The “Old Christmas” of the People of Appalachia
The people of
Appalachia, with whom we at the monastery share a home in West Virginia, are a
people who have been Protestant for many generations past. Though they aren’t
Orthodox, and though many of their ancestors in America may never have been
exposed to the Orthodox Church, they are people who, in their own way, hold a
deep faith in God and have preserved many traditions that hearken back to ages
past.
The Scotch-Irish
pioneers who settled in the deep hollows and rugged hills of the Appalachian
Mountains carried on with many traditions that they preserved from the Old
World. While some of those traditions and beliefs might seem rather like
superstitions to most modern people, they were held by a devout majority whose
very survival and well-being could be attributed to their observance of each
and every detail of their surroundings—whether it be the height of a hornet
nest, the date of a killing frost, the place in the woods where some rare herb
grew, or an arcane bit of Scripture printed upon the yellowed pages of an old
family Bible.
As a Russian
Orthodox monastery which observes the Julian, or “old,” calendar, we were
surprised to learn about Appalachian “Old Christmas,” which is a most solemn
and reverent time for families living in the mountains. The initial change-over
from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar by the British Empire and
the American colonies in 1752 caused a difference of eleven days. Thus, the
date of “new” Christmas on December 25th was eleven days ahead of
“old” Christmas, which fell (at that time) on January 5th. Some
Protestants refused to honor the new calendar because it was decreed by the
Pope, so their celebration of Christmas remained on the Julian calendar – which
now falls on January 7. In the Appalachian Mountains, the celebration of Old
Christmas remained until about World War I. Though they might also observe
“new” Christmas on December 25th, the festivities were very
different. December 25th was marked with revelry and parties and
visiting, but January 6th was primarily a reverent family
observance.
The people of
Appalachia regarded Old Christmas Eve as a night when the Holy Spirit would
manifest Himself upon the earth in many subtle ways. On that night, mountain
folk believed, no matter how hard the ground was frozen, elder bushes would
sprout up out of the ground. More miraculously, however, it was believed that
if a person would stay awake until almost midnight on Old Christmas Eve, then
sneak quietly out to a barn or a field where any cattle or sheep were kept,
they could hear the animals pray. Supposedly, at the exact stroke of midnight
on Old Christmas Eve, the animals would start moo-ing and baa-ing in a peaceful
way as they reverentially knelt on the ground. This belief undoubtedly harkened
back to the stable in Bethlehem, and to the animals that were present when the
Christ Child was revealed to the Magi.
Today, hardly
anyone knows of Old Christmas. But, the elder bushes and the animals of the
barn and field have surely not forgotten… should anyone like to find out for
themselves, on Old Christmas Eve.
Based on Bill Baker, “Old Christmas Eve”,
Gary Holbrook, “Appalachian Christmas”.
Source: https://www.holycross-hermitage.com/blogs/articles-sermons/113633542-appalachian-old-christmas
