SHOULD A CHRISTIAN CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS?
11/2002
W. ROSE

Dear fellow TRUTH SEEKER, please understand first of all that I ( or anyone for that matter) cannot legislate holiness. It must be a conscious DECISION made by you. Surely you know that you could do ‘all things’ that the bible teaches and still be far from Christ! He is looking for those who will worship Him in Spirit AND in TRUTH. In this or any writing you find on this site – please take it before the Lord and allow Him to show you through His word and His Spirit, that these writings are true. I seek to change no ones way of doing something, BUT I long to lead others into a fuller and TRUE relationship to Christ. If conforming to the will of God is not your cup of tea, then this will probably offend you and leave you angered. Please know that neither is my goal, my goal is that Christ may recieve ALL the Glory and honour due to Him, and that His name would be proclaimed through all the earth.

I am not going to go into deep exposures of all the origins of each individual practice associated with christmas, but I am going to approach this as much as possible with the principles taught in the Word of God. I believe that God, through His Word, has left us enough understanding concerning this ‘holy day’ that should alone be sufficient to persuade us into a correct approach to christmas. Please pray that God will open your eyes to His TRUTH and that the Holy Spirit will bear witness to these thoughts.

So, on with the question, Should a Christian celebrate christmas? NO!!!!!!!!!!

What do you mean – NO!! ? Isn’t christmas just that, a Christ-mass, or a day set aside to reflect on Christ and His birth? What about all the people who go to church on christmas? What about the 3 wisemen giving gifts to the newborn baby in the manger? How in the world could this celebration be something a Christian shouldn’t do, when it’s a Christian holiday? Think of all the beautiful timeless carols we sing every year, such as Silent Night, or What Child Is This, and so on. Doesn’t Christ receive glory and honor in all these things?

I’ll try to deal with these issues as thoroughly as possible. The first thing we must understand when dealing with this, is the origin of christmas. Where did it come from and how? Whether or not this matters to you, it should at least be known. I’m sure you could agree with that, as a TRUTH SEEKER. Surely you would never want to be willfully blind as to the origin of a holiday that enslaves the world as we know it!

I’m going to give you the origin in a brief way, not thorough, because all the little details do not change the main idea. Especially since there are differing views as to the minute details, however the history and time line are fairly the same in every case and there is much recorded history to verify it. So here is the origin of christmas in a nut-shell:

Long ago, in many different societies, they had a habit of worshiping the sun, not to be confused with the Son – Jesus. These people had many ways of expressing themselves to their god, the sun, by way of sacrifices, feasts, orgies, gift giving, among many other various ways. Most of the time these practices took place near or on the winter solstice, which is the time of the year, in our December, when the sun is furthest from the earth, and the day is shortest. The reason is because after the solstice, the days begin to get longer and the sun higher in the sky, so they considered this the birth of the sun, or the rising sun.

Well, these practices continued for a long time even till after Christ had come and gone and the New Testament written. For a long time after the birth of the early church, Christianity was against the law. We have all heard the stories of the many men and women, including Paul, Stephen, Justin Martyr, Polycarp, etc. who were killed (martyred) for their faith in Christ. But even during this time of great persecution, the Body of Christ grew at an alarming rate. It seemed like Satan’s plan to destroy the church wasn’t working like he thought it would. Even one of the early believers declared – “the blood of Christians is seed” meaning that every time one was killed their blood would bring forth more Christians by their testimony of love and faith. There is an old saying that goes – if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em – and that is just what Satan did, in a reverse sort of way. What happened was, a few hundred years later, in Rome, who by the way led the world in killing Christians, suddenly declared Christianity as the national religion!! Wow, what a blessing, — not quite!

Now, instead of it being against the law to be a Christian, it was now practically against the law NOT to be. Sounds absurd, doesn’t it? True, none the less. The devil tried for hundreds of years to destroy the church by killing them, to no avail, and it only took a few years to ‘destroy’ it by ‘joining’ it. Remember all those people who just couldn’t resist worshiping the sun? Now all of a sudden these folks were ‘Christians’. However their hearts were no more Christian than Satan himself, for the most part that is. I’m sure there were some true believers. They were so accustomed to their practices that they just couldn’t give them up for Christ. What were the Romans to do? What they did was marry the old festivals with newer and more upright meanings. So they said, o.k. you want your feasts, then you can have them, only now you must celebrate Christ instead of the sun god, or saturnalia or whoever. And the people were quite content with that, because now they could have their cake and eat it too – and they all lived happily ever after.

