This Greeting identifies Italy as the Origin of Christmas, and the Christmas Carol.
It also distiguishes the mode of celebration from that in the United States.
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Buon Natale! Christmas in Italy 
 
Part 1: Origins in Pagan Celebrations  
 
Red, white, and green—the colors of Italy's national flag, and the 
traditional Christmas colors as well. It may not be a surprise, then, that 
Christmas probably originated in Italy.

One widely held theory is that the holiday was an intentional 
christianization of Saturnalia and other pagan festivals. In the third and 
fourth centuries, the church in Rome found itself in fierce competition with 
popular pagan religions and mystery cults, most of them involving sun 
worship. From the middle of December through the first of January, Romans 
would engage in feasts and drunken revelry, paying homage to their gods and 
marking the winter solstice, when days began to lengthen.

In A.D. 274, Emperor Aurelian decreed December 25—the solstice on the Julian 
calendar—as natalis solis invicti ("birth of the invincible sun"), a festival 
honoring the sun god Mithras. In designating December 25 as the date for 
their Nativity feast Rome's Christians challenged paganism directly. They 
also were able to invoke rich biblical symbolism that described Jesus as the 
"Sun of Righteousness" and God's "true light," sent to dispel darkness in the 
world.

Over the centuries the Christmas holiday continued to be celebrated with many 
and varied customs created to mark the event. What is ironic, of course, is 
that while Christmas without Christ was once the norm, nowadays religious 
songs, nativity scenes, and church events all play a critical role in many 
cultures and religions when celebrating the holiday.

In modern-day Italy, the celebration of Christmas has its own unique flavor, 
combining pastoral traditions, traditional cultural rites, influences from 
Northern Europe, and a strong spiritual context to mark the important event.
 
Part 2:Christmas Carols Originated In Italy

Whether it's a solemn hymn, a Victorian-era melody, or a modern rock version 
of Jingle Bells, Christmas music is an integral part of the holiday 
celebration. Not only did Christmas originate in Italy, but it was also the 
birthplace of the first Christmas carol.

During the thirteenth century, among the early Franciscans, Saint Francis of 
Assisi introduced the carol, which soon spread all over Europe. He had a 
particular devotion and affection for the mysteries of the holy childhood of 
Jesus.

Saint Francis wrote a Christmas hymn in Latin—Psalmus in Nativitate—but 
there is no evidence that he composed carols in Italian. His companions and 
spiritual sons, however, the first Franciscan friars, contributed a large 
number of Italian Christmas carols. One of those thirteenth-century Italian 
carols has become very familiar as the theme on which Handel developed his 
Pastoral Symphony in the Messiah...

Part 6: Italian Christmas Traditions 
 
During Christmastime, one readily observable difference between Italy and the 
United States, for instance, is the lack of crass commercialism that 
threatens to swallow up and completely secularize the holiday. 

For instance, instead of writing letters to Santa Claus asking for presents 
(or, in the digital age, e-mailing Santa Claus), Italian children write 
letters to tell their parents how much they love them. The letter is normally 
placed under their father's plate and read after Christmas Eve dinner has 
been finished.

Italians have also adopted some of the northern European traditions as well. 
Nowadays, especially in northern Italy, a fair number of families decorate an 
evergreen tree in their home. 
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Credit to About.com
For more About Italy in Christmas, see:
Buon Natale! Christmas in Italy - Origins in Pagan Celebrations
 http://italian.about.com/library/weekly/aa120600a.htm