Saints Adam and Eve

According to the Book of Genesis, God created Adam and Eve in his image and placed them in the Garden of Eden, but they disobeyed him and lost paradise. Even then God promised that the offspring of the woman would crush the serpent, a promise the Church sees fulfilled in Jesus, the new Adam, and Mary, the new Eve. On December 24 the Roman Martyrology remembers the holy ancestors of Jesus Christ, and an old tradition, especially in the Eastern Churches and medieval Europe, honors Adam and Eve on this day. Icons of the Resurrection show Christ raising them from the grave by the hand.

In medieval Germany, "paradise plays" were performed on December 24 using a tree hung with apples, the "paradise tree," which is one of the roots of the Christmas tree custom.