Last week I came across an article about why December 25 was chosen as the day to celebrate the birth of Christ, http://www.bib-arch.org/e-features/christmas.asp#location1
It discussed the possible connection with Saturnalia, but also states that there is another, more likely possibility. Many in the early Church thought that Christ was conceived (referred to as the Annunciation) and died on the same day, March 25. December 25 is 9 months later.
So Merry Christmas to all! We are still in the Twelve Days of Christmas> My own Pharisaical hangup is that folks celebrate and then abandon Christmas too soon. We have until Epiphany/Theophany on Jan 6.
My hangup is that my church (Episcopal) does not seem to realize that Christmas starts the day after Thanksgiving.
They refuse to sing carols until Christmas Eve.
And then Sunday, when we’re out of the mood, we got carols.
Okay, they were beautiful and kinda put me back in the mood, but ...