Christmas
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Christmas |
 |
Birth of Christ (1503), by
Albrecht Dürer.
|
| Also called |
Christ's Mass |
| Observed by |
Christians around the world as well as by
non-Christians who observe the secular aspects of
the holiday. |
| Type |
Christian, international |
| Significance |
traditional birthdate of
Jesus |
| Date |
December 25
(January 7 in Old Calendarist Orthodox Churches) |
| Observances |
religious services, gift giving, family
meetings, decorating trees |
| Related to |
Annunciation, Incarnation; Crucifixion; Advent, the
four weeks preceding Christmas; and the period
between the day after Thanksgiving and the Sunday
after New Year's Day, the American holiday season |
Christmas or Christmas Day is a
holiday celebrating the birth of Jesus, the central figure
of Christianity. Aspects of celebration may include
gift-giving,
Christmas trees, display of
Nativity sets,
church attendance, the
Father Christmas/Santa
Claus myth, and family gatherings. Users of the
Gregorian calendar observe the holiday on December 25. Some
Eastern Orthodox Churches celebrate on December 25 by the
Julian calendar, which currently corresponds to January 7 on
the Gregorian calendar. These dates are merely traditional;
the great majority of scholars agree that the actual birthdate of Jesus is unknown.
The word Christmas is derived from
Middle English Christemasse and from
Old English Cristes mæsse. It is a contraction
meaning "Christ's mass". The name of the holiday is often shortened to
Xmas because Roman letter "X" resembles the
Greek letter
Χ (chi), an abbreviation for Christ (Χριστός).
In Western countries, Christmas is the most economically
significant holiday of the year, and is even celebrated by
non-Christians. The popularity of Christmas can be traced in
part to its status as a winter festival. Many cultures have
their most important holiday in winter because there is less
agricultural work to do at this time. Examples of winter
festivals that are believed by some to have influenced
Christmas include the pre-Christian festivals of
Yule and
Saturnalia, and many of the traditions associated with
the holiday have origins in these pagan winter celebrations.
In
Western culture, the holiday is characterized by the
exchange of gifts among friends and family members, some of
the gifts being attributed to
Santa Claus (also known as
Father Christmas,
Saint Nicholas,
Saint Basil and Father Frost). However, various local and
regional Christmas traditions are still practiced, despite
the widespread influence of American, British and Australian Christmas motifs disseminated by film,
popular literature, television, and other media.
by MultiMedia
and Nicolae Sfetcu
This guide is licensed under the
GNU Free Documentation License
Christmas Guide, v. 2.0, by MultiMedia
This guide is licensed under the GNU
Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.
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