CHRISTMAS DAY

Christmas has it's roots in early Christianity, however, it wasn't celebrated by the early church until the fourth century when the church decided to redeem a Roman pagan winter solstice festival: the festival of Saturnalia. This December holiday was considered the birthday of the unconquered sun. Romans danced in the streets with gifts under their arms and greenery atop their heads.

The custom of gift-giving on Christmas goes back to Roman festivals of both Saturnalia and Kalends. The very first gifts were simple items such as twigs from a sacred grove as good luck emblems. Soon that escalated to food, small items of jewelry, candles, and statues of gods. To the early Church, gift-giving at this time was a pagan holdover and therefore severely frowned upon. However, people would not part with it, and some justification was found in the original gift giving of the Magi, and from figures such as St. Nicholas. By the middle ages gift giving was accepted. Before then it was more common to exchange gifts on New Year's Day or Twelfth Night.

Germanic tribes of Northern Europe also celebrated mid-winter with feasting, drinking, religious rituals and the lighting of the Yule log. During the Middle Ages, Catholic priests sought connections between biblical teachings and pagan traditions - believing that a convergence of customs would lead more individuals to Christianity.

CHRISTMAS CLIPART INDEX

HISTORY OF CHRISTMAS