- Like, Christmas was canceled at one point?
There are some things you may not know about Christmas, like that it was canceled. Here are some other things that may surprise you about the holiday.
Some People Celebrate Christmas In January
It may surprise you to know that the original holiday was observed on January 7th. This is because of the Julian calendar, also known as the “Old Calendar,” was used before the adoption of the Gregorian calendar. For people like Orthodox Christians that still use the Julian calendar, it means that December 25th will happen on a different day.
The First Christmas
The first celebration was on December 25th, 336 AD. The day was picked due to the Annunciation, celebrating Christ’s conception to Virgin Mary on March 25th.To those Orthodox Christians who still follow the calendar, there was too much tie between the spring equinox and Christmas Day, it didn’t make sense to change the date and celebrate any sooner.
Followers Of The Julian Calendar
This group consists of believers from Russia, Europe, Greece, and Egypt. Most of Western Christianity uses the Gregorian calendar.
Christmas Was Canceled
Puritan settlers arrived in 1620 and thought the celebrations were too extravagant and they did not celebrate the holiday. They thought “there was no scriptural basis for commemorating Christmas.” So much so that celebrating Christmas was banned in Boston from 1659-1681. Did you know this about Christmas?
Officially A Holiday
The day has been recognized as a federal holiday for around two centuries since it’s been celebrated, officially in 1870.
Celebrating Today
Celebrating Christmas today includes things like trees and cookies, fig pudding and yule logs. Of course, people get into lights and gifts and food and Elf on the Shelf and Black Friday, too. But many also celebrate the holiday for 12 days, starting after Advent and ending sometime in January. Others even celebrate for 40 days, ending on February 2nd, knowns as Candlemas and celebrating the presentation of Jesus in the temple.
Did you know that some people celebrate Christmas for as many as 12 or even up to 40 days? Let me know in the comments what you know or didn’t know about the holiday!