December 25, 354 - Christ’s Birth Celebrated on December 25th for First Time

Early Church tradition used the celebration of Saturnalia to mark the birth of Jesus. The first time December 25 was recorded as the birthdate of Christ was in 354 AD in the Chronography of 354. A “chronography” was essentially an almanac, and this particular one was written by a man named Filocalus for a wealthy Roman Christian named Valentinus. Pictured is a copy of the cover of this chronography.