Posts Tagged ‘Christmas’
History of Epiphany: Ends the 12 Days of Christmas?
HISTORY OF EPIPHANY Epiphany occurs in the Christian calendar on January 6. It signifies the event of the Magi, or Wise Men, visiting the baby Jesus, and is known in some Latin cultures as Three Kings Day. In the Eastern (Orthodox and Oriental) churches, it is known as the Feast of Theophany (God Manifest), commemorating Jesus’ baptism with…
Read MoreHistory of Childermas: Feast of the Holy Innocents
HISTORY OF CHILDERMAS Childermas, from an Old English word meaning the Mass of the Infants, is the festival in the church calendar begun in the fifth century — celebrated in the Western Church on December 28 and in the Eastern Church on December 29. It commemorated the date when King Herod ordered the massacre of the…
Read MoreHistory of the Christmas Truce of 1914: Peace in the WWI Trenches
History of the Christmas Truce of 1914: The Surprising Peace in the WWI Trenches
Read MoreHistory of Christmas Eve: Polish Christmas Wafer
History of Christmas Eve: Polish Christmas Wafer, its tradition and background
Read More5 Christmas Myths, Not Found in the Nativity Story
5 CHRISTMAS MYTHS: NOT FOUND IN THE NATIVITY STORY I’m often asked to explain the history behind a holiday or the origin of a popular tradition. Is it based on history, tradition, or legend? The best historical sources we have on the birth of Jesus are found in two of the Gospel accounts in the…
Read MoreHistory of A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story of Christmas
History of A Christmas Carol and the impact of Charles Dickens’ classic
Read MoreHistory of Christmas: Caesar Augustus
HISTORY OF CHRISTMAS: CAESAR AUGUSTUS Perhaps it is fitting that our last historical Nativity character in the History of Christmas series should be the first person mentioned in St. Luke‘s story of the first Christmas. But he was not Jewish, nor a shepherd, nor a Magi. Instead, he was 1500 miles away, the Roman emperor, Caesar…
Read MoreIs Die Hard Really A Christmas Movie?
IS DIE HARD REALLY A CHRISTMAS MOVIE? Scholars and historians have debated the question “Is Die Hard a Christmas Movie?” for centuries. Or at least during the last three decades since the movie was released. This is why readers have turned to me, your friendly neighborhood historian, to wrestle with this age-old question and help…
Read MoreHistory of the Magi: Who were the Wise Men?
History of the Magi: The Wise Men. Who were they, where were they from, why did they come?
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