Their emphasis in RED so my fisking is in GREEN-Mike
Taking Christ out of Xmas
At this time of year,
it is possible to hear (especially from weirder protestantistas, even some secularists, who deliberately write and use this(the most common written!) form of spelling to affirm their non- or anti- Christianity!) that by writing
Xmas to abbreviate the word Christmas,
we are joining the secular world
and,
effectively,
taking Christ out of Christmas
as if we had put an X through His Holy Name.
(note to put an x through=to cross out=tachar)
But not so!
Such is not a traditional insight.
This is a false new notion
that threatens to take Christ out of Xmas
and fill us with fear of using the hallowed abbreviation.
This is then a good time to remember
that the use of the letter X
comes from the original Greek of the Gospel
and is one of the very ancient abbreviations in our language
that precisely means
Christ.
it is possible to hear (especially from weirder protestantistas, even some secularists, who deliberately write and use this(the most common written!) form of spelling to affirm their non- or anti- Christianity!) that by writing
Xmas to abbreviate the word Christmas,
we are joining the secular world
and,
effectively,
taking Christ out of Christmas
as if we had put an X through His Holy Name.
(note to put an x through=to cross out=tachar)
But not so!
Such is not a traditional insight.
This is a false new notion
that threatens to take Christ out of Xmas
and fill us with fear of using the hallowed abbreviation.
This is then a good time to remember
that the use of the letter X
comes from the original Greek of the Gospel
and is one of the very ancient abbreviations in our language
that precisely means
Christ.
When we look at the picture of Our Mother of Perpetual Succour
we see that the letters above the Infant Jesus
are
IC XC
the abbreviation for
Jesus (IC) Christ (XC).
we see that the letters above the Infant Jesus
are
IC XC
the abbreviation for
Jesus (IC) Christ (XC).
In the Greek of the Gospels,
the word Christ
Christos is written as Χριστός,
and the letter X
is just the first letter of his name.
Thus the icon writes the first and last letter of Χριστός
as
XC.
Not all did this.
Some abbreviated Christ to the first two Greek letters Xp.
the word Christ
Christos is written as Χριστός,
and the letter X
is just the first letter of his name.
Thus the icon writes the first and last letter of Χριστός
as
XC.
Not all did this.
Some abbreviated Christ to the first two Greek letters Xp.
The X in Xmas
is the Greek letter equivalent to the English letters Ch;
monks and priests have used it for centuries
when writing the Holy Name of Christ.
In English Xt is a common ecclesiastical abbreviation fo Christ.
Seminarians with fast speaking professors
often come to writing
Xt for Christ or even Xh for Church.
The most ancient way to abbreviate Christ's name
was Xp
which in English is the same as
Xr
(since the Greek for 'r' is written as 'p').That abbreviation -the XP- shown above to the right of Christ
comes from the catacombs.
The XP is also is often seen on sacred vestments;
it is the abbreviation and monogram for Christ.
is the Greek letter equivalent to the English letters Ch;
monks and priests have used it for centuries
when writing the Holy Name of Christ.
In English Xt is a common ecclesiastical abbreviation fo Christ.
Seminarians with fast speaking professors
often come to writing
Xt for Christ or even Xh for Church.
The most ancient way to abbreviate Christ's name was Xp
which in English is the same as
Xr
(since the Greek for 'r' is written as 'p').That abbreviation -the XP- shown above to the right of Christ
comes from the catacombs.
The XP is also is often seen on sacred vestments;
it is the abbreviation and monogram for Christ.
The Anglo Saxon Cronicle.
In our own language we find the Greek Xp
first rendered in English as Xr.
In the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle written about 1100 we read
Christmas
abbreviated to
Xres mæsse.
About the same time that we have this abbreviation for Christmas,
we also have an example in the donation Inventory
written by Bishop Leofric
of England(1046 - 1073)
who records the gift of a Saxon Gospel thus:
Englisc Xres-boc
(=English Christ-book)( The modern English word Gospel is probably older in origin, it was originally "God's spell" -we no longer use, except in song, the expression "Gospel-makers" for the four Evangelists, Mathew, Mark, Luke , and John.)
He also used the Xr abbreviation in Xres-boc for Christ-book.(presumably a vulgate latin volume of the gospels, not English)
(Illustrations of Anglo Saxon Poetry, John Conybeare, London, 1826, p. 199)
Xmas is an ancient abbreviation for Christmas.
Its use does not "take Christ out of Christmas".
Its use continues the ancient style of
uniting the Greek X of the Gospel to our English language,
as our forebears(=ancestors =antecessores/antepasados) have done
for nearly a thousand years provably,If not more like 1400 in fact !
Let us keep Christ both in Xmas
and indeed in Christmas too.
we also have an example in the donation Inventory
written by Bishop Leofric
of England(1046 - 1073)
who records the gift of a Saxon Gospel thus:
Englisc Xres-boc
(=English Christ-book)( The modern English word Gospel is probably older in origin, it was originally "God's spell" -we no longer use, except in song, the expression "Gospel-makers" for the four Evangelists, Mathew, Mark, Luke , and John.)
