Blog

But why the 25 December was chosen by Hôtel★★★ Gourmet restaurant Coco Lodge Majunga.

Christmas is of course the celebration of the birth of Christ for the whole of the Christian world.
But why the date of 25 December was it chosen ?

Christmas party – Feast of the birth of Jésus Christ – Since the 3rd century

In fact the first Christmas festivities took not place on a single day but several in a period from November to January.
The choice of this period was a strategic choice of the Church to make disappear to ancient customs and Pagan traditions by substituting one of the most important feasts of Christianity : the Nativity.

The Roman Saturnalia
Long before the birth of Christ, the Romans celebrated Saturnalia of 17 to the 24 December. The Saturnalia were feasts celebrated in honour of Saturn, the Roman equivalent of the Greek god Kronos. Chained by Zeus to have devoured his own children, Released Kronos fled to Italy where he brings “the Golden Age”. For the Romans it became Saturn God of crops and agriculture.

Saturnalia is the feast of freedom found for all.
During Saturnalia all social divisions disappeared and the roles could be reversed. The slaves took the place of the masters serving them ! A legal truce was observed for the duration of the festivities which gave rise to excesses of any kind.
Houses were decorated with foliage and branches in honor of the God of agriculture.
The Church fought these feasts and eventually banning them at the end of the IV century. The Epiphany is the heir of the Saturnalia.

Mithra, God of light
Mithra is a deity of Iranian origin, He is the God of light and truth. The Roman soldiers converted to the cult of Mithras it spread in the whole of l ’ Roman empire.
The 25 December was also the longest night of the year a bull was sacrificed in honor of Mithra, This party was the name of “Sol Invictus” (unconquered Sun). For several centuries the cult of Mithras opposed great resistance to Christianity throughout Europe until Brittany and on the banks of the Danube.

Jul
The Jul festivals are a very old tradition of the Nordic peoples. These festivals took place around the winter solstice and were accompanied by human sacrifices and large libations.. They find their origins in Germanic traditions and mythology. They were given in honor of the following gods :
• Odin god of death
• Thor god of thunder
• Idun guardian of the apples of youth
The tradition of the feasts of Jul inspired Père Fouettard and Jul tomte ancestor of Santa Claus.

The choice of 25 December
Christmas did not exist in the first days of Christianity. The Gospels not even mentioning the date of birth of Jésus Christ, the Church had to choose one. First churches were not all the same date of celebration of the Nativity, and then the date of 25 December was chosen in the year 354 by the Western Church. The Eastern Church kept the date of 6 January.

by Hôtel★★★ Restaurant gourmand Coco Lodge Majunga.