Christmas History and Background

Author: Admin | Filed under: Christmas, Christmas History Saturday Dec 1,2007

Christmas is an annual holiday that celebrates the birth of Jesus. The date of the celebration is traditional, and is not considered to be his actual date of birth. Christmas festivities often combine the commemoration of Jesus’ birth with various secular customs, many of which have been influenced by earlier winter festivals.

In most places around the world, Christmas Day is celebrated on December 25. Christmas Eve is the preceding day, December 24. In the United Kingdom and many countries of the Commonwealth, Boxing Day is the following day, December 26. In Catholic countries, Saint Stephen’s Day or the Feast of St. Stephen is December 26. The Armenian Apostolic Church observes Christmas on January 6. Eastern Orthodox Churches that still use the Julian Calendar celebrate Christmas on the Julian version of 25 December, which is January 7 on the more widely used Gregorian calendar, because the two calendars are now 13 days apart.

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History of the Christmas Tree

Author: Admin | Filed under: Christmas History, Christmas Tree Saturday Dec 1,2007

Why do we decorate the Christmas tree? The habit is probably inherited from the Egyptians that used to decorate their houses with palm tree leaves in the day of the astrological winter. The habit was taken by the Romans that used instead of palm trees the conifers.

But the story really begins around the 7th century when a monk from Devonshire came to Germany to teach the word of the Lord. Legend says that he used the triangular form of the Christmas tree to symbolize religious meanings. In the Europe of the 12th century, on Christmas day, the Christmas tree was installed upside down, hanging down from the ceiling!

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