How much do you really know about Christmas? You may think you've heard it all, but I bet there's at least one thing on my list of not so well-known Christmas facts that will be totally new to you. Check it out:
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Meaning of la Misa de Gallo. Although it's not as common as it used to be, many Latin American countries still celebrate la Misa de Gallo or Midnight Mass. I remember going to church at midnight on Christmas Eve, which usually meant our celebration wouldn't get started until after we got home from mass. It was only recently that I discovered that its origins have to do with a supposed rooster who was the first to witness the birth of Jesus and made sure everyone else found out.
Los Tres Reyes Magos. Those of us who celebrate Three Kings Day have always known them as Gaspar, Melchor and Baltasar, but it turns out that nobody knows for sure if it was three of them and if they were indeed kings. The Gospel of Matthew makes a mention of "wise men from the East," but says nothing about how many they were or what their background was.
Christmas banned in Cuba. I had probably heard this in passing, but I hadn't payed much attention until a Cuban-American friend asked me if I was aware that Christmas was banned in Cuba for more than three decades after Fidel Castro declared his government was atheist. It wasn't until Pope John Paul II visited the island in 1998 and put some pressure on Castro, that the dictator decided to finally reconsider and lifted the decades-old ban.
Christmas season is not over until January. Many Latin American countries and lots of Latinos in the United States still celebrate Three Kings Day, which falls on January 6. And, in Puerto Rico, the country with the longest Christmas celebration, the season goes all the way to mid January thanks to a tradition called Las Octavitas.
Villancicos weren't always about Christmas. Villancicos, the Spanish version of Christmas carols, started out as love songs! Later, they were adapted to reflect the thems of Christmas.
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