And now you know the brief story of how our modern day christmas evolved, it is a made over form of occult and pagan practices dating back thousands of years.

I know, I can already hear you saying – ‘But we don’t celebrate it that way, or we had no idea that was how it came about, or who cares, you aint taking it away from me because you can’t let the past go, after all this is the 21st century- man!!’ You know what? I don’t have the desire to argue with you, you will do what you want anyway, I’ve learned that early in my Christian walk. God knows your heart and the reasons why you neglect His Word and seek other gods. This is once again for those who WANT and DESIRE and LONG FOR the TRUTH. Not for the foolishly ignorant and blind religious zombies who repeat everything they hear and take no thought for their soul. I grieve for you, mister, if you will not heed God’s Word, He will not be mocked. Do you think you can do whatever you want and then slide into heaven and sup with Christ at His marriage feast? Was God just being symbolic that day He said – You will have NO other gods but Me? Did He not warn us in His Word to- “flee from idolatry”?

I should be able to stop here and any true seeker of Christ will throw christmas as far away from them as possible, but I know the heart and the stubbornness of it, because I too, was once resisting the TRUTH. Please, man of God, read on and let Christ open you up and expose your intents.

DOES THE BIBLE TELL US NOT TO CELEBRATE IT?

This is one of the main crutches people will lean on in defending their sacred ‘holy day’. Can I be honest with you? Is that any reason to do or not to do something? Only if the bible says so, or says not to do? What does the bible tell us to do when we take our car in to the shop to be fixed and the mechanic messes up and put our brakes in wrong, and we end up wrecking because of it? Show me the verse! Does that mean God doesn’t have a way in this example? Can we do what seems right in our own eye, if we can’t find a chapter and verse that tells us specifically what to do? Of course not! Then we must apply the same reasoning to the issue of celebrating ‘holy days’, to see whether there are ways in which God HAS revealed us His will, just in different ways, or terms. This is what we will approach in the next little bit – what does the bible say about all these ‘holy days’, especially christmas?

2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1 – “Do not try to work together as equals with unbelievers, for it cannot be done. How can right and wrong be PARTNERS? How can light and darkness live TOGETHER? How can Christ and the devil agree? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? How can God’s temple come to terms with pagan idols? For we are the temple of the living God! As God Himself has said, ‘I will make My home with My people and live among them; I will be their God, and they shall be My people.’ And so the Lord says, ‘ You must leave them and separate yourselves from them. Have NOTHING to do with what is unclean, and I will accept you. I will be your Father, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.’ All these promises are made to us, my dear friends. So then, let us purify ourselves from EVERYTHING that makes body or soul unclean, and let us be completely holy by living in awe of God.”

Let’s look closely at these verses and see how they apply. It is clearly telling us that God and the devil are complete opposites, and they have no common union. The modern day christmas is exactly that, a common union between darkness and light. Christmas has nothing to do with the birth of Christ and Honoring Him, if that were the case then why do you give gifts and set up trees and decorate them? Why do you hang mistletoe and light the yuletide fire? Why do you eat feasts and spend till you’re broke? Is ALL of this in Honor to Christ? Can you spend God’s money unjustly in Honor of Him? Can you practice pagan festivities in Honor of Christ? Don’t take my answer, what does the scripture say?

But you say, I DO all these things in honor to Christ. Next you will point to Romans 14 that says – “one man esteems all days alike, another esteems one day above another, but they both do it unto the Lord.” ‘Don’t judge me then, because I am esteeming December 25th in honor to the Lord. ‘ Nowhere in Romans 14 will you find a verse, thought or otherwise that gives any allowance of celebrating pagan festivities with ‘Christian’ names. In fact there are numerous scriptures directed the opposite way- In Acts 17, Paul told the city council that “since we are God’s children, we should not suppose that His nature is anything like an image of gold or silver or stone, shaped by the art and skill of man. God has overlooked the times when people did not know Him, but now He commands all of them everywhere to turn away from their evil ways.” Here he did not tell them to go ahead and keep their idol gods and pagan practices, just rename them to something more ‘spiritual’ to sanitize it, he told them to turn from it and repent.

