Christmas menu
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Christian holiday that celebrates the birth of Jesus, who Christians believe is the Son of God. Christmas is also a cultural holiday for many non-Christians. Christmas Day is celebrated on the 25th day of December. The season of Advent begins on a Sunday about four weeks before Christmas. 6 January, also called the Twelfth Day of Christmas. People celebrate Christmas in many places around the world. Some people celebrate Christmas as a religious holiday.
In some places, Christmas is a time of celebration for Christians and non-Christians alike. Christmas traditions are different in different countries. In the Northern Hemisphere, Christmastide happens during the winter. Before Christmas was ever celebrated, ancient peoples celebrated winter festivals. Some traditions from these ancient festivals became Christmas traditions. Today, Christmas traditions often focus on gift-giving.
Star marking the birthplace of Jesus Christ in the Grotto of the Nativity in Bethlehem Israel. Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus. There are four different Gospels in the Bible which talk about Jesus’ birth. The Gospel of Luke gives details about Jesus’ birth. The Gospel of Matthew tells another part of the story. The Gospels say that many years before Jesus’ birth, prophets had told a promise to the Jewish people that God would send them a Messiah, or holy teacher.
Christians believe that the promised Messiah was Jesus. His mother was a young woman called Mary, who was engaged, but not yet married to a carpenter called Joseph. At this time, the Middle East was ruled by the Romans. An order came that all the people had to travel back to their home town, to put their names on the taxation lists. Joseph took his new wife to Bethlehem.
There was nowhere for them to stay, except a stable where the animals slept. The baby Jesus had two lots of visitors. Most Christian countries of the world use a calendar called the Gregorian Calendar, but some churches use a calendar called the Julian Calendar. The Eastern Orthodox Church still uses the Julian Calendar in some regions such as Russia. Some Christians, like Jehovah’s Witnesses, do not celebrate Christmas because there is no instruction from Jesus in the Bible which tells Christians to celebrate his birth. Mormons celebrate Christmas on 25 December but they believe that Christ’s actual birth took place on 6 April.
Some believe that Jesus was probably not born on 25 December. Some historians believe this date was used by the Catholic Church to replace the pagan rites that took place at that time of the year. Lighting the Advent candles at a church in the US. The Season of Advent, which begins on Sunday about four weeks before Christmas Day, is celebrated by the Catholic and Anglican Churches, as well as others. It is a time for people to prepare themselves for two different things: for the coming of the baby Jesus and Christmas, and for the second coming of Jesus, when he shall rule over all the Earth in peace.
Not all Christian people remember Advent. Generally, Advent is a time when many people are very busy in preparation for Christmas Day, cleaning and decorating, buying food and presents, writing cards and letters, and cooking the Christmas feast. Before the 4th century AD, Christians could only worship and celebrate in secret. The feast of Christmas probably began while Constantine was the Emperor of Rome, because it was he who made Christianity a legal religion and built some of Rome’s oldest churches. Through the Middle Ages Christmas was celebrated with feasting, singing and plays.
The plays were held in churches, and also in castles and in market places, where a big hay wagon was sometimes used as a stage. Because Advent was a time of prayer and preparation, most parties were held after Christmas, rather than before it. The main pre-Christmas celebration was the Feast of St. In some countries, particularly the Netherlands, the tradition grew for children to receive presents on this day, rather than Christmas Day. The name of Saint Nicholas is now remembered in many countries as Santa Claus. 13 December which is particularly celebrated in Scandinavia, where girls take part in candlelit processions, and the daughters of the house must rise early to bring coffee or chocolate to the family. For many centuries, the celebration of Christmas often began with a church service or mass, which lasted from late at night to after midnight on Christmas morning.
