50 Fun Facts About Catholic Christmas

When does the season of Advent begin?

The fourth Sunday before Christmas: Advent Sunday, the Sunday nearest the feast of St Andrew (30 November), opens the liturgical year in the Western Church; the name is from Latin adventus, 'coming'.

What is the usual liturgical colour for Advent in the Western Church?

Pope Innocent III once declared black the proper colour, but violet has held sway since about the 13th century.

On which Sunday of Advent may rose vestments be worn and the rose candle lit?

The third: Gaudete Sunday, the third Sunday of Advent, allows rose vestments as a mid-season lift, echoing Laetare Sunday, the rose-coloured fourth Sunday of Lent.

What does 'Gaudete', the name of the third Sunday of Advent, mean?

It is the first word of that day's introit, from Philippians: 'Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.'

Advent originally began as a fast of forty days starting the day after whose feast on 11 November?

It was known as St Martin's Lent as early as the fifth century; the season shrank to four weeks in the ninth century.

The Advent wreath, common in Catholic homes, began as a tradition in which denomination?

Lutheran: the Lutheran pastor Johann Hinrich Wichern built the first modern Advent wreath in 1839 for the children of his Rauhes Haus mission in Hamburg, who kept asking when Christmas would come.

The O Antiphons, sung at Vespers from 17 to 23 December, are best known in English as which hymn?

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel is John Mason Neale's 1851 English rendering of the Latin hymn Veni, veni, Emmanuel, which paraphrases the seven antiphons from O Sapientia to O Emmanuel.

The O Antiphons are sung during which canticle at Vespers?

The Magnificat: each O Antiphon frames the Magnificat, the Gospel canticle of Vespers, on 17–23 December; the sequence probably dates to sixth-century Italy.

What is the earliest document to place Jesus's birthday on 25 December?

The Chronograph of 354, an illustrated Roman almanac also called the Calendar of Filocalus, records 25 December as Christ's birthday in a martyrs' list thought to go back to AD 336.

Which pilgrim first chronicled the tradition of a Christmas midnight vigil, in Bethlehem around 381?

Egeria, a western pilgrim whose travel diary describes the Holy Land liturgy around 381–384, records the night vigil in Bethlehem and the torchlit procession that reached Jerusalem at dawn.

In which Roman basilica did Pope Sixtus III institute the Christmas midnight Mass?

Santa Maria Maggiore: Sixtus III rebuilt the basilica after the Council of Ephesus (431), and tradition credits him with the first midnight Mass in its crib oratory, later called Sancta Maria ad Praesepe.

What is the official Latin name of what most Catholics call Midnight Mass?

Missa in nocte, 'Mass during the Night', is the Roman Missal's name for it; it need not begin at midnight, and the Vatican moved its celebration to 10 pm in 2009.

How many Masses may a priest traditionally celebrate on Christmas Day, each with its own proper?

Three: the Roman Missal gives three Christmas Masses with distinct propers, during the Night, at Dawn and during the Day, a Roman custom established by the sixth century.

Which saint staged the first live nativity scene, at Greccio in 1223?

Francis of Assisi set up a manger with hay and live animals in a cave at Greccio for Christmas 1223, after visiting the Holy Land; sculpted cribs later spread from Italy across Europe.

Which two animals are traditionally shown at the manger, though neither appears in the Gospel accounts?

An ox and a donkey: neither animal appears in Matthew or Luke; they were read into the scene from a prophecy about beasts knowing their master's crib, and appear on sarcophagi from the fourth century.

When does Christmastide begin in the Catholic liturgical calendar?

At sunset on Christmas Eve: Christmas Time opens with First Vespers of the Nativity on the evening of 24 December, so most of Christmas Eve itself belongs to Advent.

Whose feast, honouring the first Christian martyr, falls on 26 December?

Saint Stephen, the protomartyr stoned in Acts 7, has 26 December, the second day of Christmastide; St Stephen's Day is a public holiday in Ireland, Italy, Germany and much of Europe.

The Feast of the Holy Innocents on 28 December commemorates children killed on whose orders?

