Tis The Season To Be Jolly!
By: Jessica Bunke

Its that time of the year again, when families come together to celebrate the birth of Jesus, exchanging gifts amongst loved ones, and eating dinner on Christmas Day. Christmas is a holiday that has been celebrated in our world for many centuries and over that time it has gained many traditions such as gift-giving, decorating the Christmas tree, Santa Claus, caroling, baking cookies, dinner, parties, nativities, candy canes, concerts, and Christmas light displays. Each of these traditions has its own unique history as to how it became a part of the Christmas season.

The first Christmas celebration took place in 336 A.D. in the city of Rome. The Christian leaders of that time chose to celebrate Jesus Birthday on December 25 to overshadow the pagan holiday Natalis Solis Invincti, the birthday of the Roman sun god, which occurs on the winter solstice. The word Christmas comes from the Latin words Cristes maesse, which means Christs Mass.

T the story and origin of the fable Santa Claus dates back to when Christmas was first celebrated. Santa Claus is based on the life of a kind and generous man, who loved children. This man is known to us as Saint Nicholas. St. Nicholas was a bishop of the early Christian Church and was well-known for giving gifts to children who lived in poverty. One story, for example, tells of him placing gold coins in the stockings of three poor girls to provide for a dowry. 

After St. Nicholass death, Dutch culture kept his legacy alive, with children leaving their wooden shoes by the fireplace overnight in hopes of finding a treat inside. This gave birth to the tradition of hanging stocking on the chimney mantle on December 6, the day of St. Nicholass death.

The Dutch wrote St. Nicholas name as Sint Nikolaas, which eventually evolved into Sinterklaas. So, when Dutch colonists arrived to New York, English colonists adopted the tradition and called him Santa Claus. The first appearance of a fat jolly man in a red and white suit riding a sleigh with reindeer comes from the story The Night Before Christmas composed by Clement C. Moore. The red and white suit was, however, appropriate for St. Nicholas, since those are traditionally the colors of a bishops robe.

Gift-giving was an existing tradition in ancient Roman, where people would exchange gifts to celebrate New Years Day. The Christian Church adopted this custom to mimic the Three Wise Men, who presented the baby Jesus with gifts of gold, incense, and myrrh. 

The use of the Christmas tree first began in Germany the 1500s. Families would decorate evergreen trees with roses, apples, nuts, and colored paper. It is thought that Martin Luther, for whom the Lutheran Church is named, was the first to put candles on the Christmas tree. It is said he was traveling on a dark winter night when he observed the light from stars shining through the branches of a fir tree. He copied this affect by attaching candles to the branches of the evergreen tree within his home. Today, people place a star on the top of the Christmas tree to symbolize the Star of Bethlehem.

Another plant associated with the Christmas season is the poinsettia. These shrubs are usually found in Christmas displays or decorating the inside of churches. The poinsettia is native to Mexico and was first brought to the United States in 1828 by the U.S.s first ambassador to Mexico, Joel Roberts Poinsett. The Mexicans believed that the poinsettia symbolized the Star of Bethlehem.

Small groups of people will often gather together and go from location to location singing Christmas carols, whether at a park, on a public street, through a neighborhood, or even in nursing homes. The custom of carol singing goes as far back as the Middle Ages. It was an Anglo-Saxon tradition to gather in small choirs at the village commons to sing Christmas carols for the pleasure of passers-by.

The twelve days of Christmas are oft mentioned during the Christmas season, though many people are unfamiliar with the origin of the phrase. The twelve days of Christmas refer to the twelve days that separate Christmas Day, December 25, and Epiphany, January 6. Depending on the church, Epiphany signifies either Christs baptism or when the three wise man presented baby Jesus with their gifts.

