‘Merry Christmas’ Simply Does Not Apply to a Pagan or a Jew
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| Baby New Year and Father Time. |
By Steve Provost
The Provocation
I, Marcus, was walking down the Appian Way one day just outside of Rome. The date? Just prior to midwinter. The year? Oh, about 1009 A.U.C. (For you barbarians out there, this stands for anno urbis conditae – we in the empire count our years from the founding of our great city.)
Like many of my countrymen, I was preparing to celebrate the Saturnalia, a weeklong feast in homage to Saturn, the father of our great god Jupiter. My children were particularly looking forward to the school holiday, and I had procured a few gifts for them, as is the tradition. Myself? I was more eager to gamble a bit, as the ban on such wagers is lifted during the holiday.
On my journey, I came upon a man I did not recognize. I greeted him with the customary, “Io, Saturnalia!” but he grew indignant with me and said he would not be sacrificing to Saturn this season. No, he would not be sacrificing at all, but rather he would be paying homage to the birth of his savior, whom he called Chrestus.
“So,” I joked with him, “you have taken the Saturn out of Saturnalia?”
But he just scoffed at me and went on his way. I could not help but think to myself that it was his loss. This Chrestus of his seemed like something of a killjoy.
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