Rick Steves' European Christmas Part 1: The Christmas Story

While each European country gives Christmas its own special twist, they all follow the same story of how the son of God was born on earth, as told in the Bible and illustrated over the centuries by great artists. In this segment, we begin where the Christmas story begins: with the Annunciation of Mary and the birth of Christ. For more information on Rick Steves' European Christmas — including the European Christmas DVD, Blu-ray, Music CD and Book — visit www.ricksteves.com.

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[littlefuzzer]

This is wonderful!..God has a special place reserved for Rick...hopefuly not soon

[lusoguyJesuspower]

I LOVE this SHOWW!!!!!! I love watching at christmas, too bad he didnt go to portugal :P. but PTL!!!

[teakbridge101]

@humilityprinn Morten Lauridsen's "O Magnum Mysterium."

[littlefuzzer]

@humilityprinn I maybe wrong,but I believe it is the Westminster Choir

[humilityprinn]

@1420007y - It was by Moren Lauridsen, but as far as I can tell it's not part of Lux Aeterna. It's called O magnum Mysterium. Isn't this guy's music incredible?

[1420007y]

Yes, it's a segment from Moren Lauridsen's Lux Aeterna, a stunningly beautiful creation.

[Smokeyboy03801]

@humilityprinn It's driving me crazy because I have sung it! Can't find it on the CD list.

[humilityprinn]

Can anyone tell me what the name of the choir music in the background is? It's magnificent.

[HektorAnasthainomai]

@MastaShortie

1: kind of hard for pagan gods to be born on December 25th considering that December was not a month until the Gregorian calendar, created by Christians.

2: No one ever claimed that Christ was born December 25th, ever.

[HektorAnasthainomai]

@dccph

Right, everyone knows that Christmas TRADITIONS predate Christianity. That, however, has absolutely nothing to do with Christmas itself. Also, no one has ever claimed that the 25th of December was Christ's date of birth; this date was chosen for the Christmas celebration for the simple reason that it allowed Christians and pagans to celebrate together and help relations between the new faith and the old... which is how pagan traditions became a part of Christmas in the first place.

[dccph]

Actually, this is not the story of Christmas. The celebration of Christmas predates the birth of Christ by hundreds of years, celebrated as Yule and Saturnalia. All of our Christmas traditions come from the pagans of Northern Europe, who were celebrating the passing of the winter solstice. It wasn't until Constantine declared Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire that they declared December 25 to be Jesus's birthday. No one knows when he was actually born. Nice story though.