
Dec. 25
Christmas
Christmas Day is Dec. 25, when it commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ in Bethlehem as the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. After the Easter Resurrection is the most important holiday of the year the church. As the Gospels do not mention dates, it is not certain that Jesus was born that day. In fact, Christmas Day was not officially recognized until the year 345, when the influence of St. John Chrysostom and St. Gregory Nacianzeno proclaiming Dec. 25 as the date of the Nativity. In this way followed the policy of the early church to absorb rather than suppressing existing pagan rites, which since the early days had celebrated the winter solstice and the arrival of spring. The pagan festival most closely associated with the new Christmas was the Roman Saturnal on December 19, in honor of Saturn, the god of agriculture, which was celebrated for seven days of bustling entertainment and banquets. At the same time, was being held in northern Europe a similar winter festival, known as Yule, which burned large trunks and branches decorated with ribbons in honor of the gods so that the sun was shining more strongly....