginnings are sketchy. The terms Adventus, Epiphania, and Natale are all expressions for “Incarnation,” and they were used interchangeably by the early church to name the feast that commemorated the birth of Christ. Since the term Adventus (“coming, arrival”) was originally applied to the feast of the Nativity, it is difficult to sort out when and how it began to be used to designate a period before Christmas.
Observances of Christmas and Epiphany, feasts of Incarnation and manifestation, created an anticipatory climate during their preceding weeks, especially since baptisms were performed during Epiphany (outside of Rome). The joyful anticipation in Rome of festivities at Christmas and the penitential preparation for Epiphany baptisms were joined to create the season of Advent.
Baptism, a rite of initiation, requires a period of preparation. Early records suggest a period of preparation for Epiphany was observed in a synod of Saragossa, Spain, as early as 380. December 17 to January 6 was a time for adults to prepare for holy baptism and subsequent membership in the church. Required of the adults was daily church attendance—with shoes on—and fasting; the period had a penitential tone. Since the birth and baptism of Christ were celebrated on Epiphany, a prepared adult would be spiritually reborn through baptism on this day.
The writings of Bishop Perpetuus of Tours (461-490) mention a forty-day fast before the Nativity that began on November 11, St. Martin’s Day. Martin, a gentle man who became Bishop of Tours in 372, was the founder of monasticism in France. After his death, legends sprang up around his life, attributing many miracles to him. The anniversary of his death, November 11, 397, quickly developed into a day of festivity. When Perpetuus became Bishop of Tours in 461, he set about prescribing procedures for celebrations and fasting during the church year. For the time from the feast of St. Martin, November 11, to the feast of Epiphany, January 6, Perpetuus prescribed fasting and prayer and the period became known as “Martin’s Lent.”
On November 17, 567,
