Advent Twenty Four: December 25

The Pope disagrees with me[1] but the 25 December date for the birth of Sol Invictus, the Unconquered Sun, is widely believed to have inspired the date for Christmas. At the time this date was midwinter, or near as damn it, an obvious time for a solar deity to celebrate their birthday. The Christians of the Roman Empire took on the date and the meaning - that of new life, a new dawn, a new day - and sanctified it.

[1] But he hasn't deployed his infallibility on this issue