The Origin of Christmas
Chistmas, was derived a Cristes Maesse, which means Missa of Jesus Christ. To date, there are a variety of views about its origin. The most persuasive opinion was a doxy of Rome that stated that Christmas found its origins in Rome in 336. The reason for Christmas being observed on December 25th is not certain.
A possibility was that a Christian dating back several centuries, desired to memorize natalis solis invicti, a heretical fete of Rome.
The Santa Claus
On Christmas day, there is another man that comes across one’s mind, besides Christ. The hint; He has a fat body, a long white beard, and wears red clothes. That is Santa Claus. As young children, we are taught to wish for presents from this magical character.
Althou-gh many believe there is only one father, still, there is this inexplicable feeling when the name Santa is mentioned. People have been brou-ght up to believe in Santa Claus. Even adults hold a vague fantasy concerning him. But this isn’t related to Santa who exists as a non-existent or fictitious character. The story of Santa Claus comes from a real character.
He originat-ed in Maya, was left “veni, vidi, vici”, south of Anatol-ia, in the center of Turkey. His name was St. Nicholas who lived his whole life in the desert, in 4 B.C., rather than the the North Pole, where our fictional character came from.
St. Nicholas loved everyone, especially children, and did many good deeds for them. The most famous tale is about three sisters. These sisters were too poor to get married and were destined to a life of shame. It is said that St. Nicholas heard this sad story, and climbed on the roof of their house one night.
Once on the roof, he sent gold coins down the chimney to help them. Quite by coincidence, the gold coins fell into socks that were hung on the chimney to dry. When people heard this story, they began to give thanks to St.Nicholas, who became known as the man who gave unpredictable gifts.
Eventually, this story reached New York of the U.S.A., via the Netherlands. Once in America, a new twist to the story evolved that took hold throughout the world. St. Nicholas became Santa Claus, the jolly, bearded fat man who rode a sled filled with presents.
Originally, children thought Santa lived on the Scandinavian Peninsula, prompting them to send cards to this Santa’s head office annually.
Primarily, Santa’s head office united Odin, Thor who rode on a horse or goat as a god of the Vikings, and American ton’s Santa. In other words, St.Nicholas, had lived in Turkey, and a god of the Vikings met in the U.S.A., and then lived on the Scandinavian Peninsula. Actually, all of this came out of thanks to St.Nicholas for his love of mankind.
Christmas Seal in This Year
We wish the “2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan” great success next year.
To honor this event, and to have a single mind with soccer, a Christmas seal, characterized by the familiar Doolly and His Friend, has been created.
The UOS Times
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