On the very Christmas after his arrival in England Saint Augustine baptized many thousands of converts and permitted their usual December celebration under the new name and with the new meaning. He forbade only the mingling together of Christians and pagans in the dances.
From these early pagan-Christian ceremonies are derived many of the English holiday customs that have survived to our day.
Now get clearly into your head one very important fact. Although at the time when Augustine visited England the date of Christmas had been fixed upon as December 25 there is no biblical reason why this should be so. The gospels say nothing about the season of the year when Christ was born. On the other hand they do tell us that shepherds were then guarding their flocks in the open air. Hence many of the early fathers of the Church considered it most likely that the Nativity took place either in the late summer or the early fall. The point was of no great moment to them, as the early Church made more fuss over the death day of a great or holy person than over his birthday. The birthday is only the day when man is born into mortality, the death day chronicles his birth into immortality.
The important fact then which I have asked you to get clearly into your head is that the fixing of the date as December 25th was a compromise with paganism.
For countless centuries before the Christian era pagan Europe, through all its various tribes and peoples, had been accustomed to celebrate its chief festival at the time of the winter solstice, the turning point when winter, having reached its apogee, has also reached the point when it must begin to decline again towards spring.
Saturn, the God of Time.
Painting by Raphael.
The last sentence requires further explanation. I shall try to put it into words as simple as possible.
You must be aware of the fact that the shortest day in the year is December 21st. Therefore that is the day when winter reaches its height.
It was on or about December 21st that the ancient Greeks celebrated what are known to us as the Bacchanalia or festivities in honor of Bacchus,[1] the god of wine. In these festivities the people gave themselves up to songs, dances and other revels which frequently passed the limits of decency and order.