It must take a truly ‘blind’ person to not understand that we cannot mix pagan and Spiritual things together and please God. The sanitizing of pagan practices by calling them biblical names is still pagan practices. Even though God overlooked your ignorance, if indeed it was, He now calls you to turn away from idolatry.

I believe one of the main reasons people do not flee this idolatry is because of the ramifications of such a ‘radical’ decision. I mean imagine all the explaining and arguing and debating and criticizing and laughing and on and on and on. But remember the object of a TRUTH SEEKER is TRUTH over everything. We must hate everything, and give ALL of ourselves to Christ or we are NOT HIS!! He says that we should have NO other gods- that means our god of christmas too! If you don’t think its such a god, then give it up. Quit all the pagan festivities and rites and white washed evil and watch the response of people who claim that christmas is not their god. It is a shame that we as Christians have allowed ourselves to be partakers of the devil’s table. Don’t we know that we can’t partake of both the Lord’s table and the devil’s table? We can only serve one master, who will it be?

But it’s so harmless and the children love it and we talk about Christ and His birth. Well, shouldn’t you be doing that ALL the time, not just on December 25? We should be doing that as we sit up and walk and rest and all the time! Everyday, our thoughts should be directed to our Lord and Savior. There is nothing wrong with teaching your children about His birth,, after all it is one of the most profound truth of the bible. However, there is a huge difference between that, and communing with the devil in his holy days. If you must celebrate His birth ON December 25th, then why can’t you drop all the side stuff and TRULY focus only on Him. No gifts, no trees, no stockings, no Santa Claus, no mistletoe, no carols, no cards, no shopping excursions, no office parties, no apple bobbing, no yuletide logs, no holly berries, no evergreen, no 3 wise men , etc. Just you, your children, and a bible. Can you do it? Or will you just die, because of all the FUN you’ve missed out on. Try it and you’ll quickly find out if it’s your god or not.

God wants us to worship Him and Him alone. There are many ways we can make other gods, even church can be our god. The bible can be our god. Giving money can be our god. Tithing can be our god. Speaking in tongues can be our god. But God wants to be our God, and NOTHING else.

SOME QUOTES FROM THE EARLY CHURCH

How many of you think the early church celebrated christmas, raise your hands? I wish I could see your hands right now, hopefully they’d be down, which would be the right answer. They rejected the pagan festivals and all the practices that went with them. Here are a few of their very own words regarding the subject –

Tertullian wrote in 200 a.d. – The saturnalia, New year, midwinter festivals, and matronalia are frequented by us! Presents come and go! There are new years gifts! Games join their noise! Banquets join their din! The pagans are more faithful to their own sect… For, even if they had known them, they would not have shared the Lord’s day or Pentecost with us. For they would fear lest they would appear to be Christians. Yet, we are not apprehensive that we might appear to be PAGANS!

Tertullian 212 a.d.- You Christians have your own registers, your own calendar. You have nothing to do with the festivities of the world. In fact, you are called to the very opposite- for “the world will rejoice, but you will mourn.”

Origin 248 a.d. – It would follow as a consequence that we could take part in the public feasts, if it were proved that the public feasts had NOTHING wrong in them and were GROUNDED upon true views of the character of God… However, the so-called public festivals can in NO WAY be shown to harmonize with the service of God. Rather, on the contrary, they prove to have been devised by men for the purpose of commemorating some human event- or to set forth certain qualities of water, earth, or the fruits of the earth. Accordingly, it is clear that those who wish to offer an enlightened worship to the Divine being will act according to sound reason and NOT take part in the public feasts.

Tertullian 200a.d. – He says ‘Let your works shine.’ But now all our shops and gates shine! Nowadays, you will find more doors of pagans without lights and laurel wreaths than those of Christians!…Do you say, ‘ But the lights in front of my doors, and the wreaths on my gate-posts, are an honor to God’? However, they are not there as an honor to God, but to him who is honored in God’s place through ceremonial observances of this kind.

As you can see, the slow evolution of Christians practicing the pagans festivals was beginning to happen, the only difference was that, the church leaders of those days weren’t blind to it and they did not over look the sins of the church, instead they exposed it for what it was and commanded the people to come out from the world and be separate. Can we say the same thing for the church today? Not even close is it!

