Show christmas not always A holiday the observance of christmas as we know it today is one of joy and peace making it difficult for us to realize that the holiday has not always been universally recognized and observed when pope gregory sent out missionaries in 1601 A D he told them to let pagan converts convert s weave the harmless features of their festivals into the spiritual fabric of christmas observance the popularity of t the he christmas observance grew w with ith th the e progress of christianity but there were setbacks abuse of christmas reached such a pitch in fredal england that the puritan parliament outlawed the holiday in 1644 the observance declined until the middle of the 1 ath century when charles dickens ens published his heart warming christmas carol |