The generic, consumeristic American culture is childish and unserious at best and demonic at worst. A look at what passes for holy days/holidays gives solid confirmation to this claim.
Let’s look first at what is left of the celebration of All Saints’ Day in the United States – Halloween (i.e., All Hallow’s Eve). Country Living puts it into words for us:
Halloween is a holiday to go all out. It’s the time of year when you’re actually encouraged to eat too much candy and spooky sweets, craft an elaborate costume, and turn your house into the spookiest spot. You can play around with cute and quaint decor, or become the most haunted looking mansion on the block.
It also provides some telling pictures:
Contrast this with the Orthodox Church’s celebration of All Saints of England, for instance, which would be held the second Sunday after Pentecost. Here is an icon for the feast:
And below are some of the sweet-sounding hymns for the Feast, which, again, couldn’t be further from the spirit of American Halloween:
O come, all ye faithful, now let us praise the saints of the Isles, the venerable monastics, the holy bishops, the right-believing princes, all the martyrs and the company of holy women, those known by name and those unknown, for truly by their words and deeds and manifold ways of life and gifts of God, they became saints and God made glorious even their graves with wonders. And now, standing before Christ Who hath glorified them, they pray fervently for us who celebrate the splendour of their feast with love.
With what beauty of hymn shall we praise the divinely wise of the Isles, the splendour and adornment of the Church of Christ, the crown of the priesthood, the rule of piety, the never-drying wellsprings of divine healing, the outpouring of the gifts of the Spirit, the streams of manifold wonders which gladden the Isles and all those who seek God. For whose sake the All-Merciful Christ hath cast down the uprisings of the enemy.
Halloween is easy to criticize, though, with its dark themes. How about Thanksgiving, celebrated each November, something with a more positive spirit about it? The Charlotte Observer introduces us to the mindset for properly celebrating this holiday:
Thanksgiving is just around the corner, and it’s time to start decorating your home for the holiday season. Make this year’s celebration truly memorable with our curated selection of the most stylish Thanksgiving decorations of 2023. From classic table decorations to stunning wreaths and garlands, we have options that will bring a festive touch to every corner of your home. Our comprehensive guide features top picks and helpful tips on hanging decorations and choosing the perfect pieces for each room. Create a warm, inviting atmosphere that will delight your family and friends this Thanksgiving.
It also provides some examples of the most sought-after decorations:
Another, from Country Living:
Once again, nothing too moving.
For the Orthodox, ‘thanksgiving’ is celebrated every time the Divine Liturgy is served:
Eucharist (from the Greek εὐχαριστία, or eucharistia, meaning thanksgiving or giving thanks) is a holy mystery (or sacrament) that is celebrated during the Divine Liturgy within the Orthodox Church where the consecrated bread and wine, through the power of the Holy Spirit becomes the Precious Blood and Body of Jesus Christ, that is consumed by prepared Orthodox Christians. Other names for the Eucharist include: the Holy Gifts, Communion, and the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ Orthodox Christians believe that the Real Presence of God (not merely a sign) is present after the consecration of the Gifts. . . . The Eucharist is the center of life in the Orthodox Church because the Church is primarily a eucharistic community. The Eucharist is the completion of all of the Church’s other sacraments and the source and the goal of all of the Church’s doctrines and institutions. . . . The Church teaches that the sacrifice is not a mere figure or symbol but a true sacrifice. It is not the bread that is sacrificed, but the very Body of Christ. And, the Lamb of God was sacrificed only once, for all time. The sacrifice at the Eucharist consists, not in the real and bloody immolation of the Lamb, but in the transformation of the bread into the sacrificed Lamb. All the events of Christ’s sacrifice, the Incarnation, the Last Supper, the Crucifixion, the Resurrection, and the Ascension are not repeated in the Eucharist, but they are made present.
