I'm going with the 4th century.

I'm guessing the answer they gave on your quiz was option 3. Or possibly 2. In fact, I just read an article about it this morning. The Druids used it in their winter festival because it blooms in the winter and because when squished, the liquid from the berries looks like semen.

None of the above that I knew of, so I looked it up:

These two critical junctures of the year's progress figure prominently in the magic and mythologies of many ancient peoples throughout history. Again, in Celtic mythology the two are strongly linked to holly trees. Sprigs from Christmas holly trees were worn in the hair during the mistletoe ritual performed by the priests of the Celts, the Druids, at the summer festival. The pointy leaves of holly trees were thought to afford magical protection for homes against witches and lightning strikes. Holly tree sprigs were also brought into their dwellings during the cold-weather months in the belief that they afforded shelter to the fairies, those tiny spirits of the forest.

In Celtic mythology the "Oak King" and the "Holly King" were twins, pitted against each other in a never-ending fight for supremacy. Oak trees, sacred to the Celts, are deciduous, while the English Christmas holly trees (Ilex aquifolium) native to their lands are evergreen. As cold weather approached, the Celts marveled at how the evergreen Christmas holly trees, hidden amongst the leafy oaks the rest of the year, now stood out prominently on an otherwise barren landscape. The Holly King had won out, as it were, as the incarnations of his twin brother had shed all their leaves and stood naked in defeat.

But on the winter solstice the Oak King rallies -- albeit imperceptibly -- and begins to establish his renewed supremacy. The Oak King's supremacy won't reach its zenith until the mid-summer, when the oaks will be in full leaf again. At which point, it is now the Holly King who rallies, laying the foundation in the summer heat for a reign that will last till the next winter solstice. Thus ironically, whenever either king reaches the height of his dominance, at that very time he is doomed to be supplanted. Which is why we daylight-cravers have reason to be of good cheer as the winter solstice approaches: at our darkest hour, time will soon again be on our side....

For the Romans, Christmas holly trees were sacred to Saturn, and holly wreaths with bright red berries were given as gifts during his holiday -- the Saturnalia, upon which the Christmas holiday was directly modeled. Christmas holly and other evergreens were adopted by common Christians as a Christmas decoration, in spite of protests from Church Fathers such as Tertullian. A tiny flicker of this age-old Christmas controversy still burns today.

In Christian folklore the prickly leaves of Christmas holly trees came to be associated with Jesus' crown of thorns, while their berries represented the drops of blood shed for humanity's salvation. This symbolism can be found, for example, in the Christmas carol, "The Holly and the Ivy". Christian folklore also identified Christmas holly wood as the wood used to build Jesus' holy cross. In fact, some scholars think that the word, "holly" is simply a corruption of "holy," although there is no general consensus on this point.

Mexico

I'm guessing Alexander the Great.

Have we ever had a Pope Bob?

WebGuy wrote:

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Alexander? Just a guess

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Guess again please sir!

ray925 wrote:

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I'm going with Pope John I. Mexico was not a guess. That's just one of those useless things I've picked up.

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Cool about Mexico- guess again for this question!

I should have went with Martin Luther. I thought about it but switched to the Pope.

The Greek word for Christ is Xristos

I don't think Greeks use 'chr' in any of their words, so I'll blame it on the greeks.

Web was right!

 

St. Nicholas was born in what country?
The North Pole
Holland
Germany
Turkey

Oh, I thought he was Dutch.

At least Germany is closer to Turkey than the Netherlands. Oh well.

A visit from St. Nick.