[china_mm019]

Hi, I'm eighteen years old and I'm a CCD teacher, meaning I teach religion to second graders. This week we need to talk about them about x-mas and its meaning.

So I would like to ask anyone if they know that history of the candy cane?

Or what about what is advent? And what's the real meaning of x-mas? I know what it means I just need it simple so my second graders can understand me. Thank you.

[JoeCanada76]

The History of Candy Canes

Legend has it that in 1670, the choirmaster at the Cologne Cathedral in Germany handed out sugar sticks among his young singers to keep them quiet during the long Living Crèche ceremony. In honor of the occasion, he had the candies bent into shepherds' crooks. In 1847, a German-Swedish immigrant named August Imgard of Wooster, Ohio, decorated a small blue spruce with paper ornaments and candy canes. It wasn't until the turn of the century that the red and white stripes and peppermint flavors became the norm.

In the 1920s, Bob McCormack began making candy canes as special Christmas treats for his children, friends and local shopkeepers in Albany, Georgia. It was a laborious process - pulling, twisting, cutting and bending the candy by hand. It could only be done on a local scale.

In the 1950s, Bob's brother-in-law, Gregory Keller, a Catholic priest, invented a machine to automate candy cane production. Packaging innovations by the younger McCormacks made it possible to transport the delicate canes on a large scale.

Although modern technology has made candy canes accessible and plentiful, they've not lost their purity and simplicity as a traditional holiday food.

Advent -

Is a celebration, a christmas celebration.
Christ in Christmas: A Family Advent Celebration
MAKE THIS HOLIDAY SEASON YOUR MOST MEMORABLE EVER! Most of us prepare for Christmas by shopping, traveling, baking, bustling, wrapping gifts, and sending cards. By the time December 25th rolls around, we're exhausted! But there is a better way to prepare for the Christmas season-it's called Advent, and it takes place during the four weeks preceding Christmas. Advent refers to the "coming" or "arrival" of Jesus Christ, and its purpose is to help us find special moments during the Christmas season to ponder and celebrate Christ's coming to earth. Family experience all the warmth and richness of our most treasured holiday season with Christ in Christmas: A Family Advent Celebration.

[shenda]

Your seek is honorable; however, the source needed to reach your students rest within you, as you seek the Spirit of Truth that shall lead and guide you. Rely on that source to help you deliver that which is profitable to the selected students you have stewardship over. I understand the whole safety in numbers program; however, it is important for you to remember that you are planting seeds into fertile ground that must germinate, take root and flourish. The students in your realm of influence have need of what lies inside. Surrender to the leading of the Holy Spirit, who is able to put the words in your mouth, meat for the student's understanding.

[Morganite]

history of the candy cane?

Or what about what is advent?

whats the real meaning of Christmas?

It is a Myth that Candy canes were created to symbolize Jesus, their shape representing the letter "J" and their colors standing for the purity and blood of Christ. The Myth circulates evry year during the Christmas period, ususall in this form:

A candymaker in Indiana wanted to make a candy that would be a witness, so he made the Christmas Candy Cane. He incorporated several symbols from the birth, ministry, and death of Jesus Christ.

He began with a stick of pure white, hard candy. White to symbolize the Virgin Birth and the sinless nature of Jesus, and hard to symbolize the Solid Rock, the foundation of the Church, and firmness of the promises of God.

The candymaker made the candy in the form of a "J" to represent the precious name of Jesus, who came to earth as our Savior. It could also represent the staff of the "Good Shepherd" with which He reaches down into the ditches of the world to lift out the fallen lambs who, like all sheep, have gone astray.

Thinking that the candy was somewhat plain, the candymaker stained it with red stripes. He used three small stripes to show the stripes of the scourging Jesus received by which we are healed. The large red stripe was for the blood shed by Christ on the cross so that we could have the promise of eternal life.

Unfortunately, the candy became known as a Candy Cane -- a meaningless decoration seen at Christmas time. But the meaning is still there for those who "have eyes to see and ears to hear." Every time you see a Candy Cane, remember the Wonder of Jesus and His Great Love that came down at Christmas, and that His Love remains the ultimate and dominant force in the universe today.


Variations: Candy canes are also said to have been created:

* As a sweet treat for children who behaved well in church

* As a form of identification among Christians during a time of persecution


The truth is that red-and-white-striped, sugary candy cane can be found everywhere at Christmastime. It's as much an ornament as it is a confection, and people munch these treats and decorate with them, scarcely giving a thought to just where candy canes came from in the first place.

It has become fashionable of late to claim that the candy cane was not only designed to be fraught with Christian religious symbolism, but that it was created as a means by which persecuted Christians could furtively identify each other. Like the apocryphal tale of the "true" meaning of the song "The Twelve Days of Christmas," these claims are fiction — latter day attempts to infuse secular Yipes, stripes! Holiday traditions with specifically religious origins and meanings.

First off, the notion that candy canes could have been used as a secret means of identification by persecuted European Christians is directly contradicted by history. Candy canes didn't appear until at least the latter part of the 17th century, by which time Europe was almost entirely Christian. By then, people who were not Christians were the ones in need of this form of "secret handshake"!