There is a passage in Jeremiah that deals with this issue, although many people will deny that it has anything whatsoever to do with the christmas tree. You read it and see for yourself from a TRUTH SEEKERS perspective –

Jeremiah 10 – People of Israel, listen to the message that the Lord has for you. He says, ‘ Do not follow the ways of other nations; do not be disturbed by unusual sights in the sky, even though other nations are terrified. The religion of these people is worthless. A tree is cut down in the forest; it is carved by the tools of the woodworker and decorated with silver and with gold. It is fastened down with nails to keep it from falling over. Such idols are like scarecrows in a field of melons; they cannot speak; they have to be carried, because they cannot walk. Do not be afraid of them: they can cause you no harm, and they can do you no good.

Whether this passage deals directly with the christmas tree or something similar, it changes nothing. The message is that these heathen nations have practices observed to other gods and we are to not learn about them, but to avoid them. We know from history that the christmas tree is definitely from pagan practice, so does God say we should sanitize it, or flee from it?

If the evidence from scripture hasn’t convinced you by now, it probably never will. It must be clear that God wants us to have NOTHING to do with idols and pagan festivals, even if they are sanitized and white washed. I know this is not an easy thing to give up, but the Lord’s grace is sufficient for your need! He will give you the courage to face opposition in this decision. When will we as a church, the body of Christ, return to Him and flee every form of idolatry and paganism?

WHAT ARE SOME OF THE ORIGINS

In this section I will try to give you a few of the origins of some of the modern day christmas festivities and practices. Please know that there are varying opinions as to the exacts on some of these, but the message is the same, they came from pagan origins. –

December 25 date for christmas – History shows that December 25th was kept thousands of years before the birth of Christ. The Egyptians, the Babylonians, the Persians, the Romans etc., all celebrated December 25th as the birthday of their god – the Sun which was manifested in different forms according to culture. The birth of Jesus was not celebrated until the fourth century when Christianity adopted aspects of popular pagan cults, after becoming the state religion of Rome. (Pope Julius I decreed December 25th to be ‘Christ-mass’ Day in the year 351 A.D. The New Catholic Encyclopaedia Vol. 3, points out that the Sun-god was in fact proclaimed the patron of the Roman Empire on December 25, 274 A.D.!) December 25th, the time of the Roman winter solstice, was kept by pagans as the birthday of the Unconquered Sun, because on this date the sun began its return to the northern skies.

Gift giving – The giving of presents at Christmas time hails from the practice of giving gifts based on the belief that ‘he who does not give freely will be unlucky in the coming year’. Many people tell their children that gifts are brought to their homes by Santa Claus/St. Nicholas/the elf Jultomen or Julenissen etc. depending on the country in which they live. Does this practice show any regard for truth on the part of adults? And what might this do to children when they do discover that they were being lied to all this time?

Christmas tree/ mistletoe/ ivy – The Christmas tree is a survival of the idea of sacred trees in ancient times. Evergreens were used in mid-winter rites long before Christianity. Christmas is a ‘Christianized’ extension of a festival that included the pagan god-child Tammuz. It is interesting to note that Tammuz had another name – Baal-bereth, which means ‘Lord of the Fir-Tree’! The holly, the ivy and mistletoe were regarded as magical plants bearing fruit in a dead season. The berries of the holly were seen as powerful against witches. These berries were later said to represent Christ’s blood, and its prickles His crown of thorns; while the clinging ivy symbolized immortality. The mistletoe in particular, is said to have been a branch that miraculously grew from the side of a fir tree that had been cut almost to the ground and stripped of all its branches. This fir tree was a symbol of Nimrod who had been deified as the Sun-god. The miracle of the growth of the branch of mistletoe from this fir tree, was accomplished by the great serpent – Aesculapius, the life restorer, after it twisted itself around the stripped tree! The Aryan people later developed the belief that to be kissed under the mistletoe would ensure fertility. Pagan associations with the mistletoe, according to Encyclopaedia of Living Traditions, are still so strong that church decorators refuse to use it.

