God Rest you, Merry Christians by Maud Van Buren

Name: God Rest you, Merry Christians
Author: Maud Van Buren

On Christmas Eve, the Rumsey household is engulfed in the exhausting rush of wrapping presents, arranging dinner, controlling children, and fulfilling every conventional demand of Christmas. Mrs. Rumsey, assisted by her married daughter Florrie, complains that Anne Rumsey alone stands apart from the “Christmas spirit” because she neither shops nor prepares gifts. Anne’s father, John Rumsey, is equally worn out from a last-minute search for presents. Anne, however, enjoys the season in another way. Lying before a hickory fire she has personally procured, surrounded by crimson curtains, holly, snow, and the warmth of her home, she finds joy in beauty, memory, children, and the meaning of Christmas. She has decorated the tree openly rather than hiding it from the children, furnished the house with flowers, and filled the rooms with color and festivity. Hearing Florrie’s children dismissed so that they will not see the preparations, Anne reflects that Christmas belongs to babies and boys, and above all means “A Baby.” In the room containing the glittering tree and rich holiday food, Anne imagines the wise men crossing the sands beneath a star. Yet the household’s luxurious display makes her think of the simple life of Galilee and of the poor home in which Jesus lived. Reading passages about that simplicity, she looks at a picture of Mary and the child Jesus and meditates on the peasant Baby whose life would lift the human ideal above material things. While Anne plays and sings a Christmas noël, tensions upstairs reach a crisis. John Rumsey tells his wife that Donald Page has arrived and has been invited to dinner. Anne had written to Donald and given her father the letter for approval; John has finally sent it, believing she has waited long enough for her mother’s consent. Mrs. Rumsey objects to Donald as a man “come up out of the ranks,” provoking John to remind her that he too is self-made. Their painful exchange ends in reconciliation as Anne’s singing evokes the sacred meaning of the night. Downstairs, Anne lovingly receives little John, then meets Donald Page when he enters from the snow. In a gesture of wholehearted surrender, she lifts her face to him and is kissed. By the end of the evening, even as gifts and merriment fill the house, Anne’s sister-in-law still judges her for giving no Christmas presents, unaware that Anne has given herself to the season through beauty, generosity, spiritual reflection, love of children, and her acceptance of Donald.

By Maud Van Buren · First published 1927 · Genre: Domestic Drama, Literary Fiction, Christmas Fiction · 4,637 words

First lines

_George Madden Martin_

It was the night before Christmas. Any Christian must have known / it, apart from the calendar, by reason of a driving, haunting sense / of things yet undone, and a goaded gathering together of exhausted / faculties for a final sprint towards the accomplishing of all before / the dawning of The Day.[6]

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God Rest you, Merry Christians is listed on Textopian as a short story by Maud Van Buren, dated 1927 CE.

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Work type: Short story
Author: Maud Van Buren
Date: 1927 CE
Language: English
Genres: Domestic Drama, Literary Fiction, Christmas Fiction, Romance, Social Commentary
Length: 4,637 words
Structure: 1 section, 94 paragraphs
Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)

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Genres

Domestic Drama — The narrative centers on family relationships and Christmas Eve tensions within the Rumsey household, exploring conflicts between Anne and her mother, between her parents, and family dynamics around gift-giving and traditions.
Literary Fiction — The work employs sophisticated, lyrical prose with introspective passages, philosophical reflections, and rich sensory descriptions characteristic of early twentieth-century literary fiction rather than commercial fiction.
Christmas Fiction — The Christmas Eve setting is central to the narrative structure and themes, with the entire story built around holiday preparations, traditions, and their spiritual and material significance.
Romance — A romantic subplot involving Anne and Donald Page constitutes the story's conclusion, with their meeting and kiss forming a significant emotional climax, though secondary to the family drama.