Christmas Trees

• Early Christians decorated their homes with evergreens during winter as a reminder that, even though everything else dies in the cruel, cold months, evergreens live on. For those Christians, evergreen decorations represented the steadfastness of faith. In the eighth century, when Saint Boniface explained how an evergreen tree's triangular shape symbolized the three Persons of the Holy Trinity--Father, Son and Holy Spirit--Christians began decorating the trees, which we still do today.
  
  

Santa Claus and Stockings

• Saint Nicholas of Myra (modern-day Turkey) was a bishop known for his generosity. When one of his wealthy parishioners foolishly spent all of his money, he could not provide dowries for his three daughters. The legend says that Saint Nicholas came by the family's house at night and tossed in three bags of gold coins, which landed in stockings the girls had laid by the fireplace. from this story we get the legend of Santa Claus (whose name evolved along with his story) and the tradition of hanging stockings by the fireplace.
  
  

Christmas Day

• Since the Bible doesn't give Jesus' actual birth date, early Christians celebrated around the same time that the pagan cultures in which they lived had their annual holidays---during the time of the winter solstice. The celebration of the "re-birth" of the sun after the darkest day of the year was poignant for Christians, who saw Jesus as "the light of the world." Therefore, that time of year became significant for Christians, just as it had been for pagans for centuries. Today, most of the world celebrates Christmas Day on December 25.
  
  

Candlelight Services

• Just as early Christians used the dates and evergreens from pagan rituals, candlelight Christmas Eve services stemmed from these observances as well. Candles were often used by pagans to celebrate the winter solstice, the shortest and darkest day of the year. Early Christians who converted from paganism carried these traditions over with them, and candlelight services continue to be popular to this day.
  
  

Nativity Scene

• The nativity scene is one of a few Christmas traditions that originated directly from the Bible. The image of Baby Jesus lying in a manger on a bed of straw as Mary, Joseph, animals, shepherds and angels look on comes from the second chapter of the book of Luke. One variation from the biblical account is the inclusion of the Magi, or Three Wise Men, who were not actually present at Jesus' birth.
  
  

Giving Gifts

• The tradition of giving gifts in honor of Christ's birth also comes from the Bible. In it, three Magi (also called the Three Kings or Three Wise Men) journeyed from far-away countries to give gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh to Jesus. These first Christmas gifts started the custom of giving and receiving presents on Jesus' birthday.