So what if the year has been a hard one, with too much happening all around? Once we are in October, Christmas seems waiting around the corner, with its glimmer of hope and promise of good times. The end of the year, unlike end of a century, is not ridden with hopelessness and tensions. Not when Christmas uplifts all glum outlooks, changing their very nature.
Christmas is celebrated by just about everyone in the U.S., in spirit at least, if not in practice. One can’t avoid it, with workplaces in full gear holding staff parties, and children’s schools holding class parties before the school’s closing for the holidays, with shops decorated, and television news constantly talking about Christmas shopping, and Hallmark channel showing all Christmas movies, and…
For Indian immigrants, participating in the Christmas spirit is not novel. The first generation had been celebrating Christmas in India in most cities and neighborhoods, perhaps not on such a large and commercial scale. For them, it has been just stepping up celebration a little to match the one in the U.S. The younger generation has known only the U.S. as their birthplace and have known Christmas always.
And so most Indian immigrants do the whole drill of putting up a Christmas tree, lighting up their houses, having Christmas lunches to make it a whole day event, cook special Indianized dishes to cater to vegetarians, planning and buying gifts and exchanging them, and going to the midnight mass, singing in the choir and singing carols, and eating the Christmas cake.
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Christmas celebration for Christians from India is deeply religious, with traditions they brought with them from India which were already adopted to be Indianized from the original church traditions (Baby Varghese: Syriac Liturgy in India: Syro-Malabar, Malankara Orthodox and Marthoma Liturgies).
St. Thomas Christians
Many Indians, specifically the St. Thomas Christians, also known as Nasranis, from Kerala, have historically ongoing ties to Syriac Christianity. They trace their ancestry to St. Thomas, one of the twelve apostles who were select followers of Jesus, and established churches in India in 52 A.D. before most of Europe (Stephen Neill: History of Christianity in India).
With strong ties with the East Syrian Church, these churches of the St. Thomas Christians had visiting bishops and clergy who brought East Syriac traditions which were later blended with Indian liturgies and traditions (Cyril Bruce Firth: An Introduction to Indian Church History).
Syrian Christians
Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church has ties with the West Syriac rites, having formed in the 16th and 17th centuries. They are ethnically Indian but used West Syriac liturgy and were called Syrian Christians.
Liturgy as defined by Oxford Languages is the formal, communal, public worship of a religious group. It is a structured set of rituals, prayers, readings, and ceremonies like hymns, scripture, sacraments, and specific actions that allow a community to actively participate in connecting with the divine, offering praise, thanks, or supplication.
The Syriac Orthodox Church of India (Jacobites) also uses West Syriac traditions, as do the Syro-Malabar (Catholic) and Mar Thoma (Anglican/Protesant) Churches (George Gispert-Sauch: Christianity in India: Two Thousand Years of Faith).
Indian Churches in the U.S.
Immigrating to the U.S. with these traditions, the Indian Christian community is diverse according to their ties. In the U.S., there are (1) the Syro-Malabar Catholics from Kerala who are the largest Indian Christian group in the U.S., (2) the Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church (reformed), (3) the Syro-Malankara Catholics, (4) the Latin Catholics, (5) the Jacobite Syrians, (6) St. Thomas Indian Orthodox Church, (7) the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, (8) the Church of South India (CSI, Protestant), (9) the Indian Evangelical Pentecostal Church of God, (10) the Malankara Orthodox Church and (11) the Jacobite Orthodox Church. These churches have services in Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and other languages.
However, as community leader George Abraham told News India Times in an interview, many churches now offer services in both the ethnic language and in English. “While the older immigrants like their service in their mother language, the younger generation born here likes them in English,” said community leader George Abraham.
Christmas Celebrations at Indian Churches
Indian churches in the U.S., including Syro-Malabar, Malankara Orthodox, and Mar Thoma, blend ancient Syriac celebratory traditions with ceremonies of the Western churches, drawing on Christian traditions of ancient Syria and non-Christian traditions of India, creating a unique blend of faith and culture specific to the community.
The Syro-Malabar Catholic Christians observes a 25-day Advent fast called Lent before Christmas.
The main celebration is sometimes late at night on Christmas Eve or early morning on Christmas Day, with Syriac prayers and rituals. The Christmas Eve liturgy starts outdoors with a Nativity procession with candles, frankincense and singing, ending in Christ being moved to the warm indoors. The nativity scene, when included in traditions, is recreated with unique elements including the Kreupasanam Mother Mary appearance.
Bishops and priests wear distinctive robes and head coverings, reflecting their Eastern lineage, according an article by the Archdiocese of Miami. Syro-Malabar churches sometimes also have unique “blessing of fire” ceremonies.
The community comes together for this celebratory event, singing carols, attending service, exchanging gifts and enjoying huge feasts.
The Syro-Malankara Orthodox or Indian Orthodox church also celebrates Christmas on December 25h as a religious event. A highlight of the Syro-Malankara church Christmas celebration is the ritual fire lit with palm leaves.
The Mar Thoma Syrian church shares similar traditions with the other two churches, adapting them to emphasize Syriac hymns, community worship, new traditions.
These churches, thus, bring together the ancient, vibrant Malayalam-Syriac traditions and create a unique blend of Eastern and Western with introduction of newer traditions in the U.S.
Abraham said most of the Christmas traditions are transplanted from Kerala. “People here in the U.S. put up a Christmas tree at home and give gifts to one another,” he said. Abraham said he has not seen many Nativity scenes in Indian churches, perhaps due to lack of space. But the Catholic and Orthodox churches put up a Nativity scene, he said.
“Essentially, Christmas celebrations in Indian churches are religious celebrations,” Abraham said. “All churches have traditions like carol singing outdoors going to the houses of members, Choir singing, a service for the Christmas Eve, exchanging of gifts and a feast,” he said.
“Basically, Christmas is a fun time, a time for celebration, for family get togethers with children and Christmas cakes,” Abraham said. The general sentiments are about love of Christ. Christians believe Christ is a savior, teaching us the values of redemption, upliftment, treating everybody equally, fairly and with respect. He refreshes our belief in charity and goodness, Abraham said. “The message of Christmas is that of a peaceful coexistence, of helping each other and building a peaceful community,” Abraham said.