From my previous post, Origin of the Christmas tree, we learned that St. Boniface is credited for the invention of the Christmas tree.  More importantly for this post, the first Christmas tree that he had invented (the word invent is used in broad terms) was a fir tree.

That fir tree had two key features that later symbolised the tradition of Chrismas trees that we know today.

From Athomeschool.com -

• The fir tree had a triangle shape. St. Boniface referred to the three points of the triangle as a sign of the Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit).
• The fir tree had evergreen leaves.  St. Boniface defined the color and it’s evergreen characteristic (leaves stay green throughout different seasons) as a symbol for eternal life.

Not surprisingly, among the faux trees, one of the more popular type is the fir artificial Christmas tree.  From within the fir tree type, there are subselections as well, such as Douglas, Fraser, Noble, Carolina, Sierra, Camdon, Virginia, Everbrite, Carolina, Bavarian, Montana, Alaskan, Spruce, Niko, and Pine Cone.  These trees are so realistic that they’re visually tough to distinguish from real trees.

Are you ever curious on how we come to celebrate Christmas with a Christmas tree?  There seem to be plenty of references leading to Christmas and many aspects of its tradition such as gift giving, Santa Claus, and the wreaths as originating from pagan traditions preceding Christianity in the Old World.

I suppose that it makes sense that Christmas has roots from the beliefs of people that were previously non-Christian and after they’ve been converted, some of their practices and traditions were too strong to simply just let go.  Hence, these traditions have evolved as part of what we know as Christmas today.

Christmas Tree Invented by Saint Boniface

Within the tenets of Christianity, it seems that the Christmas tree originated from Saint Boniface, the patron saint of Germany.  The story goes that St. Bonaface felled the sacred Oak of Thor after which Thor was suppose to strike him down for his insolence.  He was not stricken down.  Instead, a young fir tree sprung from the fallen oak and St. Bonaface claimed it as the new holy tree for Christ.

From there, the Christmas tree became the symbol of Christ for the German tribes.  Over the years, it became a universal symbol for Christmas.  It is also the reason why fir Christmas trees remain the standard today.