Decorating the christmas tree – The war-like Germanic people would promise their god – Tiwaz, that if he would give them victory over their enemies, they would give him all the spoils of battle. Like the Babylonians, they believed their gods could transform themselves into trees. If the god answered their prayers, they took their victims along with the spoils of war, to the sacred groves and there hung them on their sacred trees! The decorated Christmas tree has its origin in killing enemies and hanging their heads and the booty of war on pagan sacred trees. The Bible speaks of these ‘sacred’ groves in a number of places. (See 2 Kings 17:10,16,19; Ex.34:12, 13; Deut.12:2,3; 2 Chronicles. 33:19; Micah 5:14.)

Christmas shopping – Do you think this is something only our modern world knows, think again. The following quote is from the 4th century, by a Christian noting the Roman pagan holidays- “Everywhere may be seen…well-laden tables…The impulse to spend seizes everyone. He through the whole year has taken pleasure in saving…becomes suddenly extravagant…A stream of presents pours itself out on all sides.”

Santa Claus – Also known as “Father Christmas”, the myths and legends surrounding Santa Claus are a mixture of pagan customs from differing regions.
“Santa Claus” is a corruption of the name “Saint Nicholas”, a Roman Catholic bishop who lived in the 4th century. He was a saint honored by the Greeks and Latins on December 6th, for the legendary bestowal of dowries on the three daughters of an impoverished citizen – said to originate the custom of giving gifts in secret on the eve of St. Nicholas (December 6th), later transferred to Christmas Day.An important part of pagan festivities involved good and bad spirits – as in Halloween, followed by All Saints Day. In many regions, visitors being either good or bad spirits made their appearance during winter. Through blending pagan legends with traditions about saints, there emerged certain figures with similar personalities. Such figures are recognized today in different cultures as Santa Claus, Father Christmas, St. Nicholas, St. Martin, the Weihnachtsmann, Pere Noel. These figures – the Christianisation of German deities – perpetuate the themes of rewards and punishment being dealt out to celebrants of the festivals. Throughout the centuries, these customs came to be centered around children.The legend of Santa Claus entering the house through the chimney, and the hanging of socks and stockings by the fireplace, relates to the ancient superstitions around hearth spirits. The Chinese and others would traditionally sweep and scour the house in preparation for the visit by the hearth spirit. Dressed in a pointed red cap and red jacket, this fire god traveled from the heavens above, visiting homes to distribute favors or punishments.Each Christmas time today, children are told the lie about Santa Claus coming down the chimney to distribute gifts to them if they behaved themselves!! Sooner or later the children learns of the myth, many becoming disillusioned. Such disillusions are easily transferred to the beliefs in God and Jesus Christ – if Santa Claus doesn’t exist, then God and Jesus also doesn’t exist!!! The Scriptures plainly state, “Thou shalt not bear false witness”!!Far from adding to the “joy of Christmas”, the Santa Claus legends actually turn away souls from Jesus Christ, risking for them an eternity in Hell!! No true Christian should ever involve themselves in this abomination, the legend of Santa Claus, no matter how good it may seem for the children at the time!! God says, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but the end of it are the ways of DEATH”!! thanks to http://members.iinet.net.au/~gregga/santa.html

These are just a few of the main practices we so dearly hold to at christmas time.

CONCLUSION

I hope you know that my heart is not one of condemnation, but of love for my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. I want you to walk in TRUTH and not in falsehood and darkness. Celebrating this ‘holy day’ is trying to hold hands with God and the devil, and it can’t be done. You must choose this day whom you will serve!

So what is my advice for you if you want to join the few who still fear God and keep His commandments? First you must get down before God, with your whole family and repent for having idols and other gods besides Him. Next, go through your house and destroy any evidence of pagan influence, not just for christmas either, but all of it! You must tell all you know the TRUTH, so they will hear and have an opportunity to be saved from the wrath to come. You must stand firm, please understand, your family will come down on you like you wouldn’t believe. Stand firm in the Lord, brethren, don’t be ashamed of the gospel of TRUTH!!
Another thing is, don’t be taken in with compromises to do it on different days or sanitize it even more, cast it away. If you worship God on that day, which you should, do away with any known practice associated with christmas. Instead of carols, sing hymns unto God and bless His name! We must flee Babylon, which is this world we live in, we are strangers here, not citizens, for our citizenship is in heaven. Let’s live like we really believe that!!