Herod the Great, king of Judea, ordered the killing of Bethlehem's boys aged two and under after the Magi failed to report back (Matthew 2); the day is also called Childermas.

What solemnity does the Catholic Church celebrate on 1 January, the Octave Day of Christmas?

Mary, Mother of God: the Solemnity on 1 January, the Octave Day of Christmas, honours Mary's title Theotokos from the Council of Ephesus; older calendars kept the Circumcision of the Lord on that day.

Which territory's first bishop formally began the feast of the Holy Family in the 17th century?

New France: Saint François de Laval, the first bishop of Quebec, founded a Confraternity of the Holy Family in 1663 and introduced the feast in his diocese; Rome extended it to the whole Church in 1921.

What does the papal blessing 'Urbi et Orbi', given at Christmas, literally mean?

To the city and to the world: Urbi et Orbi addresses Rome (urbs), of which the pope is bishop, and the whole world (orbis), whose Church he heads; it carries a plenary indulgence.

Epiphany is traditionally celebrated on which date in January?

The 6th: Epiphany's traditional date is 6 January, the twelfth day after Christmas; where it is not a holy day of obligation it is transferred to the Sunday after New Year's Day.

Which four items are blessed at Epiphany in parts of central Europe for household use?

Chalk, water, frankincense and gold are blessed at Epiphany; families chalk the year and C+M+B over the door, for the Magi Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar or 'Christus mansionem benedicat'.

In Italian folklore, who delivers gifts to children on the night of 5 January?

The Befana: an old woman on a broomstick who fills stockings on the eve of Epiphany; her name is a corruption of Epifania, and naughty children get a lump of coal.

What is the ring-shaped cake eaten in Mexico on 6 January called?

Rosca de Reyes, the 'kings' ring', is sliced on 6 January; whoever finds the hidden baby figurine must host the tamales on Candlemas, 2 February. The French equivalent is the galette des Rois.

Las Posadas, the nine-night procession re-enacting the search for lodging, runs on which dates?

16th to 24th: Las Posadas runs nine nights, 16–24 December, one for each month of the Virgin's pregnancy, ending on Christmas Eve; each night closes with a star-shaped piñata.

Las Posadas has been a Mexican tradition since which year?

1586: that year the Augustinian friar Diego de Soria won permission from Pope Sixtus V for nine pre-Christmas 'misas de aguinaldo' in New Spain, the seed of Las Posadas.

The Filipino dawn Masses of Simbang Gabi began in 1669 as a compromise for whom?

Farmers who worked before sunrise: Spanish friars in the Philippines moved the novena Masses to dawn so farm labourers could attend before going to the fields; anticipated evening Masses are a later convenience.

What is the Christmas Eve Mass called at the end of Simbang Gabi?

Misa de Gallo, 'Rooster's Mass', the Spanish world's name for the Christmas Eve Mass, closes the Simbang Gabi novena; the cockerel is said to have been the first to announce the Nativity.

On which December date is the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception?

The 8th: the Immaculate Conception falls on 8 December, nine months before the Nativity of the Virgin on 8 September; it is the patronal feast of the United States, Spain and the Philippines.

Which pope defined the Immaculate Conception as dogma in 1854?

Pius IX defined the dogma in December 1854 in the apostolic constitution Ineffabilis Deus, declaring the Virgin preserved from original sin from the first instant of her conception.

Since 1953, where does the pope pray on 8 December before a column to the Immaculate Conception?

The Piazza di Spagna: the Column of the Immaculate Conception was raised there in 1857, near the Spanish Steps, and since 1953 popes have come to lay flowers and pray before the statue.

To whom did Our Lady of Guadalupe appear in December 1531?

Juan Diego, a Nahua convert, saw the Virgin on Tepeyac hill in December 1531; her image on his cloak, or tilma, hangs in the Basilica of Guadalupe in Mexico City.

What flowers did the visionary find blooming on the barren hill of Tepeyac in December?

Castile roses: the Virgin had the visionary gather Castilian roses blooming out of season on Tepeyac; when he opened his tilma before Bishop-elect Zumárraga the flowers fell out and her image appeared.

Saint Nicholas, whose 6 December feast opens the Christmas season, was bishop of which city?

