It is Saturday, August 2nd, 2014 and there are 145 days until Christmas.
Today is Santa Maria Day of Christmas. On this date way back in 1492 the Santa Maria set sail, one of three famed vessels commanded by Christopher Columbus. Her sailing would lead to a monumental moment of Christmas history.
For that has been written about Columbus there can be no doubt that he recognized the importance of the Church in his duties as an explorer. In finding these islands of the New World and naming one of them Hispanola (Little Spain) he needed the blessing of the Church to claim the lands for the king. So when he met the natives he made friends. In fact, the socializing of Columbus and his crew caused a lot of problems and not because of their religious piety.
The Taino natives were friendly and welcoming. When Columbus and company tried to tell them about the celebration of Christmas things got a little out of hand with the rum and the Taino women. When the Santa Maria lodged in a reef on Christmas Day Columbus ordered the wreckage to be used to build a small fort and establish a settlement he would call La Navidad. Once established Columbus declared he was returning to Spain to report to the king and to bring a rescue ship for those seaman who of necessity would have to be left behind.
Columbus instructed them to be friendly to the natives and to stay away from their women.
Some historians still call this first Christmas in America an accident. Others call it a shrewd maneuver to manipulate the Church in declaring these far fetched islands in the name of Spain.
Columbus did return about a year later. He found La Navidad destroyed, his men dead, and the natives not quite so welcoming this time around.
The character of Columbus has been lively debated ever since. But Christmas had now come to America’s shores. And while it took about 120 years it would become firmly established as the defacto home of the modern Christmas worldwide.
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