The Origin of Christmas


Is really Christmas Christ's mass? Was Jesus born on 25th of December? According to some historical records, Christmas was first celebrated on January 6 based on the old Julian calendar. The Orthodox Christians still celebrate their Christmas on January 6. Obviously even the Christians do not agree over the date of the birth of Christ. Some Christians believe that the birth of Christ took place in late summer or early fall and some say it was during the spring.

In the Luke 2:8 we read: "And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night."
December is the rainy season in Palestine and the weather is cold. The shepherds do not keep their flock in the fields during December but since mid October they are kept in the fold.

The origin of this festivity is presumed to be Mithraic and about 4000 years old. Mithra was the god of light in ancient Iran. The symbol of Mithra is Sun. Iranians used this symbol in their flag for at least the last 2500 years. The period of 17th to 24th of December was the duration of this feast. The 21st of December, which is the solstice of winter, is still celebrated in Iran. It is called “Yalda” and it represents the victory of light over darkness, which symbolizes the triumph of good over evil. Mithraism was brought to Europe by Greek soldiers after the defeat of the Persians by Alexander and by the forth century AD it was the predominant religion of Europe and the main rival to Christianity. The worship of Mithra spread throughout Asia to Europe where he was called Deus Sol Invictus Mithras. Romans adopted this festivity to celebrate the god, Saturn, and the rebirth of the sun god during the winter solstice. The winter holiday became known as Saturnalia and began the week prior to December 25th. The festival was characterized by gift-giving, feasting, singing and the priests of Saturn called dendrophori, carried wreaths of evergreen boughs in procession.
Noting that days start becoming longer after the winter solstice, the ancients gave birth to the myth that the sun-god rises from his death after three days. This belief of the death and resurrection of god was later incorporated into Christianity. Mass is the public celebration of Eucharist, the sacrament and the central act of worship in many Christian churches, which was instituted at the Last Supper and in which bread and wine are consecrated and consumed in remembrance of Jesus's death. The word "Mass" in Christmas means death and the ritual of the Mass involves the death of Christ, and his consequent resurrection.

Prior to the dominance of Christianity the Romans celebrated this festivity during the 25th of December to 6th of January. Mithraism gained favor by the Emperor Commodus and Julian and in 307 Diocletian built a temple on the Danube River dedicated to Mithra. Mithraism spread throughout Europe from Rome to the province of Numidia in North Africa up to England and Scotland.

But after the conversion of emperor Constantine in 313 A.D. Christianity was spread throughout the empire and Mithraism, as St. Jerome reports, was forcefully subdued especially in Rome and in Alexandria. In the forth century, Pope Leo destroyed the temple of Mithra (376 A.D.). Despite that the Mithraic festivity of the birth of the Sun continued, as it was a convenient time to be merry in the middle of the winter. Even today many celebrate the Christmas although they are not Christians. It was not till the year 530 AD that the church commissioned the Monk Dionysius Exiguus to proclaim this popular festivity as the birth of Christ. Constantine converted to Christianity but he kept celebrating this pagan festivity and transformed it into the "Christian" holiday of Christmas.

The use of evergreen tree in Christmas festivities comes from Germany where it was used in worship and celebration of the yule god as well as in observance of the resurrected sun god.

The evergreen represented life and also was regarded as a phallic symbol in fertility worship. It was believed that the red holly was a symbol of the menstrual blood of the queen of heaven, Diana. The white berries of mistletoe were considered to be the droplets of the semen of the sun god. Branches of holy and mistletoe were hung in doorways of temples and homes and it was believed that kissing beneath them will make the spirits of the god and goddess to enter one's body and make them fertile.

The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge explains:
"How much the date of the festival depended upon the pagan Brumalia (December 25th) following the Saturnalia (December 17th-24th), and celebrating the shortest day of the year and the 'new sun'...cannot be accurately determined. The pagan Saturnalia and Brumalia were too deeply entrenched in popular custom to be set aside by Christian influence...The pagan festival with it's riot and merrymaking was so popular that Christians were glad of an excuse to continue its celebration with little change in spirit and in manner. Christian preachers of the West and the Near East protested against the unseemly frivolity with which Christ's birthday was celebrated, while Christians of Mesopotamia accused their western brethren of idolatry and sun worship for adopting as Christian this pagan festival"

St Augustine says " we hold this (Christmas) day Holy, not like the pagans because of the Birth of the Sun, but because of the birth of him who made it (Christmas) day Holy, not like the pagans because of the Birth of the Sun, but because of the birth of him who made it"
This clearly shows that this festivity was dedicated to the Birth of the Sun that was adopted by the Christians.