Christmas
Christmas Day is a public holiday in many of the world’s nations. It is celebrated religiously by a majority of Christians, as well as culturally by many non-Christians. Most Christians celebrate on December 25 in the Gregorian calendar. Popular modern customs of the holiday include gift giving; completing an Advent calendar or Advent wreath; Christmas music and caroling.
About Christmas in brief
Christmas Day is a public holiday in many of the world’s nations. It is celebrated religiously by a majority of Christians, as well as culturally by many non-Christians. Most Christians celebrate on December 25 in the Gregorian calendar, which has been adopted almost universally in the civil calendars used in countries throughout the world. Popular modern customs of the holiday include gift giving; completing an Advent calendar or Advent wreath; Christmas music and caroling; viewing a Nativity play; 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. 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 has grown steadily over the past few centuries in many regions of the World. The traditional Christmas narrative, the Nativity of Jesus, delineated in the New Testament says that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, in accordance with messianic prophecies.
Although the month and date of Jesus’ birth are unknown, the church in the early fourth century fixed the date as December 25. This corresponds to the date of the winter solstice on the Roman calendar. The term derives from Middle English Cristenmasse, meaning \”Christian mass\”. Xmas is an abbreviation of Christmas found particularly in print, based on the initial letter chi in Greek Khrīstos, \”Christ\”, though numerous style guides discourage its use. In Old English, Gēola referred to the period corresponding to December and January, which was eventuallyated with Christian Christmas in the late 14th century. The word is recorded as Crīstesmæsse in 1038 and Cristes-messe in 1131. The Anglo-Saxons refer to the feast as midwinter, or, more rarely, as Nātiuiteð, meaning ‘birth’ or ‘nativity’ The term Christmastide, which historically in the West lasts twelve days and culminates on Twelfth Night, is also known as ‘Christmastide’ and ‘Christkind’, ‘Nativity’, or ‘Christmas’ Christmas is a shortened form of ‘Cristenmas’, which means ‘Christ’s mass’ and is now considered archaic and dialectal. It has been known by various other names throughout its history, including ‘Christmas’, ‘No Christmas’, ‘Christmas,’ and ‘Xmas’ Christmas, and ‘Christmas Day’ Christmas Day is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed by billions of people around the world, and is preceded by the season of Advent.
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This page is based on the article Christmas published in Wikipedia (as of Dec. 26, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
