Xmas facts
The word Christmas means "Mass of Christ," later shortened to "Christ-Mass." The even
shorter form Xmas (with the "X") was first used in Europe in the 1500s and is derived
from the Greek alphabet in which X is the first letter of Christ's name: Xristos,
therefor X-Mass.
In the 6th century the Roman monk and astronomer Dionysis Exeguus, also known as
Dionysis the Little. Dionysis reformed the calendar to pivot around the birth of Christ.
He dated the Nativity 753 years from the founding of Rome, calculated to the date
King Herod died. But Dionysis miscalculated because Herod died 749 years after the
founding of Rome, thus 4BC. Christ was born a year or two before Herod died. Dionysis also
did not calculate the year Zero. Technically speaking, we're now either in the year 2005 or 2006.
Today we know that Christ was not born on the 25th of December, but in March. December
was chosen to coincide with the pagan Roman celebrations honouring Saturnus, the harvest god.
The early Christians did not celebrate the birth of Christ. In fact, the celebration of Christmas is not mentioned at all in the Bible.
In 320 AD, Pope Julius I specified 25 December as Christ's date of birth. In 325AD, Constantine the Great officially introduced Christmas as an immovable feast. Still, in most countries Christmas was not a legal holiday until the 19th century.
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