Vicky Britt, age 13, of Nashua, N.H., for her question:
WHEN WAS THE FIRST CHRISTMAS?
Christmas is the day on which Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. Although most people celebrate Christmas on Dec. 25, no one is sure exactly when Jesus was born.
The early Christians did not celebrate Jesus' birth because they considered the celebration of anyone's birthday to be a pagan custom. The first mention of the observance of Christ's birth appears about A.D. 200. For many years, several dates were used.
Dec. 25 was first used to celebrate the birthday in the year 336. Christians of Egypt started to celebrate Christmas on Jan. 6 about this same time. Many members of the Eastern Orthodox Churches still observe this Jan. 6 date.
Perhaps you have seen Christmas written as "Xmas." This form of the name originated in the early Christian Church. The Greek letter "X" is the first letter of Christ's name. It was frequently used as a holy symbol.
For many years Christmas was observed only as a religious festival. But gradually people adopted more and more customs unrelated to the church.
In 1643, the Puritans, who regarded such non religious celebrations as pagan, outlawed the observance of Christmas in England. Colonists in New England copied the English laws. The "blue" laws of the Massachusetts Bay and New Haven colonies even outlawed mince pie.
But immigrants brought Christmas customs from many lands to Canada and the United States and the old festivities soon were restored.
Today many people still faithfully acknowledge the religious aspects of Christmas but they also accept the fact that the holiday is very important to many businesses. Also, they see the Christmas season as a time for happiness.
Many people make their living throughout the year working in industries that manufacture lights, ornaments and other decorations. And many are employed in the greeting card industry. In addition, many retail stores benefit during the Christmas season as people buy gifts for friends and family members.
Here is an interesting commercial fact: as much as one fourth of the yearly sales of a large number of stores generally come during the Christmas season.
Saint Nicholas served as bishop of Myra, in Asia Minor, in the A.D. 300s. He was famous for his generosity. Saint Nicholas became the patron saint of children. His feast day is Dec. 6 and he was believed to bring gifts to children on the eve of that day.
Gradually, Saint Nicholas became accepted as the gift giver at Christmas, picking up different names in different countries.
Santa Claus is a distinctly American symbol of Christmas. He gets his name from the early Dutch settlers in New York, who called Saint Nicholas "Sinterklass." As he became more American, Santa Claus took on some of the nonreligious characteristics of the English Father Christmas.
Some of Santa Claus' characteristics date back for centuries. The belief that Santa enters the house though the chimney, for example, developed from an old Norse legend. The Norse believed that the goddess Hertha appeared in the fireplace and brought good luck to homes.