Monday, December 23, 2013

X for

ABC Wednesday

The letter is X and it stands for
 
which is the Greek symbol for Christ, being the upper case forms of the letter X (ch)
and P (r) in the Greek alphabet.
 
As far back as 1021 there are references in the Anglo Saxon Chronicle
where Christ was often written as Xp or Xt
 
and so this shortened form of Christmas (Xmas) is not as modern
as we might think, or a careless way of referring
to the birthday of the Christ child
(as in, ' U R a Holy Child)
but an ancient and historic symbol.
 
The figure above is called a laburnum, an amalgamation of the two Greek letters,
and is often used in Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox churches.
 
And even, it seems, it was used by Santa in this l910 Christmas card.....
 
 
I echo his wishes and send you all best wishes for happiness and Christmas blessings.
 
For more Merry X's click here to reach Roger and Denise and their helpful elves
at ABC Wednesday.

11 comments:

Penny said...

Happy Christmas Hildred.

Dimple said...

Interesting post, Hildred.
Merry Christmas!

Powell River Books said...

Interesting explanation. Have a merry Xmas! - Margy

uberrhund said...

Oh my gosh Hildred! I just posted nearly the same thing for letter "X"!
Different take and different postcard.
Wishing you a Merry Xmas indeed this year!
Janis

Leslie: said...

And to you, too, and your family.

Leslie
abcw team

Roger Owen Green said...

I love being an elf! Merry Xmas!

ChrisJ said...

Glad to have all that information, Hildred. When things have calmed down around here a bit, I'm going to look into all this a bit more. I'm familiar with the symbol but didn't know its history and meaning. May you have a truly blessed Christmas.

Louisette said...

Love much your post, best wishes for a Merry Christmas Day and a Happy New Year from Belgium

Kate said...

I just read a similar explanation by a blogger who was justifying her use of "Xmas." Hope that your holiday is happy! Kate, ABC Team

Ann said...

Hope you are enjoying the Season of The Christ Child!
Ann

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

I am late, but want to wish you joy at this Holiday Season.