What pagan celebration did christmas replace?
Well in one sense when people converted to Christianity, all their pagan celebrations were replaced by Christan ones. However, there is a widely believed myth (even in some otherwise respectable references) that the Church deliberately chose the date of Christmas to coincide with a traditional pagan festival. There is no actual historical evidence for this at all. Saturnalia finished before 25th December. There was a feast inaugurated by Emperor Aurelian on 25th December but not until the late 3rd century, so it was not a traditional pagan celebration but more likely a reaction against Christianity – trying to promote Sun worship as an alternative. The date of Christmas was set by Roman Christians so is unlikely to be anything at all to do with Celtic festivals.
