In the simplist terms, to me Christmsa means Christ's Birthday. It means celebrating his birth with gifts from the heart.
In researching and reading on this topic, it appears that many have the the same question. What is the true meaning of Christmas? Some will go back to when Santa Claus' origin others go to the bible and the birth of Christ. I will try to discuss both over the next several weeks. Please feel free to help me out and give me your input.
Santa Claus is actually based on a real person from Myra (modern-day Southern Turkey). He was a saint and Bishop of Myra, who was described as a devout Christian who used his whole inheritance to assist the needy, the sick, and the suffering*. It was said that he wanted to give money to poor people without them knowing about it. One story is that he dropped a bag of gold down the chimney and it fell into a stocking hanging on the fireplace to dry. Another says tells that bags of gold, tossed through an open window and are said to have landed in stockings or shoes left before the fire to dry. Either way, this is how the tradition of hanging stockings on the fireplace and placing gifts in them began.
References:
*http://www.stnicholascenter.org/Brix?pageID=38
*http://www.soon.org.uk/christmas.htm
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