Did you know?

Hey guys, Intern Stone here, racking my brains trying to figure out something I can talk about on here that's relevant to the time of year. So then it occurs to me "Christmas Trivia". So here goes, a list (in no particular order) of at least somewhat interesting facts that are connected to the Christmas story.

1. The Magi were a hereditary priesthood who studied Astronomy, Astrology, Politics, Philosophy, and other Sciences. The prophet Daniel was made chief of this priesthood by order of Cyrus the Great (hence the whole deal with Daniel being thrown to the lions).

2. In the Ukraine, if you find a spider web in the house on Christmas morning, it is believed to be a harbinger of good luck! There once lived a woman so poor, says a Ukrainian folk tale, that she could not afford Christmas decorations for her family. One Christmas morning, she awoke to find that spiders had trimmed her children’s tree with their webs. When the morning sun shone on them, the webs turned to silver and gold. An artificial spider and web are often included in the decorations on Ukrainian Christmas trees. (www.theholidayspot.com)

3. England has only known seven white Christmases in the entire twentieth century. According to the records of the Meteorological Office in London, snow fell on Christmas Day only in 1938 and 1976.(The definition of a white Christmas in England is when one snowflake falls on the roof of the London Weather Centre in the 24 hours of 25 December.)

The last time they had a White Christmas with snow falling across the UK was 2004, although large parts of the southeast England missed significant falls. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are more likely to have a white Christmas than England.
(www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk)

4. St Francis of Assisi introduced Christmas Carols to formal church services.

The word comes from the ancient Greek 'choros', which means "dancing in a circle", and from the Old French word carole, meaning "a song to accompany dancing".


Well, that's all I have for now. Perhaps next week I'll have a few more for you. Don't forget, tickets are still on sale for the "Speaking Louder than Before" concert featuring Jeremy Camp, The Afters, Chasen, and Jason Gray. Now, here's The Almost with their version of "The Little Drummer Boy."