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[[Image:Merry Christmas.gif|right|thumb]]

[[Image:Merry Christmas.gif|right|thumb]]

'''Christmas''' is a [[holiday]] which celebrates the birth of [[Jesus]]. It is celebrated on December 25. The word "Christmas" comes from "Christ's [[mass]]." The Russian and Ukrainian churches also celebrate on December 25, but according to the Julian calendar. This corresponds to January 7 on the Gregorian calendar.

'''Christmas''' is a holiday which celebrates the birth of Jesus. It is celebrated on December 25. The word "Christmas" comes from "Christ's mass." A few churches, including the Russian and Ukrainian churches, still celebrate according to the [[Julian calendar]]. December 25 on the Julian calendar corresponds to January 7 on the [[Gregorian calendar]].

The story of the birth of Christ is told in the opening chapters of the [[Gospel of Luke]] and the [[Gospel of Matthew]]. Each contains different elements of the Christmas story. The visit of the [[Archangel]] to the shepherds and the birth of Jesus in a [[manger]] are from Luke. The story of the [[Star of Bethlehem]] and the visit from the Wise Men bringing gifts of "[[gold]], and [[frankincense]] and [[myrrh]]" are from Matthew.  

The story of the birth of Christ is told in the opening chapters of the [[Gospel of Luke]] and the [[Gospel of Matthew]]. Each contains different elements of the Christmas story. The visit of the [[Archangel]] to the shepherds and the birth of Jesus in a [[manger]] are from Luke. The story of the [[Star of Bethlehem]] and the visit from the magi bringing gifts of "gold, and frankincense and myrrh" are from Matthew.  

The Bible does not give a date for the birth of Jesus. The holiday is exactly nine months following [[Annunciation]] on March 25. On the Roman calendar, March 25 was marked as the [[spring equinox]] while December 25 was considered the date of the [[winter solstice]]. Both of these dates are traditional and merely approximate.<ref>Sosigenes of Alexandria intended March 25 to be the date of the equinox when he designed the Julian calendar. The calendar was introduced by Julius Caesar in 45 BC. By modern calculations, the equinox is on March 21 or 22. A calendar reform by Augustus is responsible for much of the misalignment. It is possible there was also an error present from the beginning.</ref> According to an ancient Jewish tradition, the equinox is the anniversary of the first day of Creation. Influenced by this tradition, Christians in the Middle Ages celebrated New Year's Day on March 25. The first recorded Christmas celebration was in Rome in 336.<ref name=NewCath>"Christmas and its cycle", ''New Catholic Encyclopedia'', 2nd edition, 2002, Catholic University of America Press. vol. 3, pp. 550–557.</ref>

The Bible does not give a date for the birth of Jesus. The holiday is exactly nine months following [[Annunciation]] on March 25. On the Roman calendar, March 25 was marked as the [[spring equinox]] while December 25 was considered the date of the [[winter solstice]]. Both of these dates are traditional and merely approximate.<ref>Sosigenes of Alexandria intended March 25 to be the date of the equinox when he designed the Julian calendar. The calendar was introduced by Julius Caesar in 45 BC. By modern calculations, the equinox is on March 21 or 22. A calendar reform by Augustus is responsible for much of the misalignment. It is possible there was also an error present from the beginning.</ref> According to an ancient Jewish tradition, the equinox is the anniversary of the first day of Creation. Influenced by this tradition, Christians in the Middle Ages celebrated New Year's Day on March 25. The first recorded Christmas celebration was in Rome in 336.<ref name=NewCath>"Christmas and its cycle", ''New Catholic Encyclopedia'', 2nd edition, 2002, Catholic University of America Press. vol. 3, pp. 550–557.</ref>

==History==

==History==

[[Image:Parmigianino Virgin with Child.jpg|right|thumb|The Holy Virgin with her Child]]

