The smell of evergreen, the warmth of hot chocolate, and the sound of Christmas carolers singing all throughout the neighborhood have begun to surround us, which means it’s everyone’s favorite time of year: Christmas! Although Christmas traditions may be altered in some ways more than others to adjust to the circumstances we are living in, that doesn’t mean that we have to celebrate any less than usual. Most people know Christmas as the time of the year where people are a bit more jolly, generous, and faithful. However, not everyone knows the true meaning of Christmas or even the history of where our favorite holiday originated. For instance, did you know that Christmas was not always celebrated on December 25th? Or, did you know that the song “Jingle Bells” was originally a Thanksgiving song? If you did, then you are a true Christmas savant, but those who did not know these fun facts: continue reading for a fun lesson of the history of the Christmas holiday.
Before Christmas was truly Christmas, people all over the world loved to celebrate the month of December in honor of the winter solstice. Winter has always been a time of celebration for people around the world even before the arrival of Jesus Christ. For instance, the earliest Europeans used to celebrate light and birth in the darkest days of the winter. Many people would also rejoice during the winter solstice when the darkest days of winter were behind them and they looked forward to the longer days and more sunlight. In Scandinavia, the Norse celebrate a traditional holiday called Yule from December 21 (the start of the winter solstice) into the month of January. Europeans celebrated the end of December by slaughtering enough cattle so they would not have to eat during the winter. Germans also were big fans of December. During this month they would honor the pagan god Oden, even though they were scared of him. They would stay inside their homes because they believed he made flights through the sky in the middle of the night to observe them and decide who would perish or prosper.
Many people don’t know that Christmas originated in Rome in 335, but did not become a major Christian holiday until the 9th century. The Romans came up with the name Christmas, meaning “the mass for Christ” on the day where Romans wanted to celebrate the birth of Jesus. There is actually no record of one person individually starting Christmas, so all of Rome gets the credit for creating the holiday. However, one thing Romans definitely did not create was a majority of the Christmas traditions. The Germans created some Christmas traditions, such as decorating trees, that eventually spread to other parts of the world like England and the United States. Pope Leo, the bishop of Rome, chose Christmas to combine with the Festival of Saturnalia, an ancient Roman pagan festival that honored agricultural god Saturn. From there, more and more people started to come into contact with the holiday and adopt it as their own.
What would Christmas be without good old Santa Claus? Not Christmas at all! Santa Claus, Saint Nicholas, and Kris Kringle are all names to describe the jolly fat guy who comes down the chimney once a year to bring you what you want—or not, depending if you were naughty or nice (hopefully nice). The legend of Santa Claus can be traced all the way back to a monk named St. Nicholas who was believed to be born sometime around 280 A.D. in Patara, near modern-day Turkey. He was admired for his kind and generous spirit, especially when it came to the poor and sick. His popularity spread throughout his country and he became known as the protector of children and sailors. The name Santa Claus came from his Dutch name Sinter Klaas, a shortened version of Sint Nikolaas. St. Nicholas was seen filling kids’ stockings with toys and hanging fruit over the fireplace in New York. As his popularity grew even more, he was described as a rascal wearing a blue three-cornered hat, red waistcoat, and yellow stockings. From there people recognized him as a Christmas icon, and he became the world wide phenomenon that he is today.
While this Christmas may look a little different this year, remember that while it’s nice to receive it feels even better to give especially after the year we’ve had. Have a safe and socially distanced Christmas!
https://www.history.com/topics/christmas/history-of-christmas
