X-mas or Christmas

Posted on by Fr. Peter
Each year this debate seems to boil as we draw closer to Christmas.  I have always been one who has gone on the war path for Christmas displays around Towns that have traditionally had them.  It seems that Christmas is under attack from everyone but the retail outlets.

An article in today’s Boston Globe however tips the scales in the other direction and I find myself defending former Republican candidate for Governor of Massachusetts Charles Baker.  It seems that Mr. Baker wrote on his Facebook page the other day the following, “Huge crowd at Scott Brown’s XMas Party on Friday night…”  As you can imagine people went crazy and one person called him a liberal.  Well if people would stop and do a little research they would find that for at least a 1,000 years the letter “X” has been used to represent the Christ.  This is another example of trying to make something out of nothing.  This is also what happens when Christians deny history and tradition and make up their own church!

The “X” comes from the Greek word Chi meaning Christ. (Fr. Greg correct me if I am wrong on this!)  As early as 1021 AD the letters “X” and “P” have been used for the name of Christ in fact if you look at an Icon of Christ in an Orthodox Church you will see the “X” right there.  The Oxford English Dictionary as early as 1485 AD use X- or Xp- for the name of Christ.  And since 1634 AD it has been proper to use Xtianity for Christianity.

So to all of those out there who feel that Xmas is another way the so called Liberals are using to destroy Christmas you might wish to rethink your objections.  To Mr. Baker, if you happen to read these pages, you have been vindicated, at least in my eyes.

Merry Xmas to all of my readers and may the joy of X come to you in the New Year!

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Fr. Peter

3 Comments

  1. "The "X" comes from the Greek word Chi meaning Christ. (Fr. Greg correct me if I am wrong on this!)"

    Chi (X) is a Greek letter, not word, and it's an abreviation for Christ. The "P" is the next letter, Rho. And I think it's considerably older than 1000 years. Other than that, I agree with you

  2. I blame the schools. We've raised several generations of illiterates. Thankfully the Orthodox are immune, to judge by the number of times we use X and XP without comment, not to mention XA, XB, CR, etc at Pascha! This last I've seen in lights above church doors and no one has ever said the Church was "trying to keep Christ out of Pascha"

    I wonder if there was a similar outcry when English drifted from Christ Mass to the modern one? KEEP MASS IN CHRISTMASS! The English war on CHRISTMASS! Etc.

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