Christmas and its Significance
Christmas is observed every year on 25 December | Image Source: https://travel.earth/
Christmas is observed every year on 25 December. Its main goal is to celebrate a day for family time, observe a Christian festival, or just spreading some cheer! Over the millennia, Christmas has evolved into a worldwide celebration that’s both religious and secular and full of fun family activities.
History of Christmas
Christians celebrate Christmas as the day Jesus Christ was born. Although a lot of our Christmas Day rituals and traditions came from that moment, it is not the whole story. Let us talk about what we do know about Christmas despite the myths and truths.
No one knows exactly when and where Jesus was born. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John share associated stories, but they do not say when Jesus was born. The date is mostly credited to the first Christian historian, Sextus Julius Africanus, around 221 AD.
According to one theory, the early church wanted to link Christmas with the “rebirth of the sun,” which arrives after the winter equinox. A second view bases the date on Jesus’ conception on March 25, the spring equinox. Exactly nine months later, December 25 would be the date of Jesus’ birth.
The Church once declared January 6 as Jesus’ baptismal date and Christmas as the right day. By the 9th century, Christmas was just a minor holy day.
By the Middle Ages, Europeans had made some of the Christmas traditions we know today. In Strasbourg, apple-decorated fir trees appeared in homes. In the 17th and 18th centuries, people began to give gifts as a symbol of the Magi arriving at Bethlehem with gifts in honour of the Newborn baby Jