Top 10 Traditional Christian Christmas Songs

1. Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer

Rudolph is in my heart for the top Christmas song. Again, because memories of childhood come back to me when I hear this song. The Character Rudolph was created by Robert L. May with as part of his employment with Montgomery Ward in 1939. Johnny Marks adapted May's story of Rudolph into a song, and was sung by none other than the legendary Gene Autry in 1949.

2. Frosty The Snowman

Frosty the snowman, was a jolly, happy soul! Well, you know the rest, but for some reason, the more "Fairy-Tale"Christmas songs really have my heart. I guess because they bring me back to by childhood years, and all the magic that was Christmas. Jack Nelson and Steve Rollins wrote the song in 1950 after being inspired by "Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer". The song was sung by the legendary Gene Autry.

3. Jingle Bell Rock

This popular Christmas song was originally sung by Bobby Helms in 1957. Despite the name "rock" in the title, it was actually performed in the crossover style called "Rockabilly" which sounds more country today. It also makes reference to the song "Rock Around The Clock". This song has become a Christmas classic. It's upbeat, and definitely gets you in the Christmas mood!

4. Let It Snow

This song, written and composed in 1945, was never intended to be a Christmas song. It was written as a love song, but with its snowy cheerfulness, it became very popular at Christmas time. This song was also #1 on the Billboard charts in the 1940's. I love this song for it's cheerfulness and it's upbeat tune.

5. Silent Night

This song has a very beautiful, unique history to it. This song originated in 1818 in a small church in Austria. The St. Nicholas church congregation were performing the story of the birth of Christ a couple of days before Christmas. After the play, Pastor Josef Mohr decided to take a long walk home. He sat atop a hillside, looking down at the town, and all its peacefulness and beauty. It reminded him of a poem that he had wrote a few years earlier. The next day, he decided his poem would make a great song. He went to the church's organist, Franz Xavier Gruber, who wrote the music for the song, and the congregation sang it on Christmas Eve. I have also linked that website to this article if you would like to read more about it.

6. Joy To The World

There is very little history to this song, because the song is not that old. The scripture based words are by Isaac Watts, and the music was arranged by Lowell Mason.

Some of the most popular recordings are from the 1950's, such as the instrumental version by conductor Percy Faith in 1954. This song has sparked some great parodies, but we won't talk about those here.

7. Deck The Halls

This song has a very interesting history to it. In the 18th Century, Mozart used the tune to "Deck The Halls" for a piano and violin duet. The song is actually Welsh, however and dates back to the 1700's. Different cultures have different versions of the song, and some even have made completely different songs to the same tune. It is a very popular, world wide song though.

8. The First Noel

This song is thought to have become popular in France in the fifteenth century. Though little is known about it's origin, it was widespread in England in the 1800's where it was sung on Christmas Eve. Noel is Latin, which means "birthday". The song explains about Christ's birth in vivid detail.

9. Jingle Bells

This classic Christmas song dates back over 150 years ago. It was written by James Lord Pierpont and copyrighted in 1857. The original chorus had a more classical melody to it. It is unknown when it was changed with the modern, most popular form of the chorus. Also - did you know that the word "jingle" is intended to be used as an imperative verb, and not an actual type of bell?

10. Twelve Days Of Christmas

I may not remember all of the 12 days, of Christmas, but I still love this song! I have found the origin of the song and it's actually a quite interesting story. England prohibited the Catholics to practice their religion publicly and privately in the periods of 1558 to 1829. The 12 days of Christmas was written as a "catechism song" to help young Catholics with the tenets of their faith.

(Source: www.associatedcontent.com)

How to Blend Christmas Tradition and Religion

Christmas traditions such as Santa Claus, setting up Christmas trees, exchanging gifts and hanging Christmas lights are fun ways to celebrate the holiday. Families with a religious background often feel the need to abandon these traditions in order to teach their families the religious importance of the holiday. Blending religion and tradition allows families to take part in fun Christmas traditions and still honor the religious reasons for celebrating Christmas.

1. Decorate the outside of your home for Christmas. Decorating gets your family excited about the holiday and by setting up a nativity scene or other religious decorations you can spread the spirituality of Christmas.

2. Read traditional and religious Christmas stories. Rotate back and forth between secular and religious Christmas stories. Encourage your family to enjoy both sides of the holiday.

3. Listen to religious and secular Christmas music. Point out to your family the difference between the two and reinforce the meaning behind songs such as "Silent Night" and "Away in a Manger."

4. Attend church on Christmas Eve after exchanging gifts with friends and family. Enjoy the feeling of giving to others and then experience the joy of worshiping on Christmas.

5. Believe in Santa Claus. He is a wonderful Christmas tradition and you can easily incorporate the giving aspects of Santa Claus with the religious reasons for celebrating Christmas.

6. Create your own special family tradition that incorporates the tradition of giving and religion. Find a religious charity to support or volunteer at a shelter during the holiday season.

(Source: www.ehow.com)

Christmas Tradition

The Tradition of Christmas festival has gradually evolved from times that long represented the Christian period. All the traditions and customs performed on this day are only the extension of Roman Pagan to Christian ceremonial. The tradition of Christmas include the 12 days of Christmas, the bright fires, the yule log, the giving of gifts, carols, the feasts, and the church processions, can all be traced back to the early times.

With the passage of time, the nature of Christmas celebration has undergone tremendous change and every year a new tradition begins. Christmas, celebrated to remember and honor the birth of holy Jesus, has evolved from a staunch religious affair into a merry hearted event that include carnivals, cookies and off course Santa Clause. 

The Traditional Elements Of Christmas:

Yule Log
The burning of the Yule Log was taken from ancient sun worship rituals. Yule Logs are supposed to be cut from red oak trees and burned all of Christmas Eve and into Christmas Day. 

Snow
Christmas has been widely associated with snow fun activities such as skiing, snowboarding, sled riding, snow mobile riding, or hiking with snowshoes. 

Wreath
To worship evergreen holly is taken as a sign of eternal life because it did not brown or die in the winter. Some religious groups say that the crown of thorns placed on Jesus' head was made of holly. The berries were supposedly white but turned bright red from Jesus' blood. 

Mistletoe
Mistletoe is rarely used in churches because it comes from the ancient Druid ceremony celebrating winter solstice. This once pagan tradition started when a girl would stand beneath the hanging plant and a boy would walk up, pick a berry and then kiss her.

Cookies
There is no exact date recorded but the idea of leaving cookies for Santa started sometime in the 1930's. Naughty kids use them to bribe Santa at the last minute and nice kids use them as a way of thanking him for all his hard work on Christmas Eve.

Santa Claus
'Santa' has been around since the 4th century. Originally known as Saint Nicholas, the patron of children and sailors, the bishop was immortalized because of his generous and loving nature towards children. 

Lights
The very first person to have Christmas lights on their tree was Edward Johnson who worked for Thomas Edison. The use of decorative light has been imperative on the Christmas Day.

Christmas Tree
The tradition of the Christmas tree comes from Germany. The very first trees were oak, the same tree used for the Yule Log. Trees have been a symbol of good luck since the Middle Ages. 

Caroling
The custom of singing Christmas carols is said to have come from 13th century Italy where a man named St. Francis of Assisi led songs of praise. It is very bad luck to send carolers away empty handed. It is customary to offer food, drink or even a little money. 

Rudolph

The invention of Rudolph was an advertising gimmick. The red-nosed reindeer was born in 1939 when a 34-year old writer for Montgomery Ward named Robert L. May was asked to invent a Christmas story. The company gave copies of the story to customers during the holiday season as a promotion for their stores.

(Source: www.christmas-day.org)