About Christmas

The word "Christmas" means "Mass of Christ," later shortened to "Christ-Mass." The even shorter form "Xmas" - first used in Europe in the 1500s - is derived from the Greek alphabet, in which X is the first letter of Christ's name: Xristos, therefore "X-Mass."

Today we know that Christ was not born on the 25th of December. The date was chosen to coincide with the pagan Roman celebrations honouring Saturnus (the harvest god) and Mithras a form of sun worship. These celebrations came on or just after the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year in the northern hemisphere, to announce that winter is not forever, that life continues, and an invitation to stay in good spirit.

In 325 AD, Constantine the Great, the first Christian Roman emperor, introduced Christmas as an immovable feast on 25 December. He also introduced Sunday as a holy day in a new 7-day week, and introduced movable feasts (Easter).

Christmas festival is so grand that it is celebrated with great festive fervor all across the globe by people of Christian origin and also by people belonging to different communities. Christmas festival commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ. People celebrate this festival of Christmas by throwing parties, exchanging gifts, singing carols, organizing family gatherings, decorating houses and a lot more.

When many Protestants escaped persecution from the Catholic Church by fleeing to the colonies all over the world, interest in joyous Christmas celebrations was rekindled. Still, Christmas was not even a legal holiday until last century. And, keep in mind, there was no Father Christmas (Santa Claus) figure at that time.