Today is Christmas' day, so I wish you all a very happy X-mas.
Many of you may not have a family to spend with, but I hope that, the light that comes from the love and birth of Our Lord, Jesus Christ guide you, and comfort you all against every sort of adversity.
Today, I'd like to spot some curiosities that, drew my attention throughout this past week:
1. Have you ever thought why we often write X-mas when we refer to Christmas?
The explanation is extremely simple, it is because the letter X is called and/or corresponds to, in the Greek language and/or alphabet, the letter "chi" which is also the first letter of the name Christ in Greek, which is "Xpiotós" (My Greek friends and readers will apologise me for not applying the letter in written form properly).
2. Why do we call that old man that goes house-to-house on the Christmas' day delivering presents "Santa Claus"?
First, something needs to be said, this character used to be called Father Christmas and he represented the Christmas' spirit, bringing peace, love and making friends and families get together on this most auspicious of the nights.
Some time during the Middle Age, a story of a man who used to help poor people in Europe at Christmas has been spread, this person was Saint Nicholas. When more people migrated from Ireland and England to the North American British colonies, they took with them the story of this old man. Shortly after, Saint Nicholas started to be associated to Father Christmas and his name abbreviated to Santa Claus. Santa for Saint, and Claus for Nicholas.
3. What is the difference, in usage, between the names Father Christmas and Santa Claus?
Father Christmas is used in Britain and most of the Commonwealth countries (ex-British colonies). Meanwhile, Santa Claus is widely used in the US and Canada.
Nowadays, Santa Claus has been accepted worldwide. However, previously to the 40's, he was always referred to as Father Christmas.
4. Have you ever wondered how many reindeer Father Christmas (Santa Claus) has, and how they are called?
Easy. Father Christmas has 9 reindeer and their names are: Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen and Rudolph (this last one is the very famous red-nosed reindeer).
5. Are Father Christmas and Santa Claus the same person?
Not necessarily. Father Christmas is always associated to be wearing green clothes, and he does not go door-to-door delivering presents on the Christmas' day. On the other hand, with the spread of the Coca-Cola brand round the world and the arise of television programmes and comercials, Father Christmas started to be broadcast as wearing red clothes and most frequently entering people's house by the chimney delivering his Christmas' presents.
6. Why do we often decorate our Christmas tree with sparkling red balls?
Easy. Originally, the trees were decorated with red apples, and as the time went by and people moved from rural areas to urban cosmopolitan cities, the apples were replaced by these easy-to-be-made red balls.
So, that's all from now!!!
I hope you all enjoy reading this as I enjoyed searching and writing.
MERRY CHRISTMAS...
Cheers,
Murry.
