Christmas or Holidays?

The religious roots of ‘Christmas’ are apparent. In the etymology dictionary you will find that it is a compound word that began as ‘Christ's mass’. Christmas is an annual festival celebrated by Christians, commemorating the birth of the religious leader, Jesus Christ, in Bethlehem observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the globe.

Church leaders melded Jesus' nativity celebration with pre-existing midwinter festivals celebrated by pagans, such as the Winter Solstice (Yule). In ancient Rome the event was called Saturnalia, traditionally celebrated as a symbol of the changing seasons and of the Earth's rebirth. Customary winter solstice foods often had an emphasis on the Earth itself – incorporating nuts, berries, spices, squash, potatoes and hunted game like goose and venison. Christmas traditions have warped over time, arriving at their current state a little more than a century ago.

A holiday is a day set aside by custom or by law on which normal activities, especially business or work, including school, are suspended, or reduced. Non-religious days such as Memorial Day, Independence Day, Presidents' Day and Labor Day are holidays.  

What is less obvious to many is that the word ’holiday’ has the word ‘holy’ in it, as in ‘holy-day.’ According to the Oxford English Dictionary it began in Old English as two words, ‘halig daeg’ (‘holy day’) that were combined into one word as early as 1,000 years ago. A 13th Century rulebook for nuns, for example, instructs nuns to pray more often on ‘helidawes’ (holy days) than on ‘werkedawes’ (workdays).

Gradually, holiday came to mean any special day that was set aside to allow individuals to celebrate or commemorate an event or tradition of cultural or religious significance - such as Christmas.

So, whether you call it Christmas or Holiday it is quibbling over semantics - as Christmas is a Holy-Day.

I wrote a heartwarming book and very special Holiday story about Grumpy going home for the Holidays.

You may order Grumpy Goes Home For The Holidays by clicking here.

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In the 12th Century, French nuns, inspired by the legend of St Nicholas – who gave gold to the poor – began leaving stockings full of fruit, including tangerines, and nuts at the houses of poor people.