Below, Jacques Prudhon, President of the Association of Les Amis de St Colomban, based in the French city of Luxeuil les Bains, where St Columban founded a monastery in 590AD, retells a local Christmas tale about the Christmas tree and St Columban.
The current tradition of the Christmas Tree dates back to 16th century when Christians in Germany decorated pine trees with lights and symbols to celebrate the birth of Jesus.
However, the custom of hanging lanterns with candles on trees on Christmas night dates to the early medieval monasticism across many parts of Europe.
In light of greater awareness of the need to care for the Earth and the challenges of climate change, we are suggesting that if you decorate your home with a Christmas tree, even an artificial one, why not plant a tree this Christmas as a contribution to protecting the environment.
A Christmas Tale
Christmas tree in the cloister in Luxeuil which is light up in the Irish colours. Image: Jacques Prudhon/Les Amis de St Colomban.
In the Vosges Valley a beautiful story is told on Christmas Eve. Irish monk, St Columban, during his first Christmas with his brothers in his monastery of Annegray, noticed that the birth of the baby Jesus went unnoticed by the local population.
He decided to climb the hill of the Church of St Martin where a majestic fir tree spread its branches and imposed its presence and strength. The druids saw in him a sacred tree.
St Columban decided to light torches and lanterns to hang on the branches of the tree. The local people, surprised by this light, interpreted it as a call to gather under the tree where St Columban told them about the Nativity, the birth of the baby Jesus.
Today on St Martin’s Mountain, a fir tree presides alone near the chapel on the hill.
Winter Solstice sun beaming through the Bangor Bell at Bangor Abbey, Co Down. From here, St Columban set out on a 1400-mile journey across western Europe in 585AD. Image: By NorthLight PhotoArt/Shutterstock
In France, the ruins of St Columban’s first monastery at Annegray are legally protected through the efforts of the Association Internationale des Amis de St Colomban, which purchased the site in 1959. The association also owns and protects the site containing the cave, which acted as Columbanus’ cell, and the holy well, which he created nearby.
Happy Christmas to all under the protection of St Columban and all the saints of the monastery of Luxeuil!
For further information on St Columban and the Columban Way visit Turas Columbanus on Facebook – www.facebook.com/turascolumbanus
First published in the Far East magazine December 2021. Please subscribe here and support our missionaries and their projects helping the poorest and most marginalised in 17 countries. Subscribe here: https://columbans.ie/product/far-east-magazine-yearly-subscription/