The Origins and Evolution of Christmas over the Centuries
From Jesus and the Roman Empire to an international holiday
Christmas, celebrated in most countries on December 25, is a holiday rich with traditions and festivity. While Christians commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ in Bethlehem, in other cultures that season of joy and cheer is punctuated by different customs.
In modern times, it has come to symbolize a season of good cheer and family gatherings — as well as becoming highly secularized.
In order to understand why traditions such as Saint Claus, the iconic Christmas tree, and snowman are present nowadays, we must look back in time, see how Christmas came to be, and why is it so popular.
Is Jesus Birthday on December 25th?
If you read the Bible, the Christian gospels do not mention the date when Jesus was born, also known as Nativity. They do recount the famous story of his conception and humble birth in a stable, though.
There has been a debate on why December 25 became associated with Christmas. Even before Jesus's birth, the middle of winter was celebrated by early Europeans to honor their gods and rejoiced by the upcoming of longer periods of sunlight that replaced the farewell of the darkest winter days.
Romans and Saturnalia
The most predominant here was the times of pleasure and banquets Saturnalia brought in Rome — a holiday in honor of Saturn, the god of agriculture. It was held in mid-December. Gambling, singing, eating, drinking was common and the social classes blurred, even the slaves are freed during that month allowing them to eat in fest along with the upper classes.
However, by A.D. 336, the Christian church in Rome started to celebrate Christmas on December 25, as a way to incorporate Saturnalia and other festivities in the region.
Over centuries, Christianity spread — and Christmas gained popularity.
In the Middle Ages, lavish dinners, gifts, and decorations were all over Europe. Not everything was bright and shiny. In 1645, Puritans led by Oliver Cromwell took over England and made a series of religious reforms, including canceling Christmas — fortunately, this did not last long as Charles II restored it by popular demand.
The Americans started to celebrate Christmas after the Civil War, becoming the country’s first federal holiday in 1870. And of course, books like Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens contributed to spreading this festivity in Victorian England from the rich to the not-quite-so-poor classes.
As you can see, Christmas has a colorful and controversial past that continues today, full of traditions with an interesting history.
And the most interesting of all is of Santa Claus.
Santa Claus, Père Noël, Father Christmas — you know who he is
Every kid knows the story of this iconic, holiday figure.
A plump old man with a white beard and full of joy who brings gifts from the North Pole to each house at midnight so you can open them the next morning.
All people love him!
However, the real story takes us back to the 3rd century in Myra, a Roman town located in modern Turkey whose bishop was called St. Nicholas.
“Nicholas was neither fat nor jolly but developed a reputation as a fiery, wiry, and defiant defender of church doctrine during the Great Persecution in 303, when Bibles were burned and priests made to renounce Christianity.”
In 313 A.D., Emperor Constantine issued the Edict of Milan, which accepted Christianity. The persecution was over, and Nicholas became associated with many miracles that by about 1200 A.D. long after his death he was regarded as a patron of children. He was the hero of several stories, some of them were believed to be true and others do not present a lot of evidence.
He wasn’t connected with Christmas… yet.
During the 19th century, St. Nicholas has revived thanks to a series of writers, poets, and cartoonists who wanted to make Christmas a family celebration.
For example, an anonymous illustrated poem entitled “The Children’s Friend” associated Santa with Christmas; in addition, Thomas Nast — a political cartoonist — created the image of the Santa Claus we know nowadays, and his popularity spread around the globe.
“The image of Santa became standardized as a full-size adult, dressed in red with white fur trim, venturing out from the North Pole in a reindeer-driven sleigh and keeping an eye on children’s behavior.”
Christmas: A Christian or Secular Holiday?
Despite having originated as a Christian festivity, we can agree that it has become a secularized holiday that is celebrated differently depending on the place you live in and your culture.
Not everything is great, though. We have to admit Christmas is highly commercialized, making adults buy A TON OF toys for their kids and forget about what this holiday is all about: a season of hope, gratitude, and, of course, family bonding.
Merry Christmas!!! 🎄🎅🏼🎇
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