The ‘décor’ involved is not shifting, like American Thanksgiving, but rather full of the beauty of true Tradition (sources: icon of the Mystical Supper in the upper room; picture of an Orthodox altar table):
We would be remiss, however, if we did not look at the most highly anticipated festival in the U.S. – the Super Bowl, err, Federal Election Day . . . ? No, we mean Christmas. House Beautiful explores the themes and meaning of the contemporary American Christmas season:
Christmas decor is the guaranteed way to bring your home to life for the holidays and wrap up the year in style. We tapped interior designers to predict the Christmas trends in 2023 you’ll see everywhere to give you a head start on decking the halls. Of course, the classic red and green aesthetic will always warm our hearts, but as design lovers we’re excited to see how the new Christmas decorating ideas for 2023 push the envelope. From unexpected color schemes to surprising materials and finishes, the design-forward Christmas trends in 2023 will inspire you to start spreading the holiday cheer early.
One big trend designers are cozying up to: glass. As Ashley Macuga of Collected Interiors explains, “Glass inherently is a demonstration of effortless elegance. As an art form, it plays with reflection more than any other medium—enhancing and refracting the light produced from Christmas tree lights and warm taper candles, which are mainstays of traditional holiday decor.”
Aren’t these ‘new traditions’ grand?
The Orthodox do not need to rely on new gimmicks and trends to gin up interest in Christmas. The Grace of God is present in the timeless traditions of fasting and celebrating major saints in the weeks before Christmas, as well as in the Nativity itself.
During the Nativity Fast, we restrict our eating, undertake more spiritual labors, and give more alms to prepare our hearts to receive our Lord in a worthy manner on the night of His Holy Birth. Along the way we meet a number of holy men and women who point us to and help us prepare for the Nativity of the Savior of mankind:
St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, Bishop of Myra (+4th century; Feast Day, 6 Dec.), one of the most beloved and well-known of all the Orthodox saints:
St. Herman of Alaska (+1837; Feast Day, 13 Dec.), the Apostle and Patron of Alaska and all of North America:
The Holy Prophet Daniel and the Three Holy Youths (+6th century B.C.; Feast Day, 17 Dec.), amongst the greatest luminaries under the Old Covenant:
St. Ignatius the God-bearer of Antioch (+107; Feast Day, 20 Dec.), famously martyred at Rome, who penned the remarkable words, ‘Men of Rome, you know that I am sentenced to death, not because of any crime, but because of my love for God, by Whose love I am embraced. I long to be with Him, and offer myself to him as a pure loaf, made of fine wheat ground fine by the teeth of wild beasts.’
And there are many others that could be added, before and after the Feast of Christmas: Prophets Nahum and Habakkuk, St. Barbara, St. Ambrose, St. Spyridon, St. Stephen the First Martyr, the Holy Innocents.
And then there is the Holy Day itself, in which all the creation stands still in awe at the birth of its Creator in the form of a little child:
And instead of watching the Christmas capers of Charlie Brown and Scrooge McDuck, we have the blessed spiritual poetry of St. Ephraim the Syrian’s (+373) Hymns on the Nativity and St. Romanos the Melodion’s (+556) Kontakion on the Nativity.
Thankfully, not everyone in the States has succumbed to the silliness of the dominant American culture. There are still lots of men and women in each cultural region who are kind, generous, and discerning. But how long will even these basic virtues last when assaulted day after day, year after year, by the twisted and carnal culture of Americanism? It is past time for the real ethnoi making up the U.S. to grow up and throw off the surreal daydreaming of Americanism (and the Protestantism and Roman Catholicism from which it sprang) and enter the blessed and holy realm of the Orthodox Church. As St. Paul put it so many centuries ago:
‘When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became a man, I gave up childish ways’ (I Corinthians 13:11).
–Walt Garlington is an Orthodox Christian living in Dixieland. His writings have appeared on several web sites, and he maintains a site of his own, Confiteri: A Southern Perspective.
OR Staff: Remember, the fact that Americans are often depressed with our severely lacking holiday traditions can be an excellent opportunity for Orthodox Evangelism. It is fine to diagnose a problem, but solving it is even better! Here’s some thoughts: American Holidays and Orthodox Evangelism