If you have any questions regarding this issue, please email them to me. And as always – May the risen Lord receive the glory and may His name be magnified! Amen.

READ BELOW FOR THE WORLDBOOK ENCYCLOPEDIA ENTRY FOR CHRISTMAS-
you will clearly see that even the ‘world’ knows it is from pagan origins. What kind of witness is this to them?

WORLD BOOK ENCYCLOPEDIA – CHRISTMAS
Christmas is a Christian holiday that celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. No one knows the exact date of Christ’s birth, but most Christians observe Christmas on December 25. On this day, many go to church, where they take part in special religious services. During the Christmas season, they also exchange gifts and decorate their homes with holly, mistletoe, and Christmas trees. The word Christmas comes from Cristes maesse, an early English phrase that means Mass of Christ.

The story of Christmas comes chiefly from the Gospels of Saint Luke and Saint Matthew in the New Testament. According to Luke, an angel appeared to shepherds outside the town of Bethlehem and told them of Jesus’ birth. Matthew tells how the wise men, called Magi, followed a bright star that led them to Jesus.

The first mention of December 25 as the birth date of Jesus occurred in A.D. 336 in an early Roman calendar. The celebration of this day as Jesus’ birth date was probably influenced by pagan (unchristian) festivals held at that time. The ancient Romans held year-end celebrations to honor Saturn, their harvest god; and Mithras, the god of light. Various peoples in northern Europe held festivals in mid-December to celebrate the end of the harvest season. As part of all these celebrations, the people prepared special foods, decorated their homes with greenery, and joined in singing and gift giving. These customs gradually became part of the Christmas celebration.

In the late 300’s, Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire. By 1100, Christmas had become the most important religious festival in Europe, and Saint Nicholas was a symbol of gift giving in many European countries. During the 1400’s and 1500’s, many artists painted scenes of the Nativity, the birth of Jesus. An example of these works appears in the Jesus Christ article in the print version of The World Book Encyclopedia.
The popularity of Christmas grew until the Reformation, a religious movement of the 1500’s. This movement gave birth to Protestantism. During the Reformation, many Christians began to consider Christmas a pagan celebration because it included nonreligious customs. During the 1600’s, because of these feelings, Christmas was outlawed in England and in parts of the English colonies in America. The old customs of feasting and decorating, however, soon reappeared and blended with the more Christian aspects of the celebration.

In the 1800’s, two more Christmas customs became popular-decorating Christmas trees and sending Christmas cards to relatives and friends. Many well-known Christmas carols, including “Silent Night” and “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,” were composed during this period. In the United States and other countries, Santa Claus replaced Saint Nicholas as the symbol of gift giving.

The celebration of Christmas became increasingly important to many kinds of businesses during the 1900’s. Today, companies manufacture Christmas ornaments, lights, and other decorations throughout the year. Other firms grow Christmas trees, holly, and mistletoe. Many stores and other businesses hire extra workers during the Christmas season to handle the increase in sales.

The word Xmas is sometimes used instead of Christmas. This tradition began in the early Christian church. In Greek, X is the first letter of Christ’s name. It was frequently used as a holy symbol.

This article discusses Christmas (Christmas around the world) (The celebration of Christmas).

The celebration of Christmas

Religious practices. For most Christians, the Christmas season begins on the Sunday nearest November 30. This date is the feast day of Saint Andrew, one of the 12 apostles of Christ. The nearest Sunday is the first day of Advent, a four-week period during which Christians prepare for the celebration of Christmas. The word advent means a coming and refers to the coming of Jesus on Christmas Day.

Many Christians have an Advent wreath in their homes during the holiday season. Most of these wreaths are made of evergreen or holly branches and may lie on a table. Four candles, one for each Sunday of Advent, are placed among the branches. On the first Sunday, the family lights one candle and joins in prayer. They repeat this ceremony on each Sunday of Advent, lighting one additional candle each time. Three of the candles are purple, and the other one is pink. The pink candle is lit for the first time on the third Sunday, when people celebrate the beginning of the second half of Advent. On Christmas Day, all four candles may be replaced by four white ones, or a white candle may be added in the center. White symbolizes Jesus.

