1 Extraordinary & 5 Obscure Christmas Facts
We have heard the Christmas story all our lives. I am very glad it is well known.
This world is silently awash in tiny Christmas 'tidbits' of goodwill because of a Divine birth on that cold middle-eastern night two millennia ago.
Some easy internet hunting of these tidbits has 'captured' a few obscure facts because of the Christmas story:
- The first-ever nativity scene was set up in a cave by Saint Francis of Assisi in Italy around 1224. He had to gain permission directly from the Pope before he could proceed.
- The people of Oslo, Norway donate the Trafalgar Square Christmas tree every year in gratitude to the people of London for their assistance during World War Two.
- In 1918 and for the past 40 years, the Canadian province of Nova Scotia has sent the city of Boston a giant Christmas tree as a thank you for their support after the 1917 Halifax explosion.
- Christmas is a contraction of “Christ’s Mass”. This is derived from the Middle English phrase first recorded in 1038.
- Holly and Ivy have been used to decorate homes since the 9th century because they symbolise everlasting life. The holly represents Christ’s crown of thorns and the berries His blood.
BUT - surely the most extraordinary fact of Christmas is the seeking of love became obsolete because:
Love came down to find us ~ Casting Crowns
Today's Soul Snippet:
"Reformation in worship without reformation of the heart is no reformation at all". ~ Michael Cartwright
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