Happy Christmas to you all. I was asked the other day why we celebrate on 25th December? I couldn’t remember all the details then so here is a very quick resume of the answer.
1. It is nine months after March 25th which is when the visit to Mary of the angle Gabriel takes place (traditionally) announcing that Mary was to bear Jesus Christ – God’s son. Known as the annunciation and is still celebrated on that day. Of course, no one has ever really believed that these were the actual dates of the Annunciation or the birth of Jesus but by tradition this is when they are celebrated.
2. March 25 is traditionally the day on which Jesus died (now Easter is calculated according to the Jewish calendar) and because great men traditionally live whole years and not fractions of a year. This could make Jesus’ conception to be March 25th the same day as his death and therefore Christmas occurs on 25th December.
3. A 12 century monk once declared that Christians linked Christmas with pagan festivals but there is no evidence for this (other than there being some pagan festivals around this time of year) before the 12th century and so this seems to be just speculation but speculation that has somehow become general belief.
4. There are no pagan festivals on the 25th December until after Christians start celebrating on that day. The old chestnut of Mithras is often brought up in this context but this is because Mithras was an ancient god that a cult grew up around about the same time Christianity was beginning to grow. The mystery cult of Mithras was a purely Roman invention and has nothing to do with the ancient Mithras. It seems to counter the growth of Christianity the date for Mithra’s birth was declared to be 25th December because that was when Christians celebrated the birth of Christ. Saturnalia was celebrated just before the 25th. The Sol celebrations of ancient Rome did not happen in mid winter until long after Christians had celebrated on the 25th Dec.
It seems then that the 25th December is actually a Christian celebration and maybe it is about time people stopped claiming otherwise. There are also many Christmas traditions that are purely Christian but which are often claimed have pagan origins.
Have a very happy and blessed Christmas