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Please select your favorite music.
Christmas began in the 4th century. At that time the
Catholic Church did not celebrate birthdays, however a
rival pagan religion celebrated their son god, Mithras,
birthday in December. The elders of the church decided to
create a day to celebrate Jesus' birthday, Christs Mass.
Even though it is believed that Jesus was born in the
Spring, they chose December 25th to directly compete with
the Roman's holiday.
The druids used missletoe to decorate their homes to
celebrate the coming of Winter, 200 years before Jesus was
born. The elders of the Church, banned mistletoe because of
it's pagan history and suggested holly instead. The
Scandanavians associated mistletoe with their goddess of
love, Frigga. This is probably where the tradition of
kissing under it comes from.
Germans started the tradition of Christmas trees in the
16th century. They would use apples, roses and colored
paper to decorate them. Martin Luther, the protestant
reformist is thought to be the first one to use candles on
a tree. Trees were not popular in Britian until the 19th
century. They were brought to America, by German
Pennsylvanians in 1820.
St. Nicholas was born in Turkey in the 4th century. He
lived a very pious life devoted to christianity. He was
know for his generosity to the poor and for his love of
children. The Dutch kept his legend alive and in the 16th
century, childre would put their wooden shoes by the hearth
in hopes of treats the next day. In Dutch his name was
spelled Sint Nikolass, which became Sinter Klass and
finally Santa Clause. Clement C. Moore, who wrote "A Visit
From St. Nick", better known as "Twas The Night Before
Christmas", is credited with creating the modern day image
of Santa.
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Santa's Village
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Letters To Santa
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Christmas Songs
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A Holiday Gift For You!
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