A Priest Put the Hook in Candy Canes
A sweet that has become symbolic of Christmas treats owes its mass-produced existence to a Catholic priest who once kicked Elvis Presley out of his church hall, as Malea Hargett explains. A Catholic priest...
Category: Christmas Facts
Christmas Goes Pop
GUNTHER SIMMERMACHER presented the Rhythm & Truths music show on Radio Veritas a while back. Here he discusses some of the songs he played on the Christmas special broadcasts and his reasons for choosing...
How Do They Celebrate Christmas around the World?
The Western view of Christmas is becoming increasingly uniquitous, partly thanks to American TV and movies. However, most countries have their own peculiar traditions. GUNTHER SIMMERMACHER looks at how Christmas is celebrated in Ethiopia,...
Christmas Fun Facts You Didn’t Know
Father Christmas’s traditional red suit was first invented by Coca Cola and was seen in their advertisements in 1931. The name Santa Claus made its first appearance in print in a short story by...
6 Christmas Myths You May Have Fallen For
Here’s a few Christmas Myths we have all fallen for There were three wise men Mathew 2:1 tells us that when Jesus was born, wise men came from the east to Jerusalem. And that’s...
The Christmas Truce in World War I
This year the last surviving soldier of World War I died in Australia. GUNTHER SIMMERMACHER looks at the first Christmas of World War I, when soldiers on the front decided that, just once, peace...
A Brief History of Christmas
The feast of the Nativity wasn’t always Christmas trees and jingle bells, and Jesus probably was not born on December 25. GUNTHER SIMMERMACHER charts a brief history of Christmas. THE FIRST NOEL Other than...
Jesus, born in a cave in about 4 BC
Debate continues about when Jesus was born and whether Bethlehem was the actual birthplace. Still, some sense can be made of the Gospel accounts of Matthew and Luke as GUNTHER SIMMERMACHER explains in this...
Christmas Trivia Quiz!
Test your Christmas knowledge! Answers below 1. Who predicted the birth of the messiah? a) Ezekiel b) Isaiah c) Joshua 2. In which century was the Nativity first celebrated? a) 2nd century b) 4th...
Cribs: A Brief History of the Nativity Scene
The Nativity scene that forms such an important part of our celebration of the Christmas season was invented by St Francis of Assisi. GUNTHER SIMMERMACHER takes a look at the history of the creche....
Where Do Our Christmas Traditions Come From?
We celebrate it, eat through it, give gifts on it, and carry out the traditions our parents, and probably our grandparents, carried out. FR DESMOND NAIR finds out where our most memorable Christmas habits...
Happy Xmas? What’s in an X
This is the time of the year when many Christians get annoyed at the use of “Xmas” instead of Christmas, taking offense at the idea of an X replacing the name of Christ. But...
