THURSDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2016
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Well, because when Emperor
Aurelianus, in 274 AD, unified
the cults of the three sun-gods
into one, the Sol Invictus (the
Invincible
Sun), he chose the
25th of December to celebrate it.
The end of December was
already an important moment of
the pagan calendar, because of
the
Winter solstice and, in Rome,
of the Saturnalia: it was easy and
clever to associate the new feast
with one already so well estab-
lished.
In
Rome, cradle of
Christianity, the step from cele-
brating an invincible sun divinity
to feasting for the birth of
the Son of God was brief: less
than
a century. It was the year
336 AD, when Roman writer and
painter Furius Dionisius
Filocalus mentioned for the first
time the 25th of December as the
day
of the birth of Christ. As an
incise, historians are more prone
to consider the Spring as the
actual moment of His birth, yet,
when it comes to Christmas as
we know it, it is all about the
Winter. The people of Late
Antique Rome, we know
now, have a lot to do with this.
Rome, then, as Mother of
Christianity and head of a multi-
cultural Empire, is behind the
fact we celebrate Christmas the
day we do. Yet, the connections
between Christmas and Italy are
more.
Fast forward about a millen-
nia from the times of Aurelianus
and move east of about 100
miles: you may recognize the
soft, oil-pastel shaded hills of
Umbria and their undiscussed
queen, Assisi, home to Italy's
most recognizable saint, Francis.
It is thanks to him that one of
Christmas most popular repre-
sentations, that of the traditional
nativity – which we call Presepe
or Presepio in Italy – came to be.
It was the 29th of November
1223 when Pope Onorius III
approved the Friars Minor order.
In the following weeks, Francis
expressed his wish to spend that
Christmas in solitude in the little
mountain village of Greccio.
While there Francis, who was a
man of unbreakable yet pragmat-
Throughout the centuries, the imagery of Jesus's birth has filled the mind and inspired the hand on coun-
tless artists who gave shape, form and color to the heart of Christian belief in their works
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