Candy canes were most assuredly NOT created by "a candymaker in Indiana" who "stained them with red stripes to show the stripes of the scourging Jesus received."

Candy canes were around long before there was an Indiana, and they initially bore neither red coloration nor striping — the red stripes were a feature that did not appear until a few hundred years later, at the beginning of the 20th century:

About 1847, August Imgard of Ohio decorated his Christmas tree with candy canes to entertain his nephews and nieces. Many who saw his canes went home to boil sugar and experiment with canes of their own. It took nearly another half century before someone added stripes to the canes . . . Christmas cards produced before 1900 show plain white canes, while striped ones appear on many cards printed early in the 20th century.1

In fact, the strongest connection one can make between the origins of the candy cane and intentional Christian symbolism is to note that legend says someone took an existing form of candy which was already being used as a Christmas decoration (i.e. straight white sticks of sugar candy) and produced bent versions which represented a shepherd's crook and were handed out to children at church to ensure their good behavior:

Soon after Europeans adopted the use of Christmas trees, they began making special decorations for them. Food items predominated, with cookies and candy heavily represented. That is when straight, white sticks of sugar candy came into use at Christmas, probably during the seventeenth century.

Tradition has it that some of these candies were put to use in Cologne Cathedral about 1670 while restless youngsters were attending ceremonies around the living crèche. To keep them quiet, the choirmaster persuaded craftsmen to make sticks of candy bent at the end to represent shepherds' crooks, then he passed them out to boys and girls who came to the cathedral.

Claims made about the candy's religious symbolism have become increasingly widespread as religious leaders have assured their congregations that these mythologies are factual, the press have published these claims as authoritative answers to readers' inquiries about the confection's meaning, and several lavishly illustrated books purport to tell the "true story" of the candy cane's origins.

This is charming folklore at best, and though there's nothing wrong with finding (and celebrating) symbolism where there wasn't any before, the story of the candy cane's origins is, like Santa Claus, a myth and not a "true story."

"Advent" is the season leading up to Christmas Day.

X-mas, is an abbreviation for Christ-mass. The 'X' is the Greek letter Chi, similar in shape to the 'X,' and is the first letter of Christos. X-mass, or Xmas, means Christ-mass, or the celebration of Christ.


Merry Christmas to you and your pupils.

MORGANITE

:)

[magic11221959]

The Legend of the Candy Cane
A significant symbol of Christmas is the simple Candy Cane.
It's shape is the crook of the shepherd, one of the first who came.
The lively peppermint flavor is the regal gift of spice.
The white is Jesus' purity.
The red is sacrifice.
The narrow stripes are friendship, and the nearness of His love.
Eternal, sweet compassion; a gift from God above.
The Candy Cane reminds us all of how much God cared,
And like His Christmas gift,
To use it's meant to be broke and shared.


A CANDYMAKER'S WITNESS

A Candymaker in Indiana wanted to make a candy
That would be a witness, so he made the Christmas Candy Cane.
He incorporated several symbols for the birth, ministry, and
Death of Jesus Christ.


He began with a stick of pure white,
Hard candy. White to symbolize the Virgin Birth and
The sinless nature of Jesus and hard to symbolize the
Solid Rock, the foundation of the Church, and
Firmness of the promise of God.
The candymaker made the candy in the form
Of a "J" to represent the precious name of Jesus
Who came to earth as our Savior. It could also
Represent the staff of the "Good Shepherd"
With which He reaches down into the ditches of the
World to lift out the fallen lambs who, like all sheep,
Have gone astray.
Thinking that the candy was somewhat plain,
The candymaker stained it with red stripes. He used three small
Stripes to show the stripes of the scourging Jesus received
By which we are healed. The large red stripe was for
The blood shed by Christ on the cross so that we could
Have the promise of eternal life.
Unfortunately, the candy became known
As the Candy-Cane - a meaningless decoration seen at
Christmas time . But the meaning is still there for
Those who "have eyes to see and ears to hear".
I pray that this symbol will again be used to witness
To the Wonder of Jesus and His Great Love that came down
At Christmas and remains the ultimate and dominant
Force in the universe today.


The tradtional candy can was born over 350 years ago,
When mothers used white sugar sticks as pacifiers
For their babies. Around 1670, the choirmaster of
Cologne Cathedral in Colonge, Germany, bent the sticks
Into canes to represent a shepards staff. He then used
These white candy canes to keep the attention of small
Childern during the long Nativity service.

The use of candy canes during the Christmas service spread
Through out Europe. In northern Europe, sugar canes decorated
With sugar roses were used to brighten the home at Christmas
Time.

In the mid 1800's, the candy cane arrived in the U.S.
When a German-Swedish immigrant in Wooster,Ohio , decorated
His spruce tree with paper ornaments and white sugar canes.
The red stripe was added to the candy cane at the turn of the
Century, when peppermint and wintergreen were added and became
The traditional flavors for the candy cane.

Some sources say that a candy maker in Indiana developed
The cane as a witness of Christs love. (see story above)
While we may never know the full history of the candy cane,
We can share in the truth behind it's symbol, the truth
Of Christ's birth and redemption, and the gift of
His love.
The book The Legend of the Candy Cane

:D :D :D :D :D