ABC Wednesday
The letter is X and it stands for
which is the Greek symbol for Christ, being the upper case forms of the letter X (ch)
and P (r) in the Greek alphabet.
As far back as 1021 there are references in the Anglo Saxon Chronicle
where Christ was often written as Xp or Xt
and so this shortened form of Christmas (Xmas) is not as modern
as we might think, or a careless way of referring
to the birthday of the Christ child
(as in, ' U R a Holy Child)
but an ancient and historic symbol.
The figure above is called a laburnum, an amalgamation of the two Greek letters,
and is often used in Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox churches.
And even, it seems, it was used by Santa in this l910 Christmas card.....
I echo his wishes and send you all best wishes for happiness and Christmas blessings.
For more Merry X's click
here to reach Roger and Denise and their helpful elves
at ABC Wednesday.