Thedate of commemoration is not known to be Jesus' actual birthday, and may have initially been chosen to correspond with either ahistorical Roman festival

[4]

or thewinter solstice.

[5]

Christmas Day marks the beginning of the larger season of

Christmastide

,which laststwelve days.

[6]

Modern customs of the holiday include gift-giving,church celebrations, the exchange of cards, and the display of various decorations—including the Christmas tree, lights, mistletoe,nativity scenes, and holly.Santa Claus(also referred to asFather Christmas, although the two figures have different origins) is a popular mythologicalfigure oftenassociated with bringing gifts at Christmas for children. Santa is generally believed to be the result of asyncretization betweenSaint Nicholasand elements from pagan NordicandChristian mythology, and his modern appearance is believed to have originated in 19th century media.Christmas is celebrated throughout the Christianpopulation, but has also recently come to be celebrated by many non-Christians as a secular, cultural festival. Because gift-giving and several other aspects of the holiday involve heightened economic activityamong both Christians and non-Christians, Christmas has become a major event for many retailers.

Contents

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•

1 Etymology

•

2 History

○

2.1 Dies Natalis Solis Invicti

○

2.2 Winter festivals

○

2.3 Patristic developments

○

2.4 Feast established

○

2.5 Middle Ages

○

2.6 Reformation into the 19th century

•

3 Nativity of Jesus

•

4 Santa Claus and other bringers of gifts

•

5 Decorations

•

6 Christmas cards

•

7 Christmas stamps

•

8 Economics of Christmas

•

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•

•

•

Etymology

The Birth of JesusThe word

Christmas

originated as a compound meaning "Christ'sMass". It is derived from theMiddle English

Christemasse

and Old English

Cristes mæsse,

a phrase firstrecorded in 1038.

[3]

"Cristes" is from Greek

Christos

and "mæsse" is from Latin

missa

.InGreek , the letter

(chi), is the first letter of Christ, and it, or the similar Roman letter

, has been used as an abbreviation for Christ since the mid-16th century.

[7]

Hence,Xmasis often used as an abbreviation for Christmas.

History

For many centuries,Christianwriters accepted that Christmas was the actual date onwhich Jesuswas born.

[8]

However, in the early eighteenth century, scholars began proposing alternative explanations. Isaac Newtonargued that the date of Christmas was selected to correspond with the winter solstice,

[5]

which in ancient times was marked onDecember 25.

[9]

In 1743, German Protestant Paul Ernst Jablonski argued Christmas was placed on December 25 to correspond with the Roman solar holiday

Dies Natalis Solis Invicti

and was therefore a "paganization" that debased the true church.

[4]

In1889,Louis Duchesnesuggested that the date of Christmas was calculated as nine months after theAnnunciation(March 25), the traditional date of theIncarnation.

[10]

Dies Natalis Solis Invicti

Main article:Sol Invictus Dies Natalis Solis Invicti

means "the birthday of the unconquered Sun." The use of thetitleSol Invictusallowed severalsolar deitiesto be worshipped collectively, including Elah-Gabal, a Syrian sun god; Sol, the god of Emperor Aurelian; andMithras, a soldiers' god of Persianorigin.

[11]

Emperor Elagabalus(218–222) introduced the festival, and it reached the height of its popularity under Aurelian, who promoted it as anempire-wide holiday.

[12]

This day had held no significance in the Roman festive calendar until it was introduced in the third century.

[13]

The festival was placed on the date of the solstice because this was on this day that theSun reversed its southward retreat and proved itself to be "unconquered." Several earlyChristian writers connected the rebirth of the sun to the birth of Jesus.

[3]

"O, howwonderfully acted Providence that on that day on which that Sun was born...Christshould be born",Cyprianwrote.

[3]

John Chrysostomalso commented on the connection:"They call it the 'Birthday of the Unconquered'. Who indeed is so unconquered as Our Lord . . .?"

[3]

Winter festivals

Main article: List of winter festivals