Crismus' Comin', Honey And Other Rhymes

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However, in 17th century England, some groups such as the Puritans strongly condemned the celebration of Christmas, considering it a Catholic invention and the "trappings of popery" or the "rags of the Beast". [94] In contrast, the established Anglican Church "pressed for a more elaborate observance of feasts, penitential seasons, and saints' days. The calendar reform became a major point of tension between the Anglican party and the Puritan party." [116] The Catholic Church also responded, promoting the festival in a more religiously oriented form. King Charles I of England directed his noblemen and gentry to return to their landed estates in midwinter to keep up their old-style Christmas generosity. [108] Following the Parliamentarian victory over Charles I during the English Civil War, England's Puritan rulers banned Christmas in 1647. [94] [117] Pokhilko, Hieromonk Nicholas. "History of Epiphany". Archived from the original on September 23, 2016 . Retrieved December 27, 2017.

Neal, Daniel (1822). The History of the Puritans. William Baynes and Son. p.193. They disapproved of the observation of sundry of the church-festivals or holidays, as having no foundation in Scripture, or primitive antiquity. Current tradition in several Latin American countries (such as Venezuela and Colombia) holds that while Santa makes the toys, he then gives them to the Baby Jesus, who is the one who actually delivers them to the children's homes, a reconciliation between traditional religious beliefs and the iconography of Santa Claus imported from the United States. Correspondence between Julian January 6 and Gregorian January 19 holds until 2100; in the following century the difference will be one day more. McGrath, Alister E. (January 27, 2015). Christianity: An Introduction. John Wiley & Sons. p.239. ISBN 978-1-118-46565-3.

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a b Roy, Christian (2005). Traditional Festivals: A Multicultural Encyclopedia. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO. p.146. ISBN 978-1-57607-089-5. Archived from the original on January 11, 2014 . Retrieved February 3, 2012. The English word "Christmas" is a shortened form of "Christ's Mass". The word is recorded as Crīstesmæsse in 1038 and Cristes-messe in 1131. [24] Crīst ( genitive Crīstes) is from Greek Khrīstos (Χριστός), a translation of Hebrew Māšîaḥ (מָשִׁיחַ), " Messiah", meaning "anointed"; [25] [26] and mæsse is from Latin missa, the celebration of the Eucharist. [27] Steven Hijmans of the University of Alberta says the idea that the date was chosen to appropriate the pagan festival "has received wide acceptance". He agrees that the Church chose the date because it was the winter solstice, but he argues that "While they were aware that pagans called this day the 'birthday' of Sol Invictus, this did not concern them and it did not play any role in their choice of date for Christmas". [58] Hijmans says: "while the winter solstice on or around December 25 was well established in the Roman imperial calendar, there is no evidence that a religious celebration of Sol on that day antedated the celebration of Christmas". [85] Thomas Talley argues that Aurelian instituted the Dies Natalis Solis Invicti partly to give a pagan significance to a date he argues was already important for Christians. [62] The Church of England Liturgical Commission says this hypothesis has been challenged. [86] According to music scholar Michael Anderson, "Thomas Talley has shown that [...] pagan Rome ironically did not celebrate the winter solstice". [87] [ bettersourceneeded] The Oxford Companion to Christian Thought remarks that the "calculations hypothesis potentially establishes 25 December as a Christian festival before Aurelian's decree". [88] Relation to concurrent celebrations Nativity of Christ, medieval illustration from the Hortus deliciarum of Herrad of Landsberg (12th century) Kelly, Joseph F. (2010). The Feast of Christmas. Liturgical Press. p.94. ISBN 978-0-8146-3932-0. German Lutherans brought the decorated Christmas tree with them; the Moravians put lighted candles on those trees.

