The meaning of Christmas.

And she brought forth her firstborn son. And she wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them at the inn.

And there were shepherds in the same region, being vigilant and keeping watch in the night over their flock. And behold, an Angel of the Lord stood near them, and the brightness of God shone around them, and they were struck with a great fear.

And the Angel said to them: "Do not be afraid. For, behold, I proclaim to you a great joy, which will be for all the people. For today a Savior has been born for you in the city of David: he is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find the infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger."

And suddenly there was with the Angel a multitude of the celestial army, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men of good will."

− Gospel of Luke

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"There are many things from which I might have derived good, by which I have not profited, I dare say," returned the nephew. "Christmas among the rest. But I am sure I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round ... as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time: the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys. And therefore, uncle, though it has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket, I believe that it has done me good, and will do me good; and I say, God bless it!"

− Fred, Ebenezer Scrooge's nephew, addressing Scrooge in the Charles Dickens' classic, "A Christmas Carol."

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"Pooh-pooh to the Whos!" he was grinchily humming. "They're finding out now that no Christmas is coming!

"They're just waking up! I know just what they'll do! Their mouths will hang open a minute or two. Then the Whos down in Whoville will all cry boo-hoo! That's a noise," grinned the Grinch, "that I simply must hear!"

He paused, and the Grinch put a hand to his ear. And he did hear a sound rising over the snow. It started in low, then it started to grow. But this sound wasn't sad! Why, this sound sounded glad! Every Who down in Whoville, the tall and the small, was singing without any presents at all!

He hadn't stopped Christmas from coming! It came! Somehow or other, it came just the same!

And the Grinch, with his Grinch feet ice-cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling. "How could it be so? It came without ribbons! It came without tags! It came without packages, boxes, or bags!"

He puzzled and puzzled till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before.

"Maybe Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. Maybe Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more!"

− Dr. Seuss' "How the Grinch Stole Christmas."

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"Christmas was on its way. Lovely, glorious, beautiful Christmas, upon which the entire kid year revolved."

− Adult Ralphie, narrating in the movie, "A Christmas Story."

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"Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished."

− New York Sun editorial responding to eight-year-old Virginia O'Hanlon's letter to the editor asking if there really was a Santa Claus, Sept. 21, 1897.

The Day editorial board meets with political, business and community leaders to formulate editorial viewpoints. It is composed of President and Publisher Timothy Dwyer, Executive Editor Izaskun E. Larraneta, Owen Poole, copy editor, and Lisa McGinley, retired deputy managing editor. The board operates independently from The Day newsroom.