Christmas did not begin to be celebrated until somewhere around the Fourth Century AD. Julius the First was Pope and Anastasius was emperor of Rome. Anastasius was a converted Christian and Julius probably had no trouble convincing him, that it was the right thing to do to declare a public holiday in honor of the birth of Christ. According to the Christian faith, Christmas commemorates the birth of Jesus who was born to save the world from sin. Interestingly enough, this is the same Jesus who we eventually hang from a cross but then again Easter is a different story.

Traditionally, Christmas was not just a one day affair but instead, twelve days of festival lasting from December 25th to January 6th. Hence, the Twelve Days of Christmas and the reason why some folks still take down their Christmas trees on the sixth day of January. No one of course, is really sure on which date Jesus was born and even the most astute studies have only been able to narrow down the search for an exact date, to somewhere between years 8 BC and 29 AD. To add a very interesting twist to this already embrangled tale, we find that December 25th was not even always at the spot where it now is on the calendar.

In the sixteenth century AD, Pope Gregory the Eighth scrapped the existing Julian calendar and instituted his own Gregorian version. In making the switch, Pope Greg dropped eleven days off the end of each year, and in so doing, literally omitted Christmas from the new calendar. As could have been expected that resulted in quite a fallout and left three different groups of people: some Christian sects known as Calenderist calculated that the day would thereafter fall on January 7th and continue to celebrate that day to this date. Others opted to adapt to the new calendar thereby staying with December 25th and celebrating the date instead of the day. The third group of course, refused to celebrate any day and their descendants live on to this day.

Now, while Christmas itself has only been celebrated for the past 16 centuries or so, the pagan festivals of Winter Solstice and Saturnalia, have been observed for probably as long as the sun has danced north and south across the equator. Prior to the celebration of Christmas, December 25 in the pagan world was known as Natalis Solis Invicti, or Birthday of the Unconquerable Sun. Many of the customs we now hold as sacredly integral to our Christmas worship have been directly linked to these ancient pagan feasts. The Christmas tree, the Christmas wreath, the Yule log, the gift sharing and especially the feasting and singing, were all traditional around this time of the year, and this was way before the three kings ever got wise. Ironically enough, a few of these same customs are the only things that we still hold important to our current Christmas festivities and seems that the cycle has become complete.

Let us look at the bright side, however, for despite our dubious drifts from traditions, there is still much good left in Ole Christmas. Families have a chance to get together, a spirit of generosity prevails and even the normally grumpy folks will take the time to say how do. Then of course, there are the children and for their sake most of all, it is important that we keep alive this Christmas spirit. Nothing can compare to the look on the face of a child on Christmas morning and nothing as radiant as the smile when they marvel at the lights and decorations. This has always been a season to be merry, whether because of Solstice, Saturnalia or Christmas. Let us hang on to at least that one tradition and take some time to spread cheer and goodwill to all. From myself and the rest of the staff here at Five, have a very merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous New Year.