The Origins of Christmas
The word "Christmas" means "Mass of Christ," or, as it came to be shortened, "Christ-Mass." This term came to the modern world from the Roman Catholic Church.
"Christmas was not among the earliest festivals of the Church . . . The first evidence of the feast is from Egypt." "Pagan customs centering around the January calends [the pagan calendar] gravitated to Christmas."--Catholic Encyclopedia, 1911 ed., article: "Christmas."
Origen, an early Catholic writer, said this a