Christmas played a role in the Arian controversy of the fourth century. After this controversy ran its course, the prominence of the holiday declined for a few centuries. Carol King (December 24, 2012). "A Christmas Living Nativity Scene in Sicily". Italy Magazine. Archived from the original on December 26, 2013 . Retrieved December 25, 2013.Protests followed as pro-Christmas rioting broke out in several cities and for weeks Canterbury was controlled by the rioters, who decorated doorways with holly and shouted royalist slogans. [94] Football, among the sports the Puritans banned on a Sunday, was also used as a rebellious force: when Puritans outlawed Christmas in England in December 1647 the crowd brought out footballs as a symbol of festive misrule. [118] The book, The Vindication of Christmas (London, 1652), argued against the Puritans, and makes note of Old English Christmas traditions, dinner, roast apples on the fire, card playing, dances with "plow-boys" and "maidservants", old Father Christmas and carol singing. [119] During the ban, semi-clandestine religious services marking Christ's birth continued to be held, and people sang carols in secret. [115] The Examination and Tryal of Old Father Christmas, (1686), published after Christmas was reinstated as a holy day in England Steven Hijmans of the University of Alberta wrote: "It is cosmic symbolism ... which inspired the Church leadership in Rome to elect the southern solstice, December 25, as the birthday of Christ, and the northern solstice as that of John the Baptist, supplemented by the equinoxes as their respective dates of conception". [58] The Christian treatise De solstitia et aequinoctia conceptionis et nativitatis Domini nostri Iesu Christi et Iohannis Baptistae ('On the solstice and equinox conception and birth of Our Lord Jesus Christ and John the Baptist'), [59] from the second half of the fourth century, [60] dates John's birth to the summer solstice and Jesus's birth to the winter solstice. [42] [61] a b c d e Durston, Chris (December 1985). "Lords of Misrule: The Puritan War on Christmas 1642–60". History Today. Vol.35, no.12. pp.7–14. Archived from the original on March 10, 2007.

Christian church of God – history of Christmas". Christianchurchofgod.com. Archived from the original on December 19, 2010 . Retrieved February 24, 2011. Christmas | Origin, Definition, Traditions, History, & Facts | Britannica". www.britannica.com . Retrieved December 22, 2021. Although it follows the Julian calendar, the Ancient Church of the East decided on 2010 to celebrate Christmas according to the Gregorian calendar date. Several branches of Eastern Christianity that use the Julian calendar also celebrate on December 25 according to that calendar, which is now January 7 on the Gregorian calendar. Armenian Churches observed the nativity on January 6 even before the Gregorian calendar originated. Most Armenian Christians use the Gregorian calendar, still celebrating Christmas Day on January 6. Some Armenian churches use the Julian calendar, thus celebrating Christmas Day on January 19 on the Gregorian calendar, with January 18 being Christmas Eve. Some regions also celebrate primarily on December 24, rather than December 25.

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The form Christenmas was also used during some periods, but is now considered archaic and dialectal. [28] The term derives from Middle English Cristenmasse, meaning "Christian mass". [29] Xmas is an abbreviation of Christmas found particularly in print, based on the initial letter chi (Χ) in Greek Khrīstos (Χριστός) ("Christ"), although some style guides discourage its use. [30] This abbreviation has precedent in Middle English Χρ̄es masse (where "Χρ̄" is an abbreviation for Χριστός). [29] Other names Further information: Persecution of Christians in the Soviet Union, Kirchenkampf, and Antireligious campaigns in China A 1931 edition of the Soviet magazine Bezbozhnik, published by the League of Militant Atheists, depicting an Orthodox Christian priest being forbidden to take home a tree for the celebration of Christmastide, which was banned under the Marxist–Leninist doctrine of state atheism. [261] In the 2nd century, the "earliest church records" indicate that "Christians were remembering and celebrating the birth of the Lord", an "observance [that] sprang up organically from the authentic devotion of ordinary believers"; although "they did not agree upon a set date". [40] The earliest evidence of Christ's birth being marked on December 25 is a sentence in the Chronograph of 354. [41] [42] [43] [44] Liturgical historians generally agree that this part of the text was written in Rome in AD 336. [42] Though Christmas did not appear on the lists of festivals given by the early Christian writers Irenaeus and Tertullian, [24] the early Church Fathers John Chrysostom, Augustine of Hippo, and Jerome attested to December 25 as the date of Christmas toward the end of the fourth century. [40] A passage in Commentary on the Prophet Daniel (AD 204) by Hippolytus of Rome identifies December 25 as Jesus's birth date, but this passage is considered a later interpolation. [42] Wells, Dorothy (1897). "Christmas in Other Lands". The School Journal. 55: 697–8. Christmas is the occasional of family reunions. Grandmother always has the place of honor Christmas Day is often seen as the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ in Bethlehem over two thousand years ago. However, many aspects of the celebration have their origins in the Pagan traditions of England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. These include bringing pieces of evergreen trees into homes, lighting fires, holding parties and eating special foods. When missionaries converted the inhabitants of these countries to Christianity, many of these customs were included in the Christian celebrations.

Elm, Susanna (2012). Sons of Hellenism, Fathers of the Church. University of California Press. p.287.

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Hastings, James; Selbie, John A., eds. (2003). Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics. Vol.6. Kessinger Publishing Company. pp.603–604. ISBN 978-0-7661-3676-2. Archived from the original on November 22, 2018 . Retrieved February 3, 2012. December 25 was also nine months after March 25, the date linked to Jesus's conception (celebrated as the Feast of the Annunciation) and the date of the spring equinox on the Roman calendar. [17]