WHAT IS CHRISTMAS?

Many people think that Christmas is celebrated on December 25 every year because it is the day Jesus was born, but this knowledge is false. The bible does not say when he was born and the clues like shepherds guarding their flocks outside gives hints that he might have been born in the Spring. Pope Julius I picked the date December 25 in 350 AD and was formalized in 529 AD when Roman Emperor Justinian declared Christmas as a federal holiday.

The word Christmas comes from the Old English word CRISTES MAESSE meaning “Christ’s Mass”, which refers to the Catholic tradition of holding a special mass ceremony to celebrate the birth of Jesus. Today Christmas is both a religious and cultural holiday celebrated all over the world. After Jesus died, early Christians focused on his crucifixion and resurrection making Easter the big Christian holiday. However, three centuries later, when the Christian Church had become larger and more influential, religious and political leaders wanted a way to make the Christian holidays more popular, combining Christmas and the winter solstice was a solution.

The early Christmas celebrations were a combination of pagan and christian tradition resulting in activities like bonfires, trading treats for tricks and Mardi Gras- like bacchanals in the streets. The holiday was known for debauchery and the Pilgrims strongly discouraged celebrating it, as a result Christmas was forgotten. It started to gain popularity again in the mid-1800s as two famous books ‘A Christmas Carol’ by Charles Dickens and ‘The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent’ by Washington Irving portrayed Christmas in a warm, family-friendly way. On June 26 1870 President Ulysses S. Grant declared Christmas to be a U.S. national holiday.

Where did Saint Nick come from? The jolly old elf with the magical sleigh came from the story of a humble monk named St. Nicholas who was born in Turkey around 280AD. St. Nicholas acquired his sainthood after giving away all his wealth to help the poor and the needy. He became known as the patron saint of children and has his own honorary day on December 6. Coca-Cola in 1900s was the company that came with the default image of Santa with a warm, elderly man with rosy cheeks and a white beard and twinkling eyes in their advertisements.

There are several Christmas traditions including watching Christmas movies, singing Christmas carols, decorating Christmas trees, giving gifts, decking your hall, creating a festive dinner table, eating popular Christmas foods like cookies, honey ham and candy canes and much more.