Christmas Day 2026: Why Is Christmas on December 25?

Why do we celebrate Christmas Day every year on December 25? Here’s a brief history of this all-important Christian festival. Plus, learn the meaning beyond the rituals and symbols of the season. There is so much comfort in these traditions.

When Is Christmas Day?

For Western Christian churches, Christmas Day always occurs on December 25, though some cultures observe the main celebration on the night prior, Christmas Eve. 

What is Christmas?

Christmas Day is an annual Christian festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. 

Specifically, the meaning of Christmas comes in the remembrance and celebration of God’s presence in our world through Jesus, God-made flesh. “Christmas” comes from the Old English Cristes maesse, meaning “Christ’s Mass.”

Christmas is also extensively celebrated by non-Christians as a seasonal holiday, on which popular traditions such as gift-giving, feasting, and caroling occur.

Why Do We Celebrate on December 25?

Although the actual date of Christ’s birth is unknown, Christmas has been symbolically celebrated on the 25th of December since the 4th century.

Scholars can’t agree on exactly when Christ was born, and the exact circumstances of the beginning of Christmas as we know it remain obscure. Some chronographers of the third century reckoned December 25, around the winter solstice, was the most likely day of Christ’s birth, although other dates had been suggested, including several in spring and fall.

The oldest existing record of a feast to celebrate the birth of Christ in the Western Church is in the Roman almanac called the Chronographer (or Chronography) of 354, also known as the Philocalian Calendar. This almanac noted that the church in Rome observed a festival commemorating Christ’s birth in the year 336.

About 350 A.D., Pope Julius I set December 25 as the date the Church would commemorate when Jesus was born. Many historians believe that the Church stirred up interest in a festival at this time of year to counter the pagan festivals surrounding the solstice, but no historical document unequivocally explains Rome’s reasons for setting the date as December 25.

If interested in digging deeper, see this article on How December 25 Became Christmas from the Biblical Archaeology Society.

How Do We Celebrate Christmas?

Today’s rich mosaic of Christmas customs dates back through the ages worldwide. For example, the candles and lights associated with Christmas, meant to symbolize guiding beacons for the Christ child, may have evolved from the Yule log, which was lit to entice the Sun to return as part of the jol (Yule) festival in pagan Scandinavia.

Today, there are many traditions, from Christmas trees to presents. Some of these traditions provide comfort in our lives, but they are also meant to evolve, so keep the ones you love, drop the ones you don’t, and start some new ones if you wish! For example, perhaps there’s a more natural way to celebrate this year’s holiday.

The Christmas Wreath

Wreaths are part of many ancient traditions dating back to the earliest civilizations. The circle symbolizes immortality; throughout history, wreaths have been associated with life, rejuvenation, and renewal. Read the story of the Christmas wreath.

Stores are packed with plastic wreaths and greenery, but if you want to make a more eco-friendly choice, buy or make a live wreath with evergreen trimmings from your own or neighbor’s yard. Add some pine cones, seed heads, berries, and a bow. Your wreath will add a lovely fragrance to your home, as well as natural beauty. See how to make a Christmas wreath.

The Christmas Tree

The tradition of bringing evergreens inside the home goes back to winter celebrations long before the beginning of Christianity. Some ancient cultures believed evergreens would keep evil spirits at bay. During the Middle Ages, December 24 was celebrated as the Feast of Adam and Eve, complete with a Paradise Tree, a fir tree hung with red apples. 

The practice of using decorated evergreen trees as part of the Christian celebration of Christmas is a custom begun in Germany over 400 years ago that spread rapidly throughout northern Europe and, hence, became a tradition transplanted to the New World by European immigrants.

Today, many people enjoy the tradition of trimming a tree. Again, if you want an Earth-friendly option, go with a live-cut tree, especially one cut from a local Christmas tree farm and not shipped long distances; tree farmers continually replant their trees. 

