8 In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 

9 Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 

10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: 

11 to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah,[a] the Lord. 

12 This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” 

13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host,[b] praising God and saying,

14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace among those whom he favors!”[c]

15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.” 

16 So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. 

17 When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. 

19 But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. 

20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them. 

The legends surrounding the Indian Sun God Mitra, Persian, Armenian and Phrygian Mithra have astonishing, intriguing, compelling similarities with those of Jesus the Messiah, born at least three millennia later. 

The Achaemenids worshiped Mithra as a part of the Holy triad with Ahura Mazda and Anahita, which bears an uncanny, riveting resemblance to the Holy Triad of God the Father, the Virgin and Jesus. 

It affirms the belief that Anahita was Mithra’s virgin mother. Mitra's virgin mother Anahita was easily merged with the virgin mother Mary. Anahita was closely associated with Mithra for the best part of three millennia before the coming of Our Lord Jesus.

A star foretold Mithra's birth, the first immaculate conception. 25th December is the birth of the Sun God, Mithra as also ‘son of God’, Jesus.” Mithra was born on December 25th of the virgin Nahid Anahita (‘immaculate’)” also known as “Anaitis”, meaning “Pure” and “Untainted”.  Indian Mitra was similarly born of divine, beatified Aditi, the “mother of the gods,” or virgin, holy dawn. 

Romans called Mithra's genesis, natalis invicti, rebirth of the winter-sun, unconquered by the tribulations and austerities of the winter season.” 

The Persian, Zoroastrian winter celebration, “Yalda,” on the longest night of the year before the solstice is considered the holy night of the birth of Mithra, God of light, righteousness, morality, tenacity, truthfulness and strength in the world. On the morning before the longest night of the year, Mithra is born from his virgin mother. It is a time of happiness and gaiety. 

Yalda is a Syriac word meaning birth. As the longest night of the year, the Eve of Yalda (Shab-e Yalda) is also a culminating, defining moment, after which the days grow longer, symbolizing the victory of the Sun God over the powers of darkness and evil.  Winter solstice, last night of the month of Azar is called the shab-e chelle / rooz -e-zaesh-e-Mithra or khurshid as from the next day, the Sun begins to grow in strength and light. 

The next morning, first of Dei is called khorram rooz, the day of joy, deedar-e-toloo-e-khurshid, the sunrise and also navad rooz as it is now only ninety days to Nowrouz. It marks the beginning of the first forty/ (chehl) days of winter.  People sit with their loved ones through the longest and darkest night of the year, till Sunrise. Dry, fresh fruits, especially water melons, pomegranates are shared. Fortunes of people , fal-e-Hafez, poems from Divan-e-Hafez of the great poet Hafez-e-Shirazi are read. 

Mithra like Jesus was considered the Good Shepherd, the “Way, the Truth, the Light,” the protector, redeemer, preserver, savior and Messiah. 

Mithra is omnipotent, almighty, pervading, as he “hears all, sees all, knows all, none can deceive him.” 

Mithra's sacred day was also Sunday, “the Lord’s Day.” Midnight services were held for him. He was worshiped by shepherds in his place of birth underground. 

Mithra had twelve companions, disciples, the signs of the zodiac.

In innumerable icons and idols, Mithras, like Jesus is exhibited, illustrated carrying a lamb on his shoulders. 

Mithraism celebrated a eucharist, a Holy communion, sacrament or “Lord’s Supper.” Salvation through ceremonial, formal baptism, at which he places a mark on the foreheads of his soldiers was required of his followers. They also participated in a ceremony with hymns, bells, candles, and holy water, in which they drank wine and ate bread to epitomize, personify the body and blood of the God Mithras  in memory of the last supper of Mithras.

After Mithras had performed numerous extraordinary deeds, he ascended to the heavens in a chariot, drawn by horses of Helios-Sol, the Sun god to defend and preserve the faithful from above perpetually. 

Essential dogma, tenets of teachings of Mithras were the immortality of the soul, the last judgment, and the resurrection of the dead at the end of the world. 

The messiah, Mithras died for the redemption and expiation of his followers and had risen on a Sunday. 

The Christian priest, like the Master of the 7th level of followers of Mithra was called ‘father’ or pater. Many early Roman bishops held both titles at a time when the two faiths were compatible, reconciled and not mutually exclusive.

Frankincense and myrrh are still offered in Zoroastrian temples. 

Petra, sacred rock of Mithraism, evolved into Peter, the foundation of Christian Church. 

Many statues of Mithras are still preserved at the Vatican, whose foundations itself are Mithraic. 

