SYMBOLISM
The Baby Jesus
He’s the last figure placed in the nativity, often by the youngest child in the family, on Christmas Eve. Luke gives just two details about him, the swaddling clothes and the manger, and they’re exactly the sign the angel gives the shepherds: that’s how they’ll recognize the Savior.
Swaddling clothes and a manger: a sign
Luke isn’t just painting a sweet picture. He’s giving the shepherds a way to recognize the Child.
In verse 7, Mary wraps the child in swaddling clothes and lays him in a manger. In verse 12, the angel gives the shepherds exactly those two elements as a sign: “you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.” In verse 16, the shepherds find that the sign is true.
In the Greek of Luke 2, the word for wrapping in swaddling clothes is so rare that it appears nowhere else in the New Testament, only in these two verses. The manger comes up three times. The repetition isn’t there for color. It’s the proof.
Here’s a twist for art lovers: late medieval paintings often show the Child unwrapped and glowing with light, inspired by the vision of Saint Bridget of Sweden, as the Glencairn Museum points out. Strictly speaking, that goes against Luke’s text, but those paintings are no less beautiful for it.
Why December 25
Here’s what we know for sure: the first record dates from the mid-4th century. The Chronography of 354, a Roman document, includes the entry “VIII kal. Ian. natus Christus in Betleem Iudeae,” meaning the eighth day before the calends of January, birth of Christ in Bethlehem of Judea. It’s the oldest dated mention of December 25 as a Christian feast.
As for where the date comes from, two theories have competed for a century, and neither has won out.
The pagan-holiday theory is the best known. It says the emperor Aurelian founded a feast of the Unconquered Sun on December 25 in 274, and Christians later took it over. Today that’s widely questioned. According to historian Steven Hijmans’s work on the Roman sun cult, there’s no evidence of a sun festival on December 25 before the mid-4th century. Aurelian’s festival was held in October. The only clue, a listing of chariot races for Invictus, appears in the same Chronography of 354, with an odd number that suggests it was added later. The first sure mention of a sun festival on that date is a hymn by the emperor Julian in 362, after the Christian feast.
The calculation theory starts from March 25, believed to be the date of the Passion and, by extension, of Jesus’ conception. Add nine months and you get December 25. It goes back to the chronicles of Sextus Julius Africanus, around 221. Historian C. Philipp E. Nothaft supports it, though the title of his article, “In Defense of the Calculation Theory,” shows it’s still debated.
Bottom line: the only solid fact is one Latin line in a Roman calendar from 354. Everything else is theory, including (and here’s the twist) the “pagan feast” Christians supposedly replaced, which only shows up in the record after the Christian feast.
Placing him on Christmas Eve: a beautiful custom
It’s a very common practice: the manger stays empty until Christmas Eve, when the Child is laid in it, often by the youngest in the family.
We looked for an official text that requires it and didn’t find one. The Order for the Blessing of a Christmas Manger only says the blessing “may take place on the Vigil of Christmas or at another more suitable time.” It covers where the nativity goes in the church, not when to place the figure of the Child.
So it’s a custom, and a fitting one, since Christmas officially begins with the Vigil Mass on Christmas Eve. It’s no less beautiful for not being a rule. For prayers and traditions for that night, see praying before the nativity.
When the Child takes center stage
In most traditions, the Child is one figure among many. In a few, he becomes the centerpiece, and the meaning of the scene changes.
The most striking example is in Portugal. According to the news agency of the Portuguese bishops, some presépios in Lower Alentejo and the Algarve follow a different idea: enthronement. The nativity is built as a “throne or altar built in tiers,” with the Child standing at the top, crowned, holding a scepter and an orb, surrounded by oranges, greenery and sprouted seeds.
It’s more than a decorative twist. The scene no longer shows the birth but Christ the King: “At Christmas the Child Jesus appears glorious, triumphant.” The custom traveled with Portuguese emigrants to the Azores, Madeira and Brazil. See Portugal.
Italy has a long tradition of blessing the bambinelli, the Baby Jesus figures families bring from home. Rome’s Bambinelli Sunday, on the Third Sunday of Advent, has spread to some American parishes. European convents also made wax Infant Jesus figures for centuries, dressed in real embroidered baby clothes, though we haven’t found a solid museum source on that tradition yet.
Frequently asked questions
Why is the Baby Jesus wrapped in swaddling clothes?
Because Luke makes it a sign. The angel tells the shepherds they’ll find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger, and a few verses later they find exactly that. The swaddling clothes and the manger aren’t just details: they’re how the child is recognized.
Why do we celebrate Christmas on December 25?
No one knows for sure. The only solid fact is that the Chronography of 354, a Roman calendar, has the oldest dated mention of the feast. Two theories explain the date: that it replaced a Roman sun festival, or that it was calculated from March 25. The first is now widely questioned.
Did the “pagan feast of December 25” really exist?
It’s much less certain than people think. There’s no evidence of a sun festival on that date before the mid-4th century, and the festival Aurelian founded was held in October. The first sure mention of a sun celebration on December 25 dates from 362, after the Christian feast.
Should you wait until Christmas Eve to place the Baby Jesus?
It’s a very common custom, and a fitting one, since Christmas officially begins with the Vigil on Christmas Eve. But no Church text requires it: the Order for the Blessing of a Christmas Manger covers where and when the blessing happens, not when the figure is placed.
Is the Child always lying down in the nativity?
No. In some nativity scenes in southern Portugal, he stands at the top of a tiered throne, crowned, holding a scepter and an orb. The scene shows Christ the King rather than the birth.