Myra, in Lycia (the modern Demre in Turkey), was Nicholas's see in the early fourth century; sailors from Bari carried off his relics in 1087, and his legends fed Sinterklaas and Santa Claus.

By legend, why did Saint Nicholas secretly drop sacks of gold through a poor man's window?

To provide dowries for his three daughters: the father could not afford to marry them off, so Nicholas tossed gold through the window on successive nights, giving each a dowry; hence the pawnbrokers' gold balls.

'Silent Night', by priest Joseph Mohr, was first sung at Christmas Eve Mass in 1818 in which country?

Austria: 'Stille Nacht' was first sung on Christmas Eve 1818 in the parish church at Oberndorf near Salzburg, Austria, with Franz Xaver Gruber's melody played on guitar.

Which English Catholic priest translated 'Adeste Fideles' as 'O Come, All Ye Faithful' in 1841?

The Latin original has been credited to John Francis Wade, King John IV of Portugal and even anonymous Cistercian monks.

Which pope introduced the Christmas tree to St Peter's Square in 1982?

John Paul II, the Polish-born pope, set up the first Christmas tree in St Peter's Square in 1982; since then a different European country or region has donated the tree each year.

Nine of the life-size figures in the Vatican's nativity scene were donated in 1842 by which saint?

Vincent Pallotti, founder of the Pallottines, had life-size figures made for Rome's Sant'Andrea della Valle in 1842; nine of them form the core of the Vatican's nativity, unveiled in St Peter's Square on Christmas Eve.

Which hymn, omitted on Advent Sundays, returns at the first Mass of Christmas?

The Gloria, the angels' hymn from Luke 2:14, is omitted on the Sundays of Advent and rings out again at the first Mass of Christmas, often with bells.

Before Christmas Midnight Mass, the Nativity Proclamation (Kalenda) may be chanted from which book?

The Roman Martyrology supplies the Christmas Proclamation, or Kalenda, which dates the Nativity from creation, Abraham, the Exodus, the founding of Rome and the 42nd year of Augustus.

Which Eastern Churches celebrate Christmas on what is 7 January by civil reckoning?

Those still using the Julian calendar: churches such as the Russian and Serbian Orthodox keep 25 December by the Julian calendar, which in the 20th and 21st centuries falls on 7 January of the civil calendar.

'Rorate caeli', sung throughout Advent, opens with which prophet's words 'Drop down, ye heavens'?

The text is Isaiah 45:8 in the Vulgate and is the introit for the Fourth Sunday of Advent in the traditional Roman rite.

Which 6th-century church gathering ordered monks to fast daily in December until Christmas?

Tours, 567: the council's canon ordered monks to fast every day of December until Christmas, building on the preparation period Bishop Perpetuus of Tours had set up around 480.

Which feast usually ends the Catholic Christmas season, on the Sunday after Epiphany?

The Baptism of the Lord, kept on the Sunday after Epiphany, closes Christmas Time; when a transferred Epiphany takes that Sunday, the Baptism moves to the following Monday.

Which year's calendar reform set Christmas Time to end on the Sunday after Epiphany?

1969: Paul VI's reform of the liturgical calendar, promulgated that year and in force from 1970, defined Christmas Time as running through the Sunday after Epiphany; the Octave of Epiphany had already gone in 1955.

Which sculptor made a set of stone nativity figures for Rome's Santa Maria Maggiore around 1290?

Arnolfo di Cambio carved the marble group around 1291 for Pope Nicholas IV; Joseph, the Magi and the animals survive, while the Virgin and Child were replaced in the sixteenth century.

Neapolitan nativity scenes depict Naples itself in which century, rather than Bethlehem?

18th: the Neapolitan presepe reached its peak under the Bourbon kings, so its figures wear eighteenth-century dress amid Naples's taverns and markets; Via San Gregorio Armeno remains the workshop street.

Which US city displays the world's only authorised replica of the Vatican's Christmas crèche?

Pittsburgh: the Pittsburgh Crèche, first set up in 1999 beside the US Steel Tower, is billed as the only authorised replica of the Vatican's nativity and stands from Light Up Night in November until Epiphany.