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How did the festival of Christmas occur?

This is the story we all hear

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Christmas in the pastJesus born in Bethlehem

By Becky

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The story of Jesus Mary and Joseph were married. Mary was

due to have her baby when they were told they had to go on a long journey to Bethlehem, which was where Joseph came from. This was because they had to pay a special tax. Mary had to ride on a donkey for a few days over the hills of Galilee. When they arrived in Bethlehem there was no room in the inn’s. At last an inn keeper offered if they would like to stay in his stable. And so it was that a few hours later, Mary gave birth to her son in that stable. She wrapped Jesus in strips of cloth and laid Him in a manger full of hay. So that day was the first Christmas because a new saviour was born.

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But not everyone agrees that this quite what happened

Here is one from Enrique that I have never heard of before

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By EnriqueBy Enrique

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By EnriqueBy Enrique

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Now these next 2 are more usual thoughts

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Why is Christmas on December 25th?

Christmas Day is on the 25th December not because there is a reference in the bible to the date but because early Christians fixed the date on the day that was already a pagan mid-winter festival. It therefore remains very close to the shortest day of the year.

By Helen

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By Paul• People say that Jesus was born

on the 25th of December, but he was not, he was born in August they changed it because they wanted it to fit in with another holiday.

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And this one is nearer to one that I have discovered

And there are more facts associated with this one too

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Found by Lewis

• Christmas has been celebrated for the last 2,000 years.

• It is linked to Jesus' birth. However it is not known for certain if this was his actual birthday.

• The 25th was not celebrated as his birthday until the year AD440

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The first Christmas celebration• It did not occur until mid 4th century

• Christmas was celebrated in Rome by Pope Liberius (352-66)

• St. Gregory Nazianzus preached a Christmas sermon in Constantinople

• All on December 25, where it coincided with “Birth of the Unconquered Sun” a pagan festival

• Therefore, by the year 400, generally, the birth of Christ was set on Dec. 25 with the exception of Palestine, where it was celebrated on Jan. 6 until the mid-600s.

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Calendars and Dates

• Dionysius Exiguus invented Anno Domini years to date Easter in Rome in 525

• There was no 0 AD and from other things in the bible it is unlikely that Jesus was born on December 25 – more likely sometime in September

• And nor was it in 1AD either!

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Issues that leave a question or 2

• The Gospels were written long after Jesus died (up to about 100 years)

• People did not live as long then• It would have been the children or

the grandchildren of the people who were there who wrote them

• Few people could read or write and a lot of it would have been past down by word of mouth

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Issues that leave a question or 2

• No-one would have known when Jesus was born that he was going to be so important

• So what happened at his birth had little detail and a lot of it could have been myth

• As we have seen the dates were not added until much later and could easily have been wrong

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Issues that leave a question or 2

• For instance, the king who was supposed to be on the throne at the time died about 4 BC, so it is likely that Jesus was born in 5 BC or before

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Issues that leave a question or 2• The 3 kings or magi were probably

members of the Zoroastrians religion, but were well known to know about the stars, and they used astrology.

• There are a lot of different ideas about what the Star of Bethlehem was, including a comet and 2 planets coming close together

• However, others think that because the Magi believed in astrology, it could have been that kind of star that they were referring to, not one you could see at all.

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Who was Father Christmas?•He was St. Nicholas of

Myra in Turkey •His wealthy parents raised him to be a devout Christian

•They died in an epidemic while Nicholas was still young.

•Obeying Jesus' words to "sell what you own and give the money to the poor," Nicholas used his whole inheritance to assist the needy, the sick, and the suffering.

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Who was Father Christmas?

•He dedicated his life to serving God

•He was made Bishop of Myra while still a young man.

•Bishop Nicholas became known throughout the land for his generosity to

– the those in need, – his love for children,

and – his concern for sailors

and ships.

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After he died

• In the centuries that followed, stories were told about the kindly bishop.

• According to one, a man had three daughters and no dowry for them.

• Without it, they most likely would have been sold into slavery.

