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What do you know about the Christmas Holiday?
What is the origin
and meaning of Christmas?
How did there come
to be a Santa Claus? What is the history of Santa Claus?
Read below to find out
the answers to these questions about the christmas holiday.
What is the origin and meaning of Christmas?
Christmas is the celebration
of the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ as told in Luke 2 of the Bible.
".....And there were shepherds living out in the fields
nearby, keeping watch over their flocks by night. An angel
of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them,
and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not
be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people.
Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ
the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby
wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." Suddenly a great
company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and
saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on
whom his favor rests."
Luke 2:8-14
Christmas was set on December 25 about 350 A.D. by the Bishop of Rome as the anniversary of the day of Christ's birth. It is not know what the actual day was. The word Christmas comes from the Words "Christ Mass" a day when Mass was held in observance of the holy day of Christ's birth. At first christmas was only known as a religious holiday but gradually it took on a secular aspect, full of feasting, exchanging gifts, and overall rejoicing.
Throughout the years Christmas was celebrated in many different ways and sometimes on different days. Some observed it only as a religious and holy day and were against celebrations. Others celebrated it as a day of great rejoicing and gift giving as well as a holy day. Gift giving symbolized the gifts of the wise men or the gift of Jesus Christ to us from God.
How there came to be a Santa Claus:
The Santa Claus that is known today is the sum of several trends, customs, and beliefs that only came together about a century and a half ago. The combined stories of St. Nicholas, Kriss Kringle, and Santa Claus.
St. Nicholas is the original basis of the stories. He was a Bishop in Asia Minor during the first half of the fourth century. He was know for his generosity and after he died, devotion to his memory became widespread. He was claimed as a patron saint by many. Several legends arose about his generosity. He developed into a giver of gifts to children, visiting them on the eve of his feast day, December 6. The Reformation lessened his popularity and he was replaced in some countries by more secular figures. In England he was replaced by Father Christmas, in France by Papa Noel, but the Dutch held to their observance of his memory.
As settlers arrived in the New World, each country brought with them their different Christmas Man. For the Dutch December 6 was a day in honor of Sinterklaas (a form of Sint Nikolaas) as he was known, and the First Church in New York City was named after him. But after the Dutch lost control of New Amsterdam to the English in the seventeenth century, Sinterklaas gradually became Santa Claus and acquired some of the features of the English Father Christmas. His visit was changed from December 6 to Christmas Eve.
The Germans and German speaking Swiss that settled in Pennsylvania held the custom that the Christ Child, the Christkindl, brought gifts for the children on Christmas Eve. He came on a white mule loaded with presents. When the Germans were joined by the English speaking settlers, Christkindl became Kriss Kringle. The change was drastic and many opposed it but Kriss Kringle became a name children gave to St. Nicholas and there was no going back once he was joined with Santa Claus.
The workshop at the North
Pole, the sleigh with its reindeer, and the slide down the chimney came
from different sources. It is said that the sleigh and reindeer came
from Clement C. Moore the author of "The Night Before Christmas"
