By: Rosie Pellegrini
I am here today to talk about only the best holiday of the year; Christmas! A time of year filled with Christmas lights, Christmas trees, and Christmas cookies. What more could you ask for?! Christmas throughout the United States is celebrated in many ways. Whether it is spending time with family and friends, volunteering, or even just giving thanks for all the good things in your life. But, how did Christmas come to be? That is what I am here today to tell you about.
People have many different opinions, based on religions and cultures, on when Christmas really started. I am Christian, so I will be discussing how Christmas came about, the Christian way. The earliest reference to Christmas was marked on December 25 and came from the second century after Jesus’ birth. The first Christmas festivities were celebrated in Rome, on a holiday they call Roman Saturnalia. Roman Saturnalia was a harvest festival celebrating the winter solstice. The celebrated the return of the sun, and worshipped Saturn- God of sowing. Apparently, this festival got pretty rowdy (lol). During this time Christianity was a minority. They believed that the Romans should be celebrating the Son, Jesus Christ, not Saturn. Later, Christianity became the official state religion. Emperor Justinian wanted to create a holiday that celebrated the birth of Jesus Christ. He then established the day December 25 as a civic holiday and named it Christmas. From then on, people have celebrated Christmas in many ways.
My family goes all out for Christmas. Yep, matching pajamas, a day set aside to make Christmas cookies, rob your neighbor, all that jazz. I remember setting out cookies and milk for Santa Clause and carrots and grapes for his deer. Every Christmas morning, I would wake up bright and early to sprint down stairs to see all the presents he brought me, and the half glass of milk, and only cookie crumbs left.
Whether your Christmas ever involved Santa Clause or not, I will tell you, I was deathly scared of him. Until I was about 13, I slept in my parents’ room every Christmas Eve. I was so scared that he was going to come up into my room. I am not sure why I was ever scared of him because he “brought me presents”. Santa Clause has been traced back hundreds of years. Originally, he was a monk named St. Nicolas, and he did a lot of good in his life. It was said that he gave away all of the wealth he inherited and traveled the countryside to help all of the poor and sick. He was known and the protector of children and sailors. The name Santa Clause came from St. Nicolas’s Dutch name, Sinter Klaas. After his death, pictures of him with sacks filled with toys and fruit filled the newspapers around America. From then on, Santa Clause became the man who brought presents to all the good children on Christmas morning.
Christmas time is one of my favorite times of year. I tend to celebrate it from the day after Halloween to New Year’s Eve. No matter how you celebrate Christmas, you cannot tell me it is the happiest time of year. Whether you spend time with your family and friends, volunteering, or giving thanks, Christmas is always a time of laughter, smiles, and love. I hope I informed you a little more on how this day came about, and how our well-known Santa Clause came to be.
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