Interesting trivia you might want to know about Christmas

In this Season of Advent, I have imposed on myself a moratorium on writing about secular politics, which is obnoxious to the human soul, and decided to focus on the beautiful stories about Christmas. Politics often divides Christians. The stories of Christmas tend to unify all peoples of goodwill and good spirit. I thus share with you some nice and true stories about Christmas.

The biblical stories of the birth of Jesus, as we all know, are told in the New Testament in the gospels of Saint Luke and Saint Matthew. As Roman Catholics, we are always reminded by our parish priests about the story of Joseph and Mary and the birth of the Child Jesus in Bethlehem. According to early Roman historical accounts, it was in the fourth century that Christmas was first believed to have taken place on December 25. It was then thought that Christmas was derived from various festivals connected with the end of the harvest season and the beginning of the winter solstice. There are other Christians, however, who believe that Jesus was born on January 6, which we usually celebrate as the Epiphany.

It is commonly believed that Christmas, as a holiday, began to be celebrated by people in Europe at the start of winter solstice when the worst of winter was behind them and they all looked forward to longer days and extended hours of sunlight. It was then that the Norse celebrated Yule. That is where we derive the word Yuletide. The Germans honored their god Oden. The Romans celebrated Saturnalia to honor Saturn, the god of agriculture and held the Juvenalia Festival every December 25 for their infant god, Mithra. That was the most sacred holiday for the Romans at these times.

The Christmas holiday was said to have developed with the legend of St. Nicholas, who is now called Santa Claus. He was a bishop in Asia Minor during the fourth century. St. Nicholas took on different personas in different countries. For example, The Netherlands has Sinter Klaas, Father Christmas gives gifts in Great Britain, Père Noël does the same in France, and in Germany St. Nicholas has had many names including Klaasbuur, Burklaas, Rauklas, Bullerklaas, and Sunnercla, although Father Christmas is becoming more popular. In the United States, the Dutch settlers' Sinter Klaas evolved into Santa Claus. Originally, Santa Claus was depicted as an elf until the year 1931, when a Coca-Cola ad portrayed him as he is perceived today.

Rudolph did not become Santa Claus' ninth reindeer until an advertisement of the English and American Department Store, Montgomery Ward created him. In 1969, the Roman Catholic Church dropped the Feast Day of St. Nicholas because his life was not adequately documented. The song "The Twelve Days of Christmas" is commonly believed to refer to the 12 days between December 25 and January 6. Not all Christians know that the word "Christmas" was taken from the old English word "Cristes Maesse" which means Masses for Christ. Some people write Xmas instead of Christmas. This is not an act of heresy or idolatry. It has an etymological mooring. In the Greek language, the letter X is the first letter of the name of Christ. The German word Christkindl means Christ child, which eventually evolved to what we now know as Kriss Kringle.

Lastly, you may wish to know that while December 25, 2023 falls on a Monday, it will be on a Wednesday in 2024, on a Thursday in 2025, a Friday in 2026, and Saturday in 2027. No matter when or where, Christmas, without question, is the happiest time of the year.