• On three different nights, Nicholas tossed bags of gold through the father's open window that landed in the stockings or shoes left by the fire to dry. – (The idea of hanging stockings by the

fireplace to receive gifts grew from this story.)

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After he died

• This led to the custom of children hanging stockings or putting out shoes, eagerly awaiting gifts from Saint Nicholas.

• Sometimes the story is told with gold balls instead of bags of gold.

• That is why three gold balls, sometimes represented as oranges, are one of the symbols for St. Nicholas.

• And so St. Nicholas is a gift-giver.

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After he died

• One of the oldest stories showing St. Nicholas as a protector of children takes place long after his death.

• The townspeople of Myra were celebrating the good saint on the eve of his feast day when a band of Arab pirates from Crete came into the district.

• They stole treasures from the Church of Saint Nicholas to take away as booty.

• As they were leaving town, they snatched a young boy, Basilios, to make into a slave.

• The emir, or ruler, selected Basilios to be his personal cupbearer, as not knowing the language, Basilios would not understand what the king said to those around him.

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After he died

• For Basilios' parents, devastated at the loss of their only child, the year passed slowly, filled with grief.

• As the next St. Nicholas' feast day approached, Basilios' mother would not join in the festivity, as it was now a day of tragedy.

• However, she was persuaded to have a simple observance at home—with quiet prayers for Basilios' safekeeping. .

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After he died

• Meanwhile, as Basilios was fulfilling his tasks serving the emir, he was suddenly whisked up and away.

• St. Nicholas appeared to the terrified boy, blessed him, and set him down at his home back in Myra.

• Imagine the joy and wonderment when Basilios amazingly appeared before his parents, still holding the king's golden cup.

• This is the first story told of St. Nicholas protecting children—which became his primary role in the West.

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Since then …

• Widely celebrated in Europe, St. Nicholas' feast day, December 6th, kept alive the stories of his goodness and generosity.

• In Germany and Poland, boys dressed as bishops begged alms for the poor—and sometimes for themselves!

• In the Netherlands and Belgium, St. Nicholas arrived on a steamship from Spain to ride a white horse on his gift-giving rounds.

• December 6th is still the main day for gift giving and merrymaking in much of Europe.

• For example, in the Netherlands St. Nicholas' Day is celebrated with the sharing of candies (thrown in the door), chocolate initial letters, small gifts, and riddles.

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Since then …

• Dutch children leave carrots and hay in their shoes for the horse, hoping St. Nicholas will exchange them for small gifts.

• Simple gift-giving in early Advent helps preserve a Christmas Day focus on the Christ Child.

• Nicholas would come every Dec. 6 and bring gifts down the chimney to children in Northern Europe as early as the 14th century; he was popular and much loved.

• This seems to have given him and his cult a kind of resilience when elsewhere the images and statues of saints were being razed, burned or smashed.

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Father Christmas•'He was dressed all in fur from his head to his foot, And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot ... His eyes how they twinkled! His dimples how merry! His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry ... He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf.'

•The lines above are from a poem called A Visit from St Nicholas written by Clement C Moore in 1822,

•although it did not become well known until it was depicted in a series of engravings by Thomas Nast in the 1860s.

•By the Edwardian period, it was almost universally accepted as the definitive description of this important representative of Christmas.

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Father Christmas• In medieval England and for centuries

afterwards, the figure of Father Christmas represented the spirit of generosity and good cheer.

• In the 19th century, his role changed to something more like that of the European Saint Nicholas.

• At about the same time, Dutch emigrants took the story of a legendary gift-bringer called 'Sinterklaas' to America, where he eventually became known as Santa Claus.

• The names may be different, but there were enough similarities between all these symbolic personages to allow, by the early 20th century, Father Christmas, Santa, St Nick and others to merge.

• And the resulting 'right jolly old elf' is now the universally recognised symbol of Christmas.

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That is what I have found out about Father Christmas or

Santa ClausWhat did you guys discover?

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By EnriqueBy Enrique

And Helen found this one too!