The popular motif, theme of Mithra Tauroctonos “Mithra the bull-slayer.” was first developed by Greek sculptors in second century B.C at Pergamum. Mithra's first battle was against a bull, whom he captured and brought as a prisoner to his cave but the bull escaped and was nowhere to be found. A messenger from the Sun God, in the guise of a raven informed him of the bulls’ location. 

Tauroctony is performed in a cave, into which Mithras has carried the bull, having hunted, captured it and overwhelmed its strength. The cave is surrounded by his twelve disciples, the signs of the zodiac. 

Tauroctony is allegorical and emblematic of the heavenly constellations. The bull denotes, symbolizes the constellation Taurus,  the lion, Leo, snake, constellation Hydra, the dog, Canis Major and Minor, the crow or raven, Corvus, the goblet Crater, and wheat-blood is Spica, the spike of wheat”.   

Mithra's two torch-bearers, Cautes and Cautopades denote Sunrise and Sunset  and the spring and autumn equinoxes. Their crossed legs are intersection points of the Sun's path in the sky and the celestial equator.  The burning torch of Cautes points up and of Cautopades downwards. 

Tauroctony symbolizes the precession of the equinoxes, that move westwards or backwards by one degree every 72 years. Thus the constellations appear to revolve about the Earth, the entire cycle lasting 25.920 years. The spring equinox moved out of the constellation of Taurus (thus ending the “Age of the Bull”) around 2170 B.C. It moved from Aries to Pisces about the birth of Jesus. 

Mithras is also associated with the constellation of Orion and his physical attributes resemble the constellation in having wide shoulders, narrow waist enclosed in a belt and a tunic widened at the fringes.

Vedic astronomers name the closest star to our galaxy, Proxima Centauri as Mitra. 

Father of Christmas: Aurelian became Roman emperor in 270, the time of it’s nadir. Large areas of the empire seceded, economy was pitiful, plague decimated the cities and enemies gathered around. Shapur the Persian took Emperor Valerian and his entire army of 70,000 prisoner. 

But in five miraculous, magical years, Aurelian stopped the invasions, strengthened the currency, and brought seceded areas back. He humbly credited his incredible, spectacular success to Invictus Sol, God of the Unconquered Sun i.e Mithras, whose worship and veneration became the state religion, unifying the Empire. 

Aurelian declared the day after winter solstice, December 25 in the year 274, feast day of Invictus Sol. On this very day Persians celebrate Shab-e-Yalda. Aurelian burnt tax records, granting a tax amnesty to poor people. His charity, kindness,  altruism and generosity is the basis for the Christmas spirit.   

The Christmas tree was an evergreen Sarv/ cypress one to represent endurance, tenacity, faith and hope during the winter months of trials, tribulations, ordeals and adversity. 

The Zoroastrian festival of Sedeh, that predates even Zoroaster is celebrated in winter in the open-air for invigorating, rejuvenating, revitalizing the heavenly fire, the Sun, suffering from its winter debility and enfeeblement. 

It also honours, eulogizes the day when Hoshang Shah Pishdadian discovered fire.  

Changing Jesus the Messiah's birth from 6th January, feast of epiphany, visit of the wise men to 25th December in 354 A.D. 

 Syrus, the Syrian in the margin of the manuscript of the 12th century biblical writer Dionysius bar-Salibi mentions that Christmas was actually moved from January 6 to December 25, the Sol Invictus holiday, when they burnt candles to celebrate birthday of the Sun God.

The church authorities, exasperated, vexed, on observing even Christians were allured and enchanted by the Sol Invictus festival, shrewdly and cunningly decided that the birth of Jesus the Messiah should also be venerated on that day.” 

Chronograph/calendar of 354, is an assembly of chronological and calendrical texts written in 354 AD for an affluent Roman Christian, Valentinus by the calligrapher and illustrator Furius Dionysius Filocalus. 

It records: On December 25: “N·INVICTI·CM·XXX” – “Birthday of the unconquered, games ordered, thirty races” – is the feast of Sol Invictus 

Part 8:

 list (fasti) of the Roman consuls to AD 354.At AD 1: “Hoc cons. dominus Iesus Christus natus est VIII kal. Ian. d. Ven. luna xv.” – “When Caesare, Paulo were consuls, Lord Jesus Christ was born 8 days before kalends of January (December 25) on the day of Venus, Moon 15” 

Part 12: 

commemoration dates of the martyrs Line 1: “VIII kal. Ian. natus Christus in Betleem Iudeae” – “Eighth day before the kalends of January [December 25] Birth of Christ in Bethlehem Judea” – oldest reference to Jesus’ birth as an annual feast day.  

The edict of Theodosius I in 394 made Mithraism illegal. Veneration, adoration and devotion of Mithras in the Roman army ceased . Christianity gradually became the official religion of the Roman empire.