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When a tempest brought the word of God
Historical records spell out the Christian influence in Sri Lanka even before the Portuguese invasion
By Lenard R. Mahaarachchi
Not many are aware of the advent of Christianity here, or how Christmas came to be celebrated in this Buddhist isle of ours. This Christmas marks the 499th celebration of Christ's birth in our country.

It was way back on March 24, 1505 that King Manuel of Portugal appointed Francisco de Almeida as the first governor of the east. Francisco received a fleet of 22 ships to voyage to India. He was to be followed by his son Lorenzo de Almeida, with a fleet of nine ships. However the latter could not make it to India as a storm broke out and Lorenzo's small fleet was tossed around the angry seas. Consulting the Chaplain on board, Lorenzo was advised to navigate the armada towards the Maldives.

They never landed there but instead reached the Galle harbour. Legend has it that it was night and they did not know where they had landed till a cock crowed at dawn and one of the crew shouted 'gala, gala' meaning cock which later brought the name Galle to that town. They sailed on and reached Colombo the nation's capital on November 15, 1505.

After landing, their first act was to thank God for saving them from the tempest.In 40 days time it was December 25 and Christmas day. This 40-day period is not without meaning in the Holy Writ and they celebrated Christmas for the first time here. They built a little prayer house in Colombo and Lorenzo dedicated it to his patron saint St. Lawrence. The Christmas service was celebrated by Rev. Fr. Vinces, the chaplain who had given them instructions to sail to Maldives. However, there are records of Christian influences long before Lorenzo’s landing.

The 5th century Persian cross found in Anuradhapura testifies to that in a remote way. Archaelogical expert Dr. Senarath Paranavithana was of the view that prince Migara and his princess were known to be adherents of Christianity. There is also speculation that St.Thomas and Bartholomew, two of Jesus's Apostles, visited Galle when visiting India in the first century.

It is also interesting to note that there is an ancient chronicle that mentions the presence of a church in Galle as early as the 6th century which is mentioned by a Nestorian historian. St. Francis Xavier is also supposed to have touched local soil on his way to Japan as mentioned in a book found in a Jesuit library.

The international community is celebrating Christmas for the I669th time while the Lankans do it for the 499th time. There was no Christmas during the church's first three centuries or so. In ancient Rome, there was a pagan festival kept in honour of the sun, which was called "Saturnalia" which even the early Roman Christians celebrated. Around 335 AD, Pope Liberius replaced the pagan fest with a celebration of the birth of the "Righteous Sun" (Jesus).

There was also another reason why Jesus's birthday was initially not kept as a celebration. In pagan Rome only the celebration of the emperor's birthday was allowed as he was considered lord of the empire. In due course the festival of Christ's birth came to be celebrated all over the Christian world.

Today unfortunately, there is too much materialism in the celebration of Christmas with the true meaning of the first Christmas which is peace and God's abiding love for mankind in sending His Only Son to be clothed in human flesh is often disregarded.

If Christmas is to have any meaning in our consumerist world, the celebrations need to be centred on basic Christian qualities of simplicity, worship, loving and giving. Let us bring back the peace and joy that the shepherds of the first Christmas night experienced.

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