"After the peace
the Church of Rome, to facilitate the acceptance of the faith
by the pagan masses, found it convenient to institute
the 25th of December as the feast of the temporal birth of
Christ, to divert them from the pagan feast, celebrated on
the same day in honor of the “Invincible Sun” Mithras, the
conqueror of darkness."
- Manuale di Storia Liturgica, by Mario
Righetti, 1955, II, p. 67.
"Historians agree
that through the subsequent centuries, traditions from ancient
pagan (non-Christian) religions became intertwined with those
of Christianity, and depending upon one's point of view,
either paganism became Christianized, or Christianity became
paganized."
- Christmas in America becomes
battleground, by Joe Kovacs, (http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=16242)