THE HISTORY OF CHRISTMAS

Here begins a series of articles on the history of Christmas. The Advent Season (Advent means the "coming" of the Christ Child) is marked of the 4 Sundays before Christmas and is celebrated in the church calendar as one the most festive seasons of the year.

As we shall see, many of the traditions, customs, and stories of the Advent Season have Christian roots, and many have non-Christian sources. Some are legendary, and others are firmly rooted in history.

THE NATIVITY

It is ironic that the event that is the anchor for our current system of dating, i.e. BC and AD, should itself be unknown with any certainty. The Christmas feast itself was not among the earliest festivals of the church and did not enjoy general celebration until the 4th century. Agreement on the date of December 25 (in the West at least) did not occur until the early 5th century. The Eastern church's celebration is on January 6. It may be that Christmas was fixed at the end of December to supersede the pagan Roman 'Saturnalia', many of whose customs survive into the modern holiday. The ancient Romans decorated with holly, mistletoe, and evergreen and exchanged gifts and feasted. December 25 was the 'natalis invicti solis' or the birthday of the unconquerable sun, their date of the winter solstice, when the sun had reached its southernmost point and now began its northern climb in the skies as the days grew longer. December 25 was now to be known for the birth of the unconquerable Son.

Bill Petro, your friendly neighborhood historian