Christmas (in Spanish, Navidad), celebrated on December 25th, is meant to commemorate and memorialize the birth of Jesus Christ, who saved many souls, brought miraculous healing to others, gave hope to many hopeless, angered the Pharisees and Romans alike, and who ultimately suffered an extremely brutal, painful death on the cross to rid generations of their sin. The legacy of the Messiah Jesus Christ spread from the Levant to many other parts of the world, including Europe (spread by the Roman Empire when they eventually adopted Catholicism to replace their traditional pagan religions), Africa, Asia, and even the New World, where it was spread by mainly Spanish, Portuguese, French and British colonists. Prior to the founding of the United States, however, the first known Christmas was celebrated in what is today the State of Florida by the members of the Hernando de Soto expedition many centuries ago. After sailing from the port of Havana on May 18th, 1539, Hernando de Soto and his expedition of 600 soldiers on around nine ships arrived in the Tampa Bay on May 25th, 1839. After crossing the Aucilla River and entering the Apalachee village of Anhaica in October 1539, they had noticed that they were alone since the Apalachee Indians, drawing from their past negative experiences with the 1528 Pánfilo de Narváez expedition, had evacuated the village in anticipation for their arrival.
There, Hernando de Soto and his men set up camp, and for several months, they survived on a diet of corn, beans and meat. On December 25, 1539, since there were several Catholic priests on the expedition, Hernando de Soto and his men decided to commemorate the birth of Jesus while at the camp. As a result, a traditional Christmas mass was held at the camp, however please be aware, that there was likely no major feast, no gifts exchanged, and no “Christmas Cheer”. Seeing that life at the camp was very dangerous, following the mass, the members of the de Soto Expedition likely went straight back to their daily duties, such as building new supply lines and finding new travel routes. They all remained at the winter camp until March 1540, and from there, they made their way further north on their quest to find precious gold.
This Christmas, when you celebrate the birth of Christ, remember that there is a long history of the holiday being celebrated in what we call the United States. But most of all, remember the story of the man who died a painful death for what he believed in and stood for, who ultimately decided to cleanse us of our sins, whose teachings set the foundation for the cause of making the world a better place daily and who ultimately defied not only the deplorable lows of the sin and greed of others, but even death. Merry Christmas to all, and enjoy your time with family as well as your hearty meals!
Beautiful story