Why is Christmas celebrated in December?
Christmas Day is fast approaching falling on 25 December as it does every year. But it wasn’t always that way. Here’s how the holiday ended up where it is.
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas! With the celebration of Thanksgiving on November 23, the holiday season was officially inaugurated and, as is customary, on December 25th Christmas arrives; But do you know why this festival takes place precisely in the twelfth month of the year?
According to various historians, the origin of Christmas is purely religious. On this day Christian families commemorate the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. However, the Bible at no time offers chronological references to the birth of the son of God, in fact in fact theologian scholars have come to the belief that he was probably born around the spring equinox. So why do we celebrate Christmas in December?
Why is Christmas celebrated in December?
Celebrating the birth of Christ became an official tradition by Christians in the 4th Century taking place in mid-winter. This coincided with the Roman winter festival Saturnalia which was a week-long feast and celebration including gift giving that culminated with the Winter Solstice, that on the Julian calendar used at that time, fell on 25 December.
With the conversion of the Roman Emperor Constantine to Christianity during the same period, many of the customs associated with the Roman celebration were absorbed into Christmas celebrations. Shortly thereafter, it’s said that Pope Julius I chose December 25 as the date to celebrate the birth of Christ.
This is how the Church Christianized the pagan festival, one of a handful that are now on the Christian calendar. According to historians, the choice of this date has no historical basis; since before celebrating the birth of Jesus on December 25, this used to be commemorated on January 6, along with the epiphany and baptism of Jesus by Saint John.
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Christmas in America
As for the United States, the holiday was banned by the Puritans in New England who believed that Christmas was not a real religious holiday because of the drinking, feasting, and giving of presents. Between 1659 and 1681 those caught celebrating Christmas in Boston could be fined as it was outlawed.
However, in the 19th century, the celebration was reinvented and went from a day of communal festivities to a day focused on peace centered around the family; building its own tradition with tree decoration and gift exchange.
The holiday took on its “goodwill to all” aspect of charitable acts and bringing together of the classes thanks to two books written in the early and middle of the 1800s. ‘The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.’ By Washington Irving and the most famous perhaps of all time ‘A Christmas Carol’ by Charles Dickens.
The United States declared Christmas a federal holiday in 1870.