Question
Dear Gramps,
If Christmas is about the birth of Jesus, where did Santa come from?
Chris
Answer
Dear Chris,
Yes, Christmas is about the birth of Jesus. It wasn’t until 325 years after his birth that the Roman Emperor made all the people celebrate his birth on the shortest day of the year, called the winter solstice. There was a group of people in the Roman Empire at that time that worshiped the seasons of the year, and so the Roman Emperor changed the date of the Christian holiday that celebrated the birth of Jesus to the date of the Pagan holiday that worshiped the winter solstice. This is one of the things that the emperor did to try to unite all the people in his Empire.
As the years went by lots of different customs that were part of the way of life of Christians in different parts of the world became part of the celebration of Christmas. We have the Christmas tree, Christmas presents, the lights on the tree, the star on the top of the tree, a log burning in the fireplace, and lots of special foods, like fruit cake, cider, turkey, egg nog, etc. that associated with the Christmas season.
Different countries celebrate Christmas in different ways. In some countries where the Catholic Church is the predominant religion, Christmas is a very religious holiday. Instead of giving presents on Christmas Eve or Christmas day, the people go to church and celebrate a midnight mass. The children don’t receive presents until the 6th of January, 12 days after Christmas. This is the time that they celebrate the coming of the Three Kings from the Orient bringing presents to the Christ child. On the 12th day of Christmas the children put their shoes either outside their bedroom doors, or on the doorsteps of their houses, and the Three Kings come by that night and fill the shoes with presents.
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