Around 2 billion people celebrate the birth of Jesus of Nazareth each year in Roman-occupied Palestine two millennia ago. According to the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, written between 70 and 90 years after the events, he was born to a virgin mother, was saved from being assassinated and was worshiped by pilgrims from distant lands guided by a star. These events are reflected in our calendar, which celebrates the birth of the baby (December 25), the massacre of the innocents (December 28), the circumcision of the child (January 1) and the visit of the Three Wise Men (December 6). January). The Christmas story seeks to magnify the origins of Jesus of Nazareth. To highlight the birth of a carpenter's son, he is presented as virginally conceived, in the same way as other great characters (Alexander the Great, Augustus and Plato). And the village of Bethlehem is chosen to link Jesus with Micah's prophecy (5, 1-3):"And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, are not, no, the least among the main clans of Judah because of you A leader will come out who will shepherd my people Israel.”

The story of the Magi, told only by Matthew, aims to universalize the Messiah with foreigners among the first worshipers of him. Jesus thus transcends the Jewish universe. The giving of presents connects with the Jewish tradition of giving gifts to children after circumcision. And with the celebration of Christmas on December 25, decided in 350 by Pope Julius I, the Catholic Church appropriates the pagan festival of the “birth of the undefeated sun”, Mithras, the lengthening of the day against the winter night, the victory of light –Jesus– over darkness. The star that guides the magi responds to the custom of including an astronomical phenomenon in the birth or death of every important person (Julius Caesar). Therefore, an explanation should not be forced on the star of Bethlehem, as some astronomers have done since the time of Kepler, who related it to a triple conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn. In his mixture of historical facts, myths, traditions and Jewish symbols, Matthew presents Herod as a useless incapable of locating Jesus, who must order a child massacre – of which there is no record – as the pharaoh did in times of Moses, with the purpose of presenting Jesus as the new Moses, the new Israel, the ultimate goal of the entire story.
Christmas, perhaps the most important holiday in the Christian world, commemorates every December 25 the birth of Jesus Christ, although it is traditionally celebrated around the world, beyond religious beliefs. In any case, this festivity represents a true mystery, forged based on ancestral customs.

-The birth of a date: the tradition of the Christian faith points to December 25 of the year 1 AD. C. as the day Jesus Christ was born, setting this date for the annual celebration of Christmas, in commemoration of him. Experts point out that Jesus Christ would have been born around the year 4 a. C., when Herod the Great reigned in Judea, being the winter solstice, December 25, an important pagan festival that Christianity adopted from the fourth century.
-The birth of a place: the prophets Micah, Luke and Matthew coincide in narrating the birth of Jesus Christ in the town of Bethlehem, precisely in a manger, which could have been placed in a grotto set up for this purpose. Both Mark and Matthew suggest through the biblical texts that Jesus Christ was born somewhere else in the region of Galilee, and although they do not go into detail, they suggest that everything happened inside a house.

-The Three Kings: The Christmas custom is strongly identified with the famous figure of the Three Wise Men, Melchor, Gaspar and Baltazar, who arrived in Bethlehem to entertain the Child Jesus, following the Christmas Star. Only Mateo makes reference to the arrival of Magi, without giving names or quantities. It is believed that the Magi were actually Persian priests, astrologers who were guided by the stars, and that the traditional triad was based on their gifts:gold, frankincense and myrrh.
-The Star of Bethlehem: the scriptures point to the Star of Bethlehem as the prodigy that sailed through the heavens to guide the Magi to the precise place where the baby Jesus was, along with his mother Mary of him. Science early accepted the idea that the biblical account refers to a comet. New studies indicate that it could have been either a supernova or a planetary conjunction.
-Santa Claus: Over the years, customs have incorporated Santa Claus, a figure with different variants worldwide, who leaves gifts for children under the Christmas tree on Christmas Eve. The mythical Santa Claus derives directly from the legends that since the 4th century have venerated the figure of Saint Nicholas of Bari, a blessed bishop of Myra, very dedicated to the poor and distinguished for his generosity with children.
-The Christmas tree: The Christmas Tree currently represents one of the main objects of the Christmas cult, which begins the festive stage every December 8 when the family gathers to decorate it, and ends on January 6, after the night of Three Kings. It is a pagan tradition, originating from the polytheistic Germanic peoples who worshiped the god of the sun and fertility by decorating an evergreen tree. Saint Boniface appropriated the rite in a strategic move for his evangelizing mission.