Know Some Details About CHRISTMAS
Christmas or Christmas Day (Old English: Crīstesmæsse,
meaning "Christ's Mass") is an annual festival commemorating the
birth of Jesus Christ,observed most commonly on December 25as a religious and
cultural celebration among billions of people around the worldA feast central
to the Christian liturgical year, it closes the Advent season and initiates the
twelve days of Christmastide, which ends after the twelfth night. Christmas is
a public holiday in many of the world's nations, is celebrated culturally by a
large number of non-Christian people, and is an integral part of the Christmas
and holiday season.
While the birth year of Jesus is estimated among modern
historians to have been between 7 and 2 BC, the exact month and day of his
birth are unknown, and are not the focus of the Church's Christmas celebration.
His birth is mentioned in two of the four canonical gospels. By the
early-to-mid 4th century, the Western Christian Church had placed Christmas on
December 25, a date later adopted in the East, although some churches celebrate
on the December 25 of the older Julian calendar, which, in the Gregorian
calendar, currently corresponds to January 7, the day after the Western
Christian Church celebrates the Epiphany. The Council of Tours of 567
"declared the twelve days between Christmas and Epiphany to be one unified
festal cycle", thus giving significance to both December 25 and January 6.The
Second Council of Tours stated that: "There are feasts on each day between
the Nativity of the Lord and Epiphany, except the three-day period on which our
Fathers established for the beginning of January private Litanies in order to
tread down the custom of the Gentiles. These three days it declared not to be
joyful but to be days of penance and fasting. The date of Christmas may have
initially been chosen to correspond with the day exactly nine months after
early Christians believed Jesus to have been conceived, or with one or more
ancient polytheistic festivals that occurred near southern solstice (i.e., the
Roman winter solstice); a further solar connection has been suggested because
of a biblical verse[a] identifying Jesus as the "Sun of
righteousness".The celebratory customs associated in various countries
with Christmas have a mix of pre-Christian, Christian, and secular themes and
origins. Popular modern customs of the holiday include gift giving, completing
an Advent calendar or Advent wreath, Christmas music and caroling, an exchange
of Christmas cards, church services, a special meal, and the display of various
Christmas decorations, including Christmas trees, Christmas lights, nativity
scenes, garlands, wreaths, mistletoe, and holly. In addition, several closely
related and often interchangeable figures, known as Santa Claus, Father
Christmas, Saint Nicholas, and Christkind, are associated with bringing gifts
to children during the Christmas season and have their own body of traditions
and lore. Because gift-giving and many other aspects of the Christmas festival
involve heightened economic activity, the holiday has become a significant
event and a key sales period for retailers and businesses. The economic impact
of Christmas is a factor that has grown steadily over the past few centuries in
many regions of the world.
Etymology
"Christmas" is a compound word originating in the
term "Christ's Mass". It is derived from the Middle English
Cristemasse, which is from Old English Crīstesmæsse, a phrase first recorded in
1038 followed by the word Cristes-messe in 1131. Crīst (genitive Crīstes) is
from Greek Khrīstos (Χριστός), a translation of Hebrew Māšîaḥ (מָשִׁיחַ), "Messiah",
meaning "anointed"; and mæsse is from Latin missa, the celebration of
the Eucharist. The form "Christenmas" was also historically used, but
is now considered archaic and dialectal; it derives from Middle English
Cristenmasse, literally "Christian mass". "Xmas" is an
abbreviation of Christmas found particularly in print, based on the initial
letter chi (Χ) in Greek Khrīstos (Χριστός), "Christ", though numerous
style guides discourage its use; it has precedent in Middle English Χρ̄es masse
(where "Χρ̄" is an abbreviation for Χριστός).
SUMMARY ON CHRISTMAS
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Also
called
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Observed by
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Christians, many non-Christians
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Type
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Christian, cultural
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Significance
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Traditional
commemoration of the birth of Jesus
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Observances
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Church
services,
gift giving, family and other social gatherings, symbolic decorating
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Date
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Frequency
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annual
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Related to
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Christmastide, Christmas Eve, Advent,Annunciation, Epiphany, Baptism of the Lord, Nativity Fast, Nativity of Christ, Yule
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