In many countries, people use special Advent calendars or Advent candles to keep track of the 24 days before Christmas. An Advent calendar has a colorful Christmas scene, and each date is printed on a flap. One flap is lifted daily to uncover a holiday picture or a Biblical verse. On an Advent candle, the dates appear in a row down the side. Each evening, the candle is lit and then burned down to the next date. By Christmas Day, the entire candle has melted.

During the Christmas season, many churches display a creche (Nativity scene). It shows figures of Mary and Joseph praying over the infant Jesus in the stable. Figures of the Magi, angels, shepherds, and various animals surround the Holy Family.

For many Christians, the Christmas season reaches a climax at midnight Mass or other religious services on Christmas Eve. Churches are decorated with candles, lights, evergreen branches, and bright red poinsettias. People sing Christmas carols and listen to readings from the Gospels of Saint Luke and Saint Matthew. Priests and ministers speak to the congregations about the coming of Christ and the need for peace and understanding among all people. Most churches also hold services on Christmas Day.

The Christmas season ends on Epiphany, January 6. In Western Christian churches, Epiphany celebrates the coming of the Wise Men to the Christ child. Among Eastern Christians, this day celebrates Jesus’ baptism. Epiphany falls on the 12th day after Christmas. The song “The Twelve Days of Christmas” refers to the 12 days between Christmas and Epiphany.

Gift giving. The custom of giving gifts to relatives and friends on a special day in winter probably began in ancient Rome and northern Europe. In these regions, people gave each other small presents as part of their year-end celebrations.

By 1100, Saint Nicholas had become a popular symbol of gift giving in many European countries. According to legend, he brought presents to children on the eve of his feast day, December 6. Nonreligious figures replaced Saint Nicholas in certain countries soon after the Reformation, and December 25 became the day for giving gifts.

Today, Santa Claus brings presents to children in many countries, including the United States, Canada, and Australia. A number of other countries have their own versions of Santa Claus, such as Father Christmas in the United Kingdom and Ireland, Pere Noel in France, and Weihnachtsmann in Germany.
Saint Nicholas still brings presents in some countries, including the Netherlands, Austria, Belgium, and parts of Germany. Children fill shoes with straw and carrots for his horse and place them in front of the fireplace. By morning, the straw and carrots have been replaced by presents. Youngsters in many Spanish-speaking nations have a similar custom. However, they leave the food for the camels of the Wise Men and put the shoes outside a window on the eve of Epiphany. The Magi place small gifts in the shoes during the night. The custom of hanging stockings by the fireplace probably developed from those traditions.

In some areas of northern Germany, Saint Nicholas’s assistant, Knecht Ruprecht (Servant Rupert), gives presents to good children. He gives whipping rods to the parents of bad ones. In Sweden, many children receive presents from the elf Jultomten, called Julenissen in Denmark and Norway.

In Italy, La Befana brings presents on the eve of Epiphany. According to legend, the Wise Men asked the kindly old witch to accompany them to see the infant Jesus. She refused, saying she was too busy and had to clean her house, and so she missed the wondrous sight. Each year, La Befana goes from house to house, leaving gifts and looking for the Christ child.

Christmas feasting. The year-end festivities of ancient European peoples included huge feasts, many of which lasted for several days. The preparation of special foods later became an important part of the Christmas celebration throughout the world.

At the first Christmas feasts, people roasted boars, pigs, and peacocks over large open fires. Today, roast turkey is the most popular main course in the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. In the United Kingdom and Ireland, people serve roast goose. Fish is the feature of Christmas Eve dinner in a number of countries. For example, Austrians eat baked carp and Norwegians dine on lutefisk (dried cod). Vegetables, relishes, hot breads, and a variety of other dishes accompany the main course of the Christmas feast everywhere.

Popular beverages served especially at Christmastime include eggnog in the United States and hot, spicy wassail in England. Many people in Sweden drink glogg, a hot punch made with spices, liquors, raisins, and nuts.

Favorite Christmas desserts in the United States include fruitcake, mince pie, and pumpkin pie. Plum pudding is traditional in Canada, the United Kingdom, and Ireland. The French serve a Christmas cake called buche de Noel, which looks like a miniature log. Italians finish their meal with torrone, a candy made of egg whites, honey, and nuts. Fruit-filled breads called stollen are favorites in Germany. In Mexico and other Latin-American countries, thin, round pastries called bunuelos are usually eaten with cinnamon and sugar.

