THE coming weekend is perhaps the most celebrated of all events in our calendar.

It is a curious mixture of tradition, religion, superstition, ancient beliefs, modern customs, happiness, lots of lights, glowing logs in our hearths and urgent last minute shopping.

There is also much cooking, eating and drinking, and the giving of presents during what may be called the happiest and most joyous time of the year for most of us, whether children or adults, Christians or otherwise.

However, there is sadness too, which can sometimes be forgotten or over-looked as some people will have to spend Christmas alone or perhaps in hospital or some other care facility.

Truly this is a time of celebration for families and I think it is fair to say that most families do consider neighbours who may be alone or lonely at this time of much merriment for others.

An invitation to share family celebrations can be a memorable highlight in the lives of isolated people.

It is therefore interesting to discover how it all started. We might be tempted to believe that this season of celebrations with light, warmth, food and drink all began with the Birth of Christ in Bethlehem. It didn’t; it began as a pagan festival long before the Birth of Christ.

We continue with some of those pagan customs, such as the use of evergreens like the holly and the ivy and even the Yule log which long ago symbolised warmth and light. That provided some undefined hope within a long season of darkness coupled with the chill of winter.

Teutonic and Celtic tribes always held their celebrations as early as November. Cattle were slaughtered because their pasturage had died away and their meat was used in huge feasts called jiulets or guili from which our word Yule is probably derived.

Yule logs were burnt during those feasts as a symbol of fire, light and warmth that would chase away the cold darkness of those days. The burning logs were used within households, one belief being that the burning of Yule logs also brought good luck to the household.

In Roman times, the massive celebration of Saturnalia was held over an entire week from December 17 when it marked the so-called Golden Age when Saturn was believed to rule the world.

Long processions of men and women with lighted tapers on their heads paraded through towns with candles and green wreaths given away as presents.

As this month turned into the Kalends of January, slaves changed places with their masters. Rich and poor celebrated together and entered the spirit of the occasion with dancing and games, then joined the feasting whilst remaining together as equals. Those Roman pagans also had their special sacred day.

It was December 25, then marking the winter solstice. It was chosen by Emperor Aurelian in AD 274 as The Birthday of the Unconquered Sun, or Dies Natalis Invicti Solis.

It was the chief festival of those Romans and the celebrations were introduced to foreign countries conquered by the Romans – and that included England.

It was the birth of a child called Jesus in a stable at Bethlehem that affected or even abolished most earlier celebrations. People from around the world later went to Bethlehem to celebrate the Birth of Jesus but they went at differing times.

Roman Catholics and Protestants celebrated the Birth on Christmas Eve, December 24, Syrians, the Greek Orthodox Church and Ethiopians used January 6 and the Armenians settled for January 18.

However, there was a tradition that Jesus had in fact been born on December 25 and it was Pope Julius I (337-352) who conducted a thorough enquiry into the circumstances surrounding the Birth of Christ from which he concluded that it was indeed on December 25.

He decided the celebrations should be world wide and therefore declared December 25 the official date of Christ’s birth. Thus the pagan Birthday of the Unconquered Sun became the official Christian Birthday of the Son of God.

As the new child lay in the manger, gifts were brought to Him from afar by foreign rulers.

These symbolised aid to the poor and the conquering of selfishness. Lights in the form of candles or lanterns were also brought to the stable in Bethlehem to symbolise the Light of the World.

So how does the familiar Christmas tree enter the story? There is a tale that in the eighth century, St Boniface travelled from England to convert the pagan Germans to Christianity, but he cut down a sacred oak tree, an act that enraged his hosts.

In retribution, he cut down a small spruce tree as a symbol of the Christian faith and gave it to them.

In time, the notion of a Christmas tree became a tradition in Germany and it was established as part of our culture during the reign of Queen Victoria.

A Happy Christmas to all.