He also used the Xr abbreviation in Xres-boc for Christ-book.(presumably a vulgate latin volume of the gospels, not English)
(Illustrations of Anglo Saxon Poetry, John Conybeare, London, 1826, p. 199)
Xmas is an ancient abbreviation for Christmas.
Its use does not "take Christ out of Christmas".
Its use continues the ancient style of
uniting the Greek X of the Gospel to our English language,
as our forebears(=ancestors =antecessores/antepasados) have done
for nearly a thousand years provably,If not more like 1400 in fact !
Let us keep Christ both in Xmas
and indeed in Christmas too.
_______________________________________________
More on Xmas, mostly from Mike.
A lot of oddities about Anglosphere Christmases derive from their PROHIBITION
This happened in the midseventeenth century.
There was a civil war. About half a million dead, the same number as in Spain three centuries later, but greater in proportion( the then population was only about 5million).
Cavaliers versus Roundheads
Cavaliers versus Roundheads
On the one side were the ROYALISTS (MONARCHISTS) aka Cavaliers,(also= uncircumcized, or intact,) mostly after their dashing romantic hairstyles, and clothes. 
They lost the war.
(We still use the word "cavalier" as an adjective for somebody perhaps dashing, debonair, perhaps a bit inconsiderate regarding social norms and the importance of bourgois ideas.Teenagers typically have a cavalier attitude to their parents' rules. It comes from the French word cognate with"caballero" but the meaning in English is different from either. Except in games or in contrast etc "Roundhead" has a much more limited modern use. Many places in England reeanct Civil War battles at festivals, there is even a nationwide society, the "sealed knot",(press for link, or here for video)with tens of thousands of members, dedicated to dressing up as Roundheads and Cavaliers and reenacting battles.)
They lost the war.
(We still use the word "cavalier" as an adjective for somebody perhaps dashing, debonair, perhaps a bit inconsiderate regarding social norms and the importance of bourgois ideas.Teenagers typically have a cavalier attitude to their parents' rules. It comes from the French word cognate with"caballero" but the meaning in English is different from either. Except in games or in contrast etc "Roundhead" has a much more limited modern use. Many places in England reeanct Civil War battles at festivals, there is even a nationwide society, the "sealed knot",(press for link, or here for video)with tens of thousands of members, dedicated to dressing up as Roundheads and Cavaliers and reenacting battles.)
On the other side were the Parliamentarians.( All of them, constitutionalists, anarchists, commmunists, etc) except the puritans, lost too.) ParliamentariaN-Puritan aka Roundheads.( also= circumcized). from their simple,(if still longish) haircuts a bit like the beatles , and
.
.
their very distinctive helmets. They were noted for their more sober dress and simpler ways.
The real winners were a Generalisimo, Oliver Cromwell
a Puritan , and his "New Model Army "(especially once he had purged it) and their Puritan Ideologues. Some of the nastiest Puritans, who were quite nasty anyway, came over from the Puritan colonies in New England to help impose Puritanism.
The real winners were a Generalisimo, Oliver Cromwell
a Puritan , and his "New Model Army "(especially once he had purged it) and their Puritan Ideologues. Some of the nastiest Puritans, who were quite nasty anyway, came over from the Puritan colonies in New England to help impose Puritanism.
They prohibited Christmas. And Christmas food.And even not working at Christmas. So had the Puritan colonies in America. (The Americans call their Puritan colonist forebears "freedomloving founding fathers".The freedom they were looking for was not just freedom of worship*-for themselves- but freedom to control everything and everyone.)
*Freedom of worship: worship
For these historical reasons,while in USA the word Puritan has very positive and warm connotations, and the puritans are idolized at "thanksgiving", which they celebrate MORE than Christmas!
in the UK the word maintains distinctively negative connotations.
I had an image of the parliamentary report on this at the EOI on computer, but can't find it, so Ive copied the above image from: (click on to read more )http://marymagdalen.blogspot.com/2010/12/london-defies-banning-christmas.html)
*Freedom of worship: worship
For these historical reasons,while in USA the word Puritan has very positive and warm connotations, and the puritans are idolized at "thanksgiving", which they celebrate MORE than Christmas!
in the UK the word maintains distinctively negative connotations.
I had an image of the parliamentary report on this at the EOI on computer, but can't find it, so Ive copied the above image from: (click on to read more )http://marymagdalen.blogspot.com/2010/12/london-defies-banning-christmas.html)
They executed the king ( after a show trial) and called the country a "commonwealth", the then translation of republic in English.
Cromwell was the Lord Protector.(of the commonwealth).
In fact it was the first modern Dictatorship and Cromwell was the Dictator.
Not just regicides, liberticides.
Awful, but:
Cromwell was the Lord Protector.(of the commonwealth).
In fact it was the first modern Dictatorship and Cromwell was the Dictator.
Not just regicides, liberticides.
Awful, but:
another
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