History of Christmas

• Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ.

• It is celebrated by Christians primarily on December 25, in the Gregorian calendar.

• Christmas is a public holiday in many countries, is celebrated religiously by a majority of Christians, and forms an integral part of the holiday season organized around it.

• The traditional Slavic name for Christmas is Koleda.

• In addition to "Christmas", the holiday has had various other English names throughout its history.

• The English word "Christmas" is derived from the Old French noël or naël, itself from the Latin nātālis (diēs) meaning "birth (day)".

• The term derives from Middle English Cristenmasse, meaning "Christian mass".

• Xmas is an abbreviation of Christmas found particularly in print, based on the initial letter chi (Χ) in Greek Khrīstos (Χριστός) ("Christ"), although some style guides discourage its use.

• The English word "Christmas" is a shortened form of "Christ's Mass".

• The gospels of Luke and Matthew describe Jesus as being born in Bethlehem to the Virgin Mary.

• In the East, the birth of Jesus was celebrated in connection with the Epiphany on January 6.

• Christmas was promoted in the East as part of the revival of Orthodox Christianity that followed the death of the pro-Arian Emperor Valens at the Battle of Adrianople in 378.

• The first recorded Christmas celebration was in Rome on December 25, AD 336.

• The calculation hypothesis suggests that an earlier holiday, the Annunciation (which celebrated the conception of Jesus), held on March 25 became associated with the Incarnation.

• Christmas was then calculated as nine months later.

• The calculation hypothesis was proposed by French writer Louis Duchesne in 1889.

• The Bible in Luke 1:26 records the annunciation to Mary to be at the time when Elizabeth, mother of John the Baptist, was in her sixth month of pregnancy (cf. Nativity of Saint John the Baptist).

• Thus, the ecclesiastical holiday to commemorate the Annunciation of the Lord was created in the seventh century and was assigned to be celebrated on March 25; this date is nine months before Christmas, in addition to being the traditional date of the equinox.

• In his letter to the Corinthians, Paul mentions Passover, presumably celebrated according to the local calendar in Corinth.

• Tertullian (d. 220), who lived in Latin-speaking North Africa, gives the date of passion celebration as March 25.

• The date of the passion was moved to Good Friday in 165.

• According to the calculation hypothesis, the celebration of the Quartodeciman continued in some areas and the feast became associated with Incarnation.

• The date of Christmas is not set in stone and can vary from year to year.

• There is evidence that the date of Christmas may have been selected to correspond with the solstice.

• The History of Religions hypothesis suggests that the Church selected the date to coincide with various cosmic symbols.

Test your knowledge of the historical origins and traditions surrounding the celebration of Christmas, including its religious significance and various names throughout history.