We’re approaching Christmas — why do we celebrate Christmas every year on December 25? The short answer is that no one really knows. Like just about everything, lots of people have ideas and theories, but no one really does know for sure.
Almost all Western Christian churches celebrate Christmas on December 25, although some observe the main celebration on the night before — Christmas Eve.
For the Christian community, the meaning of Christmas is the remembrance and celebration of God’s presence in our world through Jesus — God-made flesh.
The actual date of Christ’s birth is unknown, but Christmas has been celebrated on the 25th of December since the 4th century. Scholars and experts don’t agree on exactly when Christ was born — or — the specific circumstances of the beginning of Christmas as we know it. The most popular belief is that sometime around the winter solstice, was the most likely day of Christ’s birth, but many think other dates are more probable, including several in the spring and fall.
Somewhere around 350 A.D., Pope Julius I set December 25 as the date the Church would commemorate when Jesus was born. A fairly popular belief by many historians is that the Church stirred up interest in a festival at that time of year to counter pagan festivals surrounding the solstice — but no historical document or evidence unequivocally explains the reasons for setting the date as December 25.
But no matter the reason, it is the season — Merry Christmas to everyone.
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