Celebrattion of Christmas

When Did We Begin Celebrating Christmas?

Christmas was celebrated way before the birth of Jesus Christ.

Man has celebrated winter solstice since ancient times. The days begin to get longer from that date on. And from the time that he began to cultivate, man has anxiously awaited the return of sunlight and the spring thaw which bring the promise of fertility of the land on which future food supplies depend.

In Ancient Rome, festivities (Saturnalia) would take place from December 17 to December 24 in honor of the god of sowing and agriculture.
This date was also very important in the Roman Empire; since the reign of Aurelian (275 A.D.), the Roman emperor was regarded as a divine incarnation and the symbolic date of his birth was December 25. When the Romans converted to Christianity the date remained but the meaning changed.
In Ancient Egypt, the picture of a young child represented the newly born sun.
In the Orient, the cult of Mithra sacrificed a young bull on December 25 to celebrate the birth of the god of light.
When Christianity began Christmas didn’t exist; the only celebration was that of the Resurrection of Christ.
During the fourth century, the Church adapted the pagan Solstice celebration by giving it a new meaning. Christmas isn’t the celebration of the birth of Jesus, of whose exact birth date is unknown, but the celebration of the Savior coming into the world.
The first midnight mass led by Pope Sixtus III was celebrated on the night of Christmas 440.

Over time, Christmas became what it is today

During his reign, Charles the Great established “The Three Masses of Christmas” which soon became a custom throughout his empire.
As of the twelfth century Christmas became the most important celebration among occidental Christians.

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