IT IS told that the English monk Saint Boniface once saw pagans gathered around a big oak tree about to sacrifice a child.

IT IS told that the English monk Saint Boniface once saw pagans gathered around a big oak tree about to sacrifice a child.

To save the child, Boniface felled the tree with one mighty blow of his fist. In its place grew a small fir tree. The saint told the pagans that the tiny fir was the Tree of Life.

Trees were a symbol of life long before Christianity. Ancient Egyptians brought green palm branches into their homes on the shortest day of the year in December as a symbol of life's triumph over death. The ancient Finns used sacred groves instead of temples. Romans adorned their homes with evergreens during Saturnalia, a winter festival. Druid priests decorated oak trees with golden apples for their winter solstice festivities.

In December in the Middle Ages, trees were hung with red apples as a symbol of the feast of Adam and Eve, called the Paradise Tree. - didyouknow.org