Even better is getting a balled or container tree you can plant in the ground. The trick is: The plant can’t be kept indoors for more than 7 to 10 days, so don’t buy too early. Prepare the hole in the garden whenever the ground is not frozen and fill it with leaves or cover it with a tarp until ready to plant.

See our tips on Christmas tree care—including what to do with the tree after the holidays.

The Flowers of Christmas

Contrasting against the deep evergreens are winter houseplants, from poinsettias to amaryllis. Other holiday plants include Christmas cactus, kalanchoe, cyclamen, and orchids.

One of our favorites is the fragrant paperwhite narcissus. Fill a glass dish with stones, set the bulbs on top, and fill with water. Within a month, beautiful tiny white flowers will bloom. See more detail in our paperwhites growing guide.

Christmas Presents

The ancient Romans gave each other gifts on the calends (first day) of January, and the practice spread throughout the Roman Empire. 

Eventually, Christians moved the custom to December 25, although many Christians still give gifts on January 6, the feast of the Epiphany, commemorating the manifestation of Jesus’ divine nature to the Magi. 

→ Learn the origins of many more Christmas traditions.

Christmas Trivia

• Read about some of America’s Christmas firsts!
• Learn about the Star of Bethlehem. Was it a real celestial object or a miraculous vision?

​Christmas Recipe Ideas

Check out our favorite Christmas recipe collections to get inspired for your holiday meals:

• Christmas Breakfast and Brunch Recipes
• Christmas Appetizer Recipes
• Christmas Dinner Recipes
• Christmas Dessert Recipes
• Christmas Cookie Recipes for Kids
• Holiday Drink Recipes
• Holiday Party Recipes 

Christmas Crafts

Make your own Christmas decorations this year with these fun and easy holiday crafts:

• Homemade Holiday Note Cards
• Christmas Table Decoration Ideas
• Decorative Fire Starters
• Cinnamon Dough Ornaments
• Festive Chili Pepper Strand
• Decorative Luminarias
• Cranberry Wreath
• Holiday Candle Decoration
• Build and Decorate a Gingerbread House
• Orange-Clove Pomander Balls
• Holiday Gift Jars 

Christmas Weather Folklore

Here at The Old Farmer’s Almanac, we love our folklore, and so do our readers! A selection of Christmas weather folklore for your perusal:

• Christmas in snow, Easter in mud.
• A green Christmas makes a fat churchyard.
• If December be changeable and mild,
  The whole winter will remain a child.
• Thunder in December presages fine weather.
• December cold with snow, good for rye.
• Lengthened winter and tardy spring are both good for hay and grain, but bad for corn and garden.
• If at Christmas ice hangs on the willow, clover may be cut at Easter.
• As many mince pies as you taste at Christmas, so many happy months will you have.

→ Enjoy more Christmas weather folklore.

Christmas Poetry, Verse, and Quotes

Find Christmas poems and verses to share and express your thoughts about this special time of year.

Christmas is coming, the geese are getting fat,
Please put a penny in the old man’s hat;
If you haven’t got a penny, a ha’penny will do,
If you haven’t got a ha’penny, God bless you!
–Beggar’s Rhyme

All glory be to God on high,
And to the Earth be peace;
Good-will henceforth from heaven to earth
begin and never cease!
–Nahum Tate

Granny’s come to our house, And ho! my lawzy-daisy!
All the children round the place ist a-runnin’ crazy!
–James Whitcomb Riley

Ring out false pride in place and blood,
The civic slander and the spite;
Ring in the love of truth and right,
Ring in the common love of good.
–Alfred, Lord Tennyson

The Darling of the world is come,
And fit it is we find a room
To welcome Him.
The nobler part
Of all the house here is the heart.
–Robert Herrick

Hark, how all the Welkin rings,
‘Glory to the King of Kings’;
Peace on Earth, and Mercy mild,
God and sinners reconcil’d.
–Charles Wesley

We wish all of our readers a very happy and peaceful Christmas!