The Paradise Tree
The Feast of Saint Adam and Saint Eve and the origin of the Christmas tree
You may have heard before that the first instance of a Christmas tree was Martin Luther putting lit candles on a tree in the 16th century, or that it came from the pagan Roman feast of Saturnalia. But the true origin of the Christmas tree comes from the Middle Ages when Catholics would decorate trees on the feast day of Saint Adam and Eve. That’s right, when you hear Adam and Eve your first thought might be, “Aren’t they the reason that suffering, death, and sin entered the world?” But tradition holds that Adam and Eve lived out their days as repentant and obedient servants of God, and were among the first saints that Jesus brought with Him to Heaven, along with Abraham, Moses, and the prophets. Their feast day is celebrated on December 24th, and this is where the story of the Christmas tree begins.
In the 12th century, European Catholics started a new tradition on the feast day of Saint Adam and Eve. They would put on “Paradise Plays” where they would reenact the beginning of the book of Genesis. They would get a tree and adorn it with apples, representing the tree in the Garden of Eden, where Adam and Eve disobeyed God and ate the forbidden fruit. The plays would depict the story from creation up until God’s promise of the Incarnation, and the whole play would be performed in front of the “Paradise Tree”. Paradise Plays were particularly popular in Germany and France. It eventually came to England when Queen Victoria’s German husband Prince Albert decorated a Christmas tree in Buckingham Palace.
I love that the feast day of Adam and Eve is celebrated on Christmas Eve. It is the perfect reminder to all of us of the importance of the Incarnation. The fall of man was the first significant event in human history, and brought with it many thousands of years of suffering and pain. But the Lord made a promise to Adam and Eve that one of their descendants would provide the final defeat of the serpent. And with the birth, life, and death of our Lord Jesus came the final victory over sin and death, and opened up for us a new way to access the Lord’s Kingdom. So this Christmas Eve when you see the baubles on your Christmas tree, be reminded of the apples that they represent and the purpose of our Lord’s Incarnation.
God Bless You All and have a Merry Christmas!
Michael