Tuesday, December 19, 2023

It is the 19th of December 2023. Welcome to the Christian History Almanac brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org; I’m Dan van Voorhis.

Ok, it looks like we are going to do it- this coming weekend is the Christmas mega-mailbag part 2. And I have so many questions we are going to run with them this week as well- heck- keep sending your questions in. There is no promise I can get to all of them, but it keeps me busy and in my growing and excessive library of Christmas traditions and lore.

Ok- I have two questions today- because one is pretty short and a little silly. Why is there a “Christmas pickle” is a perennial question- and one asked by Ben in Medford, Oregon (Medford is home to Jason James Richter- the kid from both Free Willy and the Neverending Story III). The short answer is: we don’t know exactly- some people hide it on the tree and consider it lucky. The oldest story we have about Christmas and pickles is an early medieval tale of a man who killed two boys and hid their bodies in a pickle barrel- don’t worry: St. Nicholas confronted the man and brought the boys back to life. Merry Christmas. The ornament seems to be popular from the 19th century, but its “origin story” has been lost. But the boys-in-a-pickle-barrel is an old story. If you prefer a less gruesome original tale, one was made of a soldier in the Civil War who, imprisoned, begged for a pickle, and it kept him alive. But that’s the thing about “popular” culture- things develop and evolve to the point that we can shrug our shoulders- give some guesses, and move on. Which we shall….

Ok- Aaron from Suttons Bay, Michigan. He writes that “Leelanau county and the surrounding region represent 40% of the total tart cherry crop production of the United States. Truly the cherry capital of the world.” And then, “Could you give the CHA treatment to the carol 'Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence?'”

Yes! It is a beautiful and haunting Advent/Christmas/Communion hymn. The version we sing is a paraphrase from a 4th-century text by Gerard Moultrie. Moultrie was a 19th-century Anglican inspired by the Oxford movement- many of his hymns come from ancient texts, but none are as popular as “Let All Mortal Flesh,” which he set to the tune Picardy- a 17th-century French tune. Moultrie took the cherubic hymn from the Divine Liturgy of St. James and paraphrased it in English. The Divine Liturgy of St. James is an amazing text- one of the oldest liturgies. It has its roots in the 4th century- just as Christians were gathering en masse to worship freely. It was originally about 4 hours long but cut to 2 (which, when you don’t have pews, is helpful). It came out of the church of Jerusalem and was popular both there and at the church center at Antioch.

The liturgy, and thus the Cherubic hymn, is used occasionally in Greek Orthodox churches, but it is still the common liturgy for Syrian churches, some of the ancient Oriental churches, and for the St. Thomas Christians in India. When we sing this, we can connect our worship to that of the ancient church and that of the global church today, which is pretty cool. Now- the second stanza is sometimes the offender that is excised in some traditions:

King of kings, yet born of Mary,

as of old on earth He stood,

Lord of lords, in human vesture,

in the body and the blood.

He will give to all the faithful

His own self for heav'nly food.

You might note that “in the body and the blood” and “his own self for heav’nly food” do not require any particular view on the metaphysics of communion. But if you’ve ever been a part of “the metaphysics of communion fights,” you might get why some just decided to 86 the stanza to keep the peace.

The text takes us to those latter prophets, Habakkuk and Zephaniah, with their words about the coming Messiah, and we get good Isaiah and Revelation language- all set in a minor key- it’s hardly a rollicking Wesley carol- but this season can contain multitudes. There are some modern interpretations of the hymn- including one by Fernando Ortega. But I especially dig the King's College of Cambridge Choir for this one- give me those high notes over a sparse organ.

Less than one week to go- we will remain your Christmas go-to until the big day.

The last word for today comes from the daily lectionary from Acts 3 and Peter’s sermon.

17 “Now, fellow Israelites, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders. 18 But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Messiah would suffer. 19 Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, 20 and that he may send the Messiah, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus.

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 19th of December 2023, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org.

The show is produced by a man who insists all his seasonal carols in minor keys- he is Christopher Gillespie. 

The show is written and read by a man who knows typing ‘Christmas carols in minor keys” on YouTube gives you some delightfully creepy remakes. I’m  Dan van Voorhis.

You can catch us here every day- and remember that the rumors of grace, forgiveness, and the redemption of all things are true…. Everything is going to be ok.