[[Image:Parmigianino Virgin with Child.jpg|right|thumb|The Holy Virgin with her Child]]Nativity narratives feature prominently in both Matthew and Luke. Early Christians had a great deal of interest in establishing the date of the birth of Jesus. But no evidence could be found in the gospels. They proposed a wide variety of dates.<ref>"Clement of Alexandria, for instances mentions (and dismisses) proposals that Christ was born on April 19 or May 20 and himself calculated the date as November 17, 3 BC. Other suggested dates included March 28 and April 2, but not December 7. None of the dates were influential, or enjoyed any official recognition." (Hijmans, p. 584).</ref> The choice of December 25 as the birthdate of Jesus was influenced by universal historians. These writers wanted to present history in the form of cycles. In 221, Sextus Julius Africanus gave March 25 as the date of the first day of Creation and of the conception of Jesus in his universal history. This conclusion was based on solar symbolism, with March 25 the date of the equinox. It implies a birth in December, although Africanus did not calculate a date of birth himself.<ref>Hijmans, S.E., ''Sol, the sun in the art and religions of Rome,'' 2009, p. 585, footnote 8.</ref> Solar symbolism was extremely common among Christian writers of the time. It was justified by the identification of Jesus as the "sun of righteousness" mentioned by the prophet Malachi.<ref>Hijmans notes the "the pervasive use of the sun as metaphor for Christ in early Christian literature, in which he is often referred to as “Sol verus”, “Sol Justitiae”, etc." (Hijmans, p. 584). The Biblical reference is Malachi 4:2.</ref>

Nativity narratives feature prominently in both Matthew and Luke. Early Christians had a great deal of interest in establishing the date of the birth of Jesus. But no evidence could be found in the gospels. They proposed a wide variety of dates.<ref>"Clement of Alexandria, for instances mentions (and dismisses) proposals that Christ was born on April 19 or May 20 and himself calculated the date as November 17, 3 BC. Other suggested dates included March 28 and April 2, but not December 7. None of the dates were influential, or enjoyed any official recognition." (Hijmans, p. 584).</ref> In 221, Sextus Julius Africanus gave March 25 as the date of the first day of Creation and of the conception of Jesus in his universal history. This conclusion was based on solar symbolism, with March 25 the date of the equinox. It implies a birth in December.<ref>Africanus did not calculate the date of Christmas. "Wallraff, who directed the project that recently produced the first critical edition of all preserved fragments of the corpus of Julius Africanus (Wallraff 2007), has kindly informed me that he does not know of any such calculation by Africanus. (Hijmans, p. 585, footnote 8)</ref> Such solar symbolism was justified by the identification of Jesus as the "sun of righteousness" mentioned by Malachi.<ref>Hijmans notes the "the pervasive use of the sun as metaphor for Christ in early Christian literature, in which he is often referred to as “Sol verus”, “Sol Justitiae”, etc." (Hijmans, p. 584). The Biblical reference is the prophet Malachi 4:2.</ref>

The Chronography of 354 records that a Christmas celebration took place in Rome in 336.<ref name="Chrono354">The manuscript reads, ''VIII kal. Ian. natus Christus in Betleem Iudeae.'' "[http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/chronography_of_354_12_depositions_martyrs.htm The Chronography of 354 AD. Part 12: Commemorations of the Martyrs]," ''The Tertullian Project''. 2006.</ref> The creation of the feast may be a response to the Trinitarian controversy that was raging at the time. It was introduced to the Eastern Roman Empire after the death of Emperor Valens, who favored the [[Arian]] heresy, in 378. Christmas has a unique three-mass liturgy that gives a priest three opportunities to inveigh against heretics. Once Arianism died out, the status of Christmas declined.