Christmas decorations. The traditional colors of Christmas are green and red. Green represents the continuance of life through the winter and the Christian belief in eternal life through Christ. Red symbolizes the blood that Jesus shed at His Crucifixion. Christmas decorations that feature these colors include the Christmas tree, the Christmas wreath, holly, and mistletoe.

The Christmas tree probably developed in part from the “Paradise Tree.” This tree was an evergreen decorated with apples used in a popular play about Adam and Eve held on December 24 in medieval Germany. By 1605, some Germans decorated their homes with evergreens for Christmas. They trimmed the trees with fruits, nuts, lighted candles, and paper roses. Later decorations included painted eggshells, cookies, and candies.

The first Christmas trees in the United States were used in the early 1800’s by German settlers in Pennsylvania. During the mid-1800’s, the custom of trimming Christmas trees spread rapidly throughout the world. Today, some form of Christmas tree is part of every Christmas celebration. Decorations include tinsel, bright ornaments, and candy canes. A star is mounted on top of many Christmas trees and other Christmas displays. It represents the star that led the wise men to the stable in Bethlehem where Jesus was born.

The Christmas wreath, like the evergreens used as Christmas trees, symbolizes the strength of life overcoming the forces of winter. In ancient Rome, people used decorative wreaths as a sign of victory and celebration. The custom of hanging a Christmas wreath on the front door of the home probably came from this practice.

Holly is an evergreen tree with sharply pointed, glossy leaves and red berries. It is used in making Christmas wreaths and other decorations. The needlelike points of the leaves were thought to resemble the crown of thorns that Jesus wore when He was crucified. The red berries symbolized the drops of blood He shed.

Mistletoe is an evergreen plant with dark leaves and shiny white berries. Ancient Celtic priests considered the plant sacred and gave people sprigs of it to use as charms. The custom of decorating homes with mistletoe probably came from its use as a ceremonial plant by early Europeans. In many countries, a person standing under a sprig of mistletoe may be kissed.

Christmas carols. The word carol came from a Greek dance called a choraulein, which was accompanied by flute music. The dance later spread throughout Europe and became especially popular with the French, who replaced the flute music with singing. People originally performed carols on several occasions during the year. By the 1600’s, carols involved singing only, and Christmas had become the main holiday for these songs. Most of the carols sung today were originally composed in the 1700’s and 1800’s. They include “O Little Town of Bethlehem” and “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing.” The words of the famous carol “Silent Night” were written on Christmas Eve in 1818 by Joseph Mohr, an Austrian priest. Franz Gruber, the organist of Mohr’s church, composed the music that same night, and the carol was sung at midnight Mass. “O Holy Night” was introduced at midnight Mass in 1847. Adolphe Adam, a French composer, wrote the music. Popular nonreligious carols include “Jingle Bells” and “White Christmas.”

Christmas cards. The first Christmas card was created in 1843 by John Calcott Horsley, an English illustrator. It resembled a postcard and showed a large family enjoying a Christmas celebration. The message on the card read, “A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to You.” About 1,000 of the cards were sold. By 1860, the custom of exchanging Christmas cards had spread throughout the United Kingdom. The first Christmas cards manufactured in the United States were made in 1875 by Louis Prang, a German-born Boston printer.

Other customs. In some countries, especially the United Kingdom, France, and the Scandinavian nations, many families burned a Yule log at Christmastime. The log was a large piece of a tree trunk, and people kept an unburned part of it to light the next year’s log. Early Europeans believed the unburned wood had magic powers. It was thought that bad luck would follow if the Yule log fire went out. Today, these fires are confined to large public fireplaces, such as those in ski resorts.

Large numbers of people enjoy reading Christmas stories and poems during the holiday season. For example, A Christmas Carol (1843) by the English novelist Charles Dickens ranks as one of the most famous tales ever written. The poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas” (1823), popularly known by its first line, ” ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas,” is read aloud in many homes on Christmas Eve. Clement Moore, an American scholar, supposedly wrote this poem as a Christmas present for his children. Several musical productions are also Christmas traditions. They include The Nutcracker, a ballet by Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky of Russia, and Amahl and the Night Visitors, an opera by Gian Carlo Menotti of Italy.