WHY ARE POINSETTIAS ASSOCIATED WITH CHRISTMAS?

Poinsettias

Poinsettias said to bring good luck, come from Mexico, where they are called 'Flowers of the Holy Night'. The story goes that one Christmas Eve, a poor little girl placed a bunch of weeds on the cathedral altar, as they were the only flowers she could afford to honour the Christ Child. But on Christmas day they suddenly burst into beautiful red flowers - and so became the first poinsettias.

WHY DO WE PUT UP CHRISTMAS TREES?

Christmas Tree

No Christmas would be complete without the ubiquitous Christmas tree. This may be linked to the Paradise Plays performed in the churches and town squares of Europe during Advent. Purporting to tell the story of mankind, the actors used a 'Paradise Tree' dressed with gifts and lighted candles, to symbolise the Garden of Eden where they believed the story began. In Germany in the year 725 A.D. St. Boniface replaced the sacred oak with a fir tree, and dressed it as a tribute to the newborn Christ.

WHY IS A CORPORATE COMPANY ASSOCIATED WITH CHRISTMAS?

COCA-COLA

In the 1930's, Coca-Cola advertisements showed an image of Santa Claus which to this day is accepted as the way he should look. Due to these advertisements, santa would 'forever be a huge, fat and a happy man with broad black belt and black hip boots and he would wear COCA-COLA Red.

WHY DO WE RE-CREATE A CRIB AT CHRISTMAS?

THE CRIB

We owe much of the medieval spirit of Christmas that survives to day to the Franciscans. St. Francis of Assisi himself is said to have made the first crib in 1223, three years before his death. Legend relates that while Francis was meditating on the mystery of the Incarnation, the child Jesus appeared in his arms to reward him for the honour and veneration he had given to the sublime mystery of His birth. To-day, pride of place in the church is given to the crib and in most homes the crib is often the site of the carol singing.

WHAT IS THE STORY OF THE HYMN "SILENT NIGHT"?

SILENT NIGHT

The words of Silent Night or "Stille Nacht" as it's called in German, were written by a young Austrian priest called Fr. Joseph Mohr. By the end of the 20th century it had become one of the most popular of all carols and had been translated into hundreds of languages. But perhaps it's greatest moment came on the battlefields of Flanders in 1914 when a young German soldier sang "Stille Nacht" from his trench on Christmas Eve. This led to the famous Christmas Day truce between the Germans and the British in No Mans Land, almost a hundred years after Silent Night was first written.

WHY DO WE ASSOCIATE THIS BIRD WITH CHRISTMAS?

ROBIN REDBREAST

One tradition associates the robin with the birth of Jesus in the manger. According to the story, after the birth, Mary and the newborn child were cold because it is the middle of winter - December. A small bird flies into the stable and somehow realises that this birth is special and different from any other, the fire is going out and the little bird flies down and uses his wings to fan the flames and keep the heat alive. In doing so, he scorches his chest and it turns red, Mary is then supposed to have blessed the little bird and from then on, the robin would have a red breast forever more as a reminder of that act of kindness.