The Chronography of 354 records that a Christmas celebration took place in Rome in 336.<ref name="Chrono354">The manuscript reads, ''VIII kal. Ian. natus Christus in Betleem Iudeae.'' "[http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/chronography_of_354_12_depositions_martyrs.htm The Chronography of 354 AD. Part 12: Commemorations of the Martyrs]," ''The Tertullian Project''. 2006.</ref> The creation of the feast may be a response to the Trinitarian controversy that was raging at the time. It was introduced to the Eastern Roman Empire after the death of Emperor Valens, who favored the [[Arian]] heresy, in 378. Christmas has a unique three-mass liturgy that gives a priest three opportunities to inveigh against heretics. Once Arianism died out, the status of Christmas declined.

The end of the year was a "holiday season" of varied celebration in pagan Rome, and it remains so in modern times. Saturnalia began on December 17 and lasted for three to five days. It was followed by ''Dies Natalis Solis Invicti'' on December 25 and Kalends on January 1 to January 4. Saturnalia was exclusive to Italy while Sol Invictus was associated with Aurelian's reign.

The end of the year was a "holiday season" of varied celebration in pagan Rome, and it remains so in modern times. Saturnalia began on December 17 and lasted for three to five days. It was followed by ''Dies Natalis Solis Invicti'' on December 25 and Kalends on January 1 to January 4. Saturnalia was exclusive to Italy while Sol Invictus was associated with Aurelian's reign.

The cycle of solstice and equinox is a natural phenomena significant to religions of widely varying character. "It is cosmic symbolism ... which inspired the Church leadership in Rome to elect the winter solstice, December 25, as the birthday of Christ, and the summer solstice as that of John the Baptist, supplemented by the equinoxes as their respective dates of conception. While they were aware that pagans called this day the “birthday” of Sol Invictus, this did not concern them and it did not play any role in their choice of date for Christmas," as Steven Hijmans wrote in ''Sol, the sun in the art and religions of Rome.''<ref name="Hijmans">Hijmans, S.E., ''Sol, the sun in the art and religions of Rome,'' 2009, p. 595.</ref>  

The cycle of solstice and equinox is a natural phenomena significant to religions of widely varying character. "It is cosmic symbolism ... which inspired the Church leadership in Rome to elect the winter solstice, December 25, as the birthday of Christ, and the summer solstice as that of John the Baptist, supplemented by the equinoxes as their respective dates of conception. While they were aware that pagans called this day the “birthday” of Sol Invictus, this did not concern them and it did not play any role in their choice of date for Christmas," as Steven Hijmans wrote in ''Sol, the sun in the art and religions of Rome.''<ref name="Hijmans">Hijmans, p. 595.</ref>  

Both Saturnalia and Sol Invictus were overshadowed by Kalends, a new year celebration. While there is no trace of either Saturalia or Sol Invictus persisting into Christian times, various churchmen noted how difficult it was to suppress Kalends.<ref>"In 578 CE a church Council at Auxerre, Burgundy, forbade disguisings, and another Council, in the year 614, stated it was “unlawful to make any indecent plays upon the Kalends of January, according to the profane practices of the pagans.” (Pennick, Nigel, ''[https://books.google.ca/books?isbn=1620553902 Pagan Magic of the Northern Tradition: Customs, Rites, and Ceremonies]'', 2015.)</ref> The Roman end-of-year celebrations transferred to [[Epiphany]] in the Early Middle Ages and later to the Twelve Days of Christmas.

Both Saturnalia and Sol Invictus were overshadowed by Kalends, a new year celebration. While there is no trace of either Saturalia or Sol Invictus persisting into Christian times, various churchmen noted how difficult it was to suppress Kalends.<ref>"In 578 CE a church Council at Auxerre, Burgundy, forbade disguisings, and another Council, in the year 614, stated it was “unlawful to make any indecent plays upon the Kalends of January, according to the profane practices of the pagans.” (Pennick, Nigel, ''[https://books.google.ca/books?isbn=1620553902 Pagan Magic of the Northern Tradition: Customs, Rites, and Ceremonies]'', 2015.)</ref> The Roman end-of-year celebrations transferred to [[Epiphany]] in the Early Middle Ages and later to the Twelve Days of Christmas.