Popular Christmas traditions and their origin:

There are many traditions followed around the world during the Advent and Christmas seasons that mark the festivities and celebrations on the birth of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Whilst some are more religiously inclined, the more popular ones around the world have evolved through the customs and traditions followed in some part of the world. We take a look at the origin of some of the most popular traditions followed around the world today.

1. The Advent wreath began in Germany as a Lutheran tradition in the 16th century and eventually spread to other Christian denominations. The Advent wreath has four candles – 3 purple and 1 pink/white that are lit every day during this season during the family prayers, when relevant passages from the Bible are read. The purple candles symbolise the prayer, penance and preparatory sacrifices undertaken by the faithful. The pink /white candle is lit during the third week from the third Sunday called the Gaudete Sunday meaning Sunday of rejoicing. It represents the period when the preparation is almost complete and the birth of Christ is very close. By the daily lighting of the candles, the faithful share in the long expectation and hope that surrounded Our Lord’s first coming. It also renews our desire to prepare ourselves as we await longing in hope for His second coming.

2. The town of Greccio is the place where the nativity scene was recreated for the first time by Saint Francis of Assisi in the year 1223. He was inspired to do this after visiting the nativity cave in Bethlehem during a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. St. Francis recreated the scene of Christ's birth in a special ritual and Mass he held inside of a cave in Greccio, Italy, where he invited his fellow friars and the townspeople to join in the celebration. He had statues of Saint Joseph, Mother Mary and the baby Jesus laid in a manger alongwith live animals. By doing this he wanted to highlight the humility of the Incarnation, the poverty and difficulties into which the Son of God was born to save mankind.

3. The Christmas tradition of hanging stockings and dropping gifts secretly has its origin in the legend of St. Nicholas who saved three girls of a poor family from resorting to prostitution because their father could not afford their dowry. St. Nicholas dropped three bags of gold through their window secretly in the night and thus provided for their dowry.

4. Christmas carols may have its origin in the pagan songs that were sung at the Winter Solstice celebrations in European countries when people would sing and dance to folk songs. In 129, a Roman Bishop asked that a song called "Angel's Hymn" be sung at a Christmas service in Rome. Another famous early Christmas Hymn was written in 760, by Comas of Jerusalem, for the Greek Orthodox Church. Soon after this many composers all over Europe started to write 'Christmas carols' in Latin. This was followed by an age where people stopped celebrating Christmas until the 1200s when St. Francis of Assisi started his Nativity plays in Italy, where people sang songs during the plays. These songs narrated the story of the birth of Jesus and thus began a new era of carols which reportedly spread to other European countries.

5. One of the most famous Christmas carol songs is undoubtedly 'Jingle Bells'. Jingle Bells was written by James Lord Pierpont (1822–1893) and was originally called "One Horse Open Sleigh". It was published, in the USA, in September 1857 as a Thanksgiving song and not a Christmas song. But it soon became associated with Christmas because of the lyrics which made it a popular choice for choirs at Christmas in the 1860s and 1870s. Jingle Bells was also the first song to be broadcast from space in December 1965 when the astronauts Tom Stafford and Wally Schirra took out a harmonica and sleigh bells and played and sang the song to mission control.

6. It was the Germans who made the very first artificial Christmas trees, using dyed goose feathers to look like needles of a pine or fir tree.

7. The lights on our Christmas trees were first introduced by Thomas Edison’s assistant Edward Johnson in 1882. Later in 1895, it was Ralph Morris who invented the type of lights we use today on our Christmas trees.

8.It was Pope Julius I, the Bishop of Rome, in 350 AD, who originally proclaimed December 25th as the official day to be observed for celebrating the birth of Jesus.

9. The popular fruitcakes originated in ancient Egypt, where it was considered essential for the afterlife.

10. Christmas cards, which originated in England, were first sent in the 1840s.

11. The tradition of tinsel, which was invented in Germany in 1610, is based on a legend about spiders whose web turned into silver when they were spun in a Christmas tree.

12. Tom Smith invented Christmas Crackers around 1846. He was inspired by the French habit of wrapping sugared almonds in twists of paper as gifts.

13. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was invented by Montgomery Ward copywriter Robert L. May in 1939, as a way to lure customers into the store.

14. Spider webs are common Christmas tree decorations in Poland because, according to legend, a spider wove a blanket for Baby Jesus. Many Polish people consider spiders to be symbols of goodness and prosperity.

15. Boxing Day comes the day after Christmas and is a holiday in many European countries. It was started in the UK about 800 years ago, during the Middle Ages. It was the day when the alms box, collection boxes for the poor often kept in churches, were traditionally opened so that the contents could be distributed to poor people.