Chrismons

I learned something new this week! The white and gold ornaments on some Christmas trees have a name. They are called Chrismons- a portmonteau word of Christ and monogram. They are always symbols of the Christian faith. That much I knew.

Not being raised in a liturgical church, I did not know that white and gold are the liturgical colors of the Advent season.

Just to remind you, here is the Chrismon tree at the Lutheran church next door.



This type of ornament was first created in 1957 by a woman named Frances Spencer who made all the ornaments for the Ascension Lutheran Church Christmas tree in Danville, Virginia. She said the tree was not complete until someone had the story of Christ explained to them through the symbols. So... a truly US-based tradition that has spread to many denominations and throughout the world.

Here is a small Chrismon tree at the Ludington Methodist church.

I have some closeups of the symbolic ornaments, but not all of them are great pic. I'll highlight a few.

Symbols of the trinity are always featured. These have three connected circles (a trefoil), or a triangle, or both. They represent the triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

The trees also have only clear or white lights if they have lights. You can see that some have strings of white and gold beads.

This picture isn't very good, but it shows a shell. This is the symbol of baptism (because a shell can hold water), the beginning of a journey (as baptism is seen as the outward display of a serious desire to follow Christ), and spritual growth. The ribs of the shell symbolize paths to spiritual truth. Actually, I'll bet a lot of you already knew this, even if you didn't know you knew it. The shell is associated with St. James (Iago), and the Camino de Santiago- the way of St. James in Spain- uses the shell as its trail marker and symbol. I know two people who have chosen to get a small shell tattoo as a reminder of their walk of the Camino.

Behind the shell is a star- a fairly well-known symbol of Christianity not only for the Christmas star, but as a reminder that Christ is the light of the world, and we are to be the light to others.

Various kinds of crosses are alwyas found. The cross, a Roman emblem of shame and execution, became the symbol of triumph for Christians as Christ rose from the dead. You'll find any number of styles of cross. This one has something hanging from the arms. The left one is probably Alpha, but the one on the right does not look like Omega, so I'm not sure what's going on here. Alpha and Omega are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. God and Christ are called the Alpha and Omega- the beginning and the end, a symbol of their eternal nature.

If you look at the pictures of the entire trees, you'll also see sheep (Jesus as the Lamb of God who was sacrificed for our sins), doves (symbol of the Holy Spirit), circles (symbol of the eternal nature of God), the Chi Rho cross, which looks like a P with an X on the upright. These are the Greek letters chi and rho, a monogram for Christos- Christ in Greek.

Here is a crown- symbolic of our future reward in heaven, and that Christ is King.

Some other symbols that may be used are the shepherd's crook (Jesus as the Good Shepherd), the butterfly (eternal life), the rainbow (God's promise to Noah), the chalice (symbol of the Eucharist), and the anchor (God is an anchor for our soul).

I don't see any fish on these trees, but this is one of the oldest of the Christian symbols IXTHUS means fish, and it's an anagram for "Jesus Christ God's Son our Savior." Early Christians would identify themselves to each other by scratching a semicircle in the dust. If the other person completed the fish, they know it was safe to talk of spritual things.

Of course, many of these symbols are now mocked or discarded. But I like symbols. A lot. I have several books on symbology. They are great as mnemonic devices, and they are sort of like puzzles in pictures. I'm glad I learned these ornaments are called Chrismons.

And here is another full tree- this one at the Methodist Church in Manistee a few years ago.



I got quite a lot done today. Hopeful for more of the same tomorrow!

See Concert at Our Savior Lutheran

Christmas Concert - Our Savior Lutheran

The other big activity yesterday was the bell choir's participation in the Our Savior Lutheran Church Christmas concert.

We were only a part of the musical program. Their choir sang several songs- Breath of Heaven, Mary Did You Know, and a medly with the Sunday School kids, shown here. And there were other soloists, and we all sang some carols.

The church was beautifully decorated. The large tree is covered with symbolic ornaments.

And they have a large nativity set in the hallway.

Of course, it takes a lot of work to set up for bell choir. We had to move all that stuff to the church, unload, set up, and then take it down afterwards too! This isn't during the performance, but near the end of the set-up time. We were first, so that the tables could then be moved out of the way for the rest of the program.

I want to say that the kids did a great job. They sang "Away in a Manger" in counterpoint to a different melody the choir was singing behind them. They were loud enough and on key. The younger girls were dressed in St. Lucia costumes, although that celebratrion doesn't come for another week, I think. The microphone kept me from getting a really good picture, but it's still cute.

Afterwards, they served cake and ice cream, egg nog, and wassail punch in the fellowship hall.

It was as full a day as I'm interested in any more! But great. I really enjoyed the Christmas celebration.

Today, I've mostly taken it easy. My goal has been to work at cleaning up the house a bit.

See SPW Hike- December

Handbells and Friends

 
I went to the Manistee United Methodist Church this morning to hear the Handbell Choir that Dave and Loren are in. They only did one number (Carol of the Bells), but it was good. I'm glad I went. I saw another friend I hadn't seen for quite a while too.


This handbell choir is rather small, but my I like to hear them because of my hiking friends. They are on the right end, front and back rows in the second picture.





I think I'd like to do that. But that would be another meeting/practice to go to... hmmm.

The church is beautiful. I showed you their abstract stained glass window when I went for the handbell concert in 2012, but in this picture the church is light, which makes it look quite different.


The vertical sweep was enhanced by this beautiful, tall tree, covered in symbolic ornaments.


And I wanted to add this large nativity set, since I showed you the one at the Lutheran Church.



Other than that I got sucked into a game that is tons of fun, but I sure "wasted" the day. On the other hand you could say I gave myself a day of rest.

	See Miscellany
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