In the last few decades, that knowledge has taken a back seat to the hustle and bustle of shopping, parties and Santa Claus. Even the "comfort and joy" heralded is more about general feelings of ...

Christmas is believed to have first been celebrated in 336 AD by the Romans, but it did not become a widespread Christian festival until the ninth century. It is held on December 25 each year to mark ...

This story appears in the Christmas 2015 feature series. View the full series. Pope Francis deliver his Christmas blessing "urbi et orbi" (to the city and the world) at the Vatican Dec. 25. (CNS/Paul ...

This is Italian artist Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio’s depiction of the adoration of the shepherds on the night of the birth of Jesus Christ. Caravaggio lived from 1571-1610. Told in Matthew 1 and ...

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. A doll representing the infant Jesus in St. Catherine's, the Franciscan church in the town of Bethlehem. David Silverman/Getty ...

There are a number of readings that you might hear today, but there is a common theme in all of them: God’s plans defy human expectations. In Jesus’ time people were awaiting the Messiah, but they had ...

Why did God have to send his Son to be born of the Virgin Mary, to a carpenter named Joseph, in a manger, in a city where the poor like Mary and Joseph could not afford a decent hospital for the child ...

COLUMBIA, S.C. — It's Christmas, a day to be with friends and family and remember the true meaning of the holiday. With that in mind, as we do every year, we thought a proper way to mark the occasion ...

A few people gather outside St. Peter's Square during the Christmas Eve Mass celebrated by Pope Francis at the Vatican December. 24. The Mass was not open to the general public and began at 7:30 p.m.