The Christmas Holiday
The Christmas holiday season in many countries refers to the period
of the year approaching Christmas when businesses (particularly those who sell
and manufacture things that could be given as gifts) prepare for the massive
buying rush that the holiday generates. Although there is no official beginning
to the Christmas holiday season, some people consider this period to last
between the day after Thanksgiving (Black Friday) and the Sunday after New
Year's Day. In some countries it is marked by annual Christmas parades and the
arrival of Santa Claus such as at the end
of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in the U.S.
In North America, the
Christmas holiday season is also punctuated by continued screenings of
theme-based movies (such as It's a Wonderful
Life and Miracle on 34th Street) and television specials (such as Rudolph the
Red-Nosed Reindeer and A Charlie Brown Christmas). The season continues through
the New Year's weekend, with its college football bowl games and more
parades.
Christmas season is also known as Christmastide, one of six
seasons of the year in the liturgical year of some Christian churches; namely,
the period which runs from Christmas Day to January 6, the start of the octave
of Epiphany. This period is also commonly known as the Twelve days of
Christmas, as referred to in the Christmas carol "Twelve Days of Christmas".
During the season various festivites are traditionally enjoyed and buildings
decorated.
An enormous number of
customs, with either secular, religious, or
national aspects, surround Christmas, and vary from country to country. Most of
the familiar traditional practices and symbols of Christmas, such as the
Christmas tree, the Christmas ham, the Yule Log,
holly, mistletoe, and the giving of gifts, were
adapted or appropriated by Christian missionaries from the earlier pagan
midwinter holiday of Yule.
The Christmas Story
The story of Christ's birth has been handed down for centuries,
based primarily on the Christian gospels of Matthew and Luke. The gospels of
Mark and John do not address the childhood of Jesus, and those of Matthew and
Luke give somewhat differing accounts, Luke's being closest to the public
impression of the Christmas story and the version most often read in Christmas
services.
According to Luke, Mary
learned from an angel that she was
with child, by virtue of impregnation by the Holy Spirit without intercourse.
Shortly thereafter, she and her husband Joseph left their home in Nazareth to
travel to Joseph's ancestral home, Bethlehem, to enroll in the census ordered
by the Roman emperor, Augustus. Finding no room in inns in the town, they set
up primitive lodgings in a stable. There Mary gave birth to Jesus in a manger
or stall. Christ's birth in Bethlehem of Judea, the home of the house of David
from which Joseph was descended, fulfilled the prophecy of
Isaiah.
Matthew's gospel begins by recounting the genealogy and virgin
birth of Jesus, and then moves to the coming of the Wise Men from the East to
where Christ was staying after his birth in Bethlehem. The wise men, or Magi,
first arrived in Jerusalem and reported to the king of Judea, Herod the Great,
that they had seen a star heralding the birth of a king. Further inquiry led
them to Bethlehem of Judea and the home of Mary and Joseph. They presented
Jesus with treasures of "gold, frankincense, and myrrh". While staying the
night, each Wise Man had a dream that contained a divine warning that King
Herod had murderous designs on the child. Resolving to hinder the ruler, they
returned home without notifying Herod of the success of their mission. Matthew
then reports that the family next fled to Egypt to escape the murderous rampage
of Herod, who had decided to have the children of Bethlehem killed in order to
eliminate any local rivals to his power. When Jesus and his family returned, it
was then that they settled in Nazareth.
Recent Christmas Articles
French Christmas
Traditions
Christmas, always called 'Noël in France, is largely
characterized by exchanging gifts within families, and by gifts brought by
Father Christmas, or Père Noël, as he's called in France.
12 Days of
Christmas
There have even been many versions of the song that have come
out, since the structure lends itself well to variation and even humor. But did
you ever stop to think what this seemingly nonsensical song really is about?
The Birth of
Christmas Lights
Before electric Christmas lights were invented, people
depended upon candlelight to illuminate their Christmas trees. At the beginning
of the twenty-first century, Christmas lights have become a work of art in
themselves, with new ways of displaying their illumination getting invented all
the time.
Christmas
Décor Is Matter Of Personal Choice
What makes a good holiday
decoration and what fits and what does not is strictly up to the homeowner.
Each person has their own ideas of what their Christmas décor should
represent and most ignore the color requirements in finding items that appeal
to them.
The Significance of
Christmas Angels
The Christmas angel plays a significant role in the
history of the first Christmas, because it was the angels that originally
announced the coming of the Messiah to Mary, and relayed the good news of His
birth to the rest of the world.
