Another famous date
While it is now proven that the Roman monk’s calculations were incorrect, even in the most obvious respects and that Jesus was between 41 and 45 years old when he was executed, the peculiar dating of Dionysius the Less also bequeathed another famous date: that of Jesus’ 33 years at the time of his crucifixion.
Jesus was born in late September or early October, according to a 16th-century scholar named Giuseppe Scaligero.
More wisely, the great scholar and theologian Bynaeus (1654-1698) concluded that since the Scriptures are silent on the subject, let us also be silent after carefully reading all that had been written on the subject.
For the Catholic world, the date of December 25 was already set in stone by the end of the 4th century (even if it was not accepted by the Eastern Christian Churches, which continued to celebrate the birth of Jesus on January 6).
However, they adopted December 25 under the influence of St. John Chrysostom, founder of the Eastern Church and Patriarch of Alexandria and St. Gregory Nazianzen, theologian and friend of St. Basil.
Festivity of Christmas
The feast of Christmas originally had a simple and rural character, but from the eighth century began to be celebrated with the liturgical pomp that has come down to our days.
Hymns, readings, mysteries and pious scenes gave way to open-air representations of the birth of the portal of Bethlehem, illuminating and decorating the temples.
All ancient peoples who venerated the sun celebrated its birth on the winter solstice with great festivities marked by general merriment and the predominance of bonfires.
People gathered around these bonfires to express their happiness and hope through group rituals that included singing, dancing and the gathering of special plants such as mistletoe.
Pre-Roman villages
They celebrated the return of the new Sun and the vegetative forces of Nature during the three days before December 24 and 25, as well as the following six days preceding the New Year.
In addition to serving as a symbol of the important event, the large bonfires also served the function of kindling the warmth and power of the Sun’s rays as they headed towards spring and flooded the earth with their regenerative energy.
After incorporating these components, the Church later added the nativity scene and carols to its traditions during the Middle Ages. Banquets were the focal point of celebrations at this time.
When the Puritans banned Christmas in Britain in 1552, this all came to an abrupt end. Although Charles II brought Christmas back to England in 1660, the customs did not resurface until the Victorian era.
Christmas remains a highly controversial holiday among the nation’s various Puritan leaders, even though it was made a federal holiday in the United States in 1870 by a law signed by President Ulysses S. Grant.
Do not celebrate Christmas
Today, the “Jehovah’s Witnesses” do not celebrate Christmas because they consider it a pagan holiday. Moreover, they do not agree that Jesus Christ was born on December 25 because, according to the Jewish calendar, the month between November and December is Kislev, which is “cold and rainy”.
Then comes Tevet, which falls between December and January and is the coldest month of the year, with some snowfall in the highlands. According to Luke 2:8-12 of the Gospel, the shepherds were in the fields when Jesus was born, sleeping outdoors with their flocks, something that would not have been possible if it were winter.
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