CHRISTMAS – VENERABLE PROVENIENCE


The history of Christmas dates back over 4000 years. Many of the Christmas traditions were celebrated centuries before the Christ child was born. It can all be traced back to the early Mesopotamians whose chief God was Marduk. Each year as winter arrived it was believed that Marduk would do battle with the monsters of chaos. To assist Marduk, the Mesopotamians held a festival for the New Year called Zagmuk. The Persians and the Babylonians celebrated a similar festival called the Sacaea. The Scandinavians celebrated Yuletide. The Roman's celebrated their God Saturn. Their festival was called Saturnalia which began the middle of December and ended January 1st. "Jo Saturnalia!" was a fun and festive time for the Romans, but the Christians though it an abomination to honor the pagan god. The early Christians wanted to keep the birthday of their Christ child a solemn and religious holiday, not one of cheer and merriment as was the pagan Saturnalia. But as Christianity spread they were alarmed by the continuing celebration of pagan customs and Saturnalia among their converts. Eventually it was decided that the celebration would be tamed and made into a celebration fit for the Christian Son of God. Some legends claim that the Christian "Christmas" celebration was invented to compete against the pagan celebrations of December. The 25th was not only sacred to the Romans but also the Persians whose religion Mithraism was one of Christianity's main rivals at that time. The Church eventually was successful in taking the merriment, lights, and gifts from the Saturanilia festival and bringing them to the celebration of Christmas. The exact day of the Christ child's birth has never been pinpointed. Traditions say that it has been celebrated since the year 98 AD. In 137 AD the Bishop of Rome ordered the birthday of the Christ Child celebrated as a solemn feast. In 350 AD another Bishop of Rome, Julius I, chose December 25th as the observance of Christmas.

For more information, you can visit the following sites:

1. http://www.101christmas.net/
2. http://www.history.com/minisites/christmas
3. http://www.christmas-wishes.com/
4. http://www.christmas-time.com/ct-history.htm