It should not be surprising that Pope Benedict appreciates the value of the Christmas Tree, which originated in the land of his birth, Germany. He even sees an evangelistic value to this venerable tradition:

The Christmas tree — with its journey from a dark forest to the brilliance of decorative lights — represents every Christian, called to share the message that the Light of the world has become man.

This was a comparison made by Benedict XVI today when he addressed a delegation from Belgium, which provided the Christmas tree for St. Peter’s Square this year.

“In the forest,” the Holy Father said, “the trees are close together and each one of them contributes to making the forest a shadowy, sometimes dark, place.”

“But here,” he continued, “chosen from among this multitude, the majestic tree that you offered us is today lit up and covered with brilliant decorations that are like so many marvelous fruits.”

“Leaving aside its dark garments for a brilliant explosion, it has been transfigured, becoming a beacon of light that is not its own, but rather gives testimony to the true Light that comes to this world,” the Pope suggested.

Our own family Christmas Tree always has a lot of red apple ornaments on it. This particular ornament also has Germanic origins: during the Christmas season, many German towns would hold a play which would tell the story of Christmas and start “In the Beginning”, with the Fall of Adam. A tree would be centrally located on the stage, and of course it would have apples on it, which Adam and Eve would unwisely eat every time. Over time people began to have trees in their own homes and it would inevitably include some tempting-looking apples.

Thus, the Christmas Tree points us both to the Tree that led to Death as well as the Tree that leads to Life.

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