The Beginnings of Strange Days...the Origins of Christmas part 4

With the fall of the Roman Empire, with the Christian church expanding throughout the world and the need for reinforcing her original beliefs...everything seem to be changing...including the understanding of being a Christian....

 Many changes were beginning to take place in the first 300 years of the Early church..."The Original" (12 Apostles) were now gone, Saint Paul had been martyred for almost 250 years, and many had done their best to alter the course of Christianity.
 Along with this, Rome herself was declining...eventually fell in 410 A.D., and then the Empire was split, causing the rise of the Byzantine Empire as well as the rebuilding of the Roman Empire. It was during this time there seem to be a blending of the leaders in both Empires....the Emperors who would lead their nations politically...and the Christian leaders...who were to lead their people spiritually.

 St. Leo the Great (the first "papa" or Pope to be given the title "Great"), is recorded to have been the Roman's church 45th pope. The first few hundred years wasn't the greatest office to have with persecutions of Christians, divisions within the Church herself, and the ever increasing battles with the civic matters of the nations. Then, with the split of the Roman Empire...things appeared to get even more chaotic. Yet, with all that, Pope Leo seemed to turn the page in history and establish the Roman catholic (meaning universal) church in a new matter.

 Over a hundred years had passed since the Council of Nicea, the first ecumenical council ( a meeting where the great theologians of the day met together to clarify Church doctrine), and from those meetings they defined Christ Jesus as to whom He really is and what the Church viewed Him as, by the writing of the Nicene Creed which liturgical churches still proclaim today. They reviewed other matters like the dates for the celebrations of Easter, the proper way to administer water baptism, and to distinguish who are the true leaders of the Church that were to be respected.
 The emperor of the Roman Empire, Constantine, is credited with arranging the meeting at Nicea, and in 380 A.D....the hope of Christianity for the first 300 and some years had finally come to fruition...the Roman Empire officially declared Christianity as the state religion.
 And...the celebration of..."Christmas"...was beginning to appear.

 Pope Leo the Great played a particularly significant role in not only being a proponent of Christianity...but as a national leader of the Roman Empire as well. His spiritual authority bled over to civil matters and by June of 445 A.D., it became civil law that to fail to answer a summons by the Church of Rome...was against the law.
 Rome fell to the northern tribes (Rome referred to them simply as "Barbarians") in 410 A.D. Although these tribes would basically loot and pillage...they would move on, for the northern tribes were mostly nomadic in nature. In 452 A.D., a "bad boy" came to town (Rome)...and no, this wasn't Santa Claus, this was none other than Attila the Hun, referred to as the "Scourge of God".
 It was here that Pope Leo the Great received his fame...for he personally went out before Attila was to besiege Rome...with some reports that Leo went out alone after a series of meetings had failed to convince Attila not to attack, and in the evening Pope Leo convinced Attila and his Huns...not to attack Rome. It is not clear from history as to what the conditions were were for Attila not to attack, but whatever it was Pope Leo discussed with him.....Attila and his Huns left...and never pursued their attack..

 So, where was Christmas? How did Christmas come into play? History records that in 354 A.D., there were certain ones within the Roman Church beginning to honor...the birth of the Christ child. 

       A new invention....was about to come....and be acknowledged...by the whole known world... the "Celebration of Christmas".