What are the origins of the Christmas celebration?

Since when do we celebrate Christmas?

The Gospels of Jesus’ childhood do not give a date of his birth. It was only in the 4th century that a Roman calendar attested to the feast of the Nativity, December 25.

This date coincides with a well-known holiday period in Rome and the empire, around the winter solstice in the northern hemisphere (December 21, give or take a day), and this is no coincidence.

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While the length of daylight was at its lowest, Saturnalia (Saturn festivals) and the rebirth of the unconquered Sun were celebrated for a month. The celebration of Christ as “Sun of righteousness” (cf. Malachi 3, 20) changes a custom, without upsetting it.

So the Christian festival is grafted onto pagan celebrations?

Indeed. And the new Christmas celebration takes on pagan holiday practices. During Saturnalia, families gather at banquets, where slaves eat with their masters. The profusion of food evokes the abundance hoped for in the months to come; New Years are offered – figs and honey – whose sweetness symbolizes the hope of a sweet new year. This moment is seen as a real turning point of the year. When most trees are stripped of their leaves, greenery is introduced into homes, including holly, mistletoe, ivy.

In the 3rd century, in North Africa, the theologian Tertullian may have been angry (“You decorate your houses with greenery and candles like the pagans”), these practices have reached us…

Could the custom of putting up a tree in homes at Christmas be linked to these ancient rites?

We can think so, even if it is only attested from the 16th century, in Alsace and in Germany, in public buildings, then homes. Catholic France first saw it as a Protestant tradition, before adopting it in the 19th century. The tree is decorated, laden with symbols that evoke wishes for prosperity for the year to come.

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In fact, the study of Christmas customs – the place of children, gifts, etc. – in the French provinces shows the antiquity and permanence of beliefs well before the development of the Christian faith, and their sacred dimension.

Today, Christmas is seen as a family celebration, beyond Christian circles…

This is why Christmas can be difficult for lonely people. It is also a celebration of generosity. At Christmas, we open our wallet and our heart.

Nadine Cretin, author of Christmases in the provinces of France Ed. The Peregrinator (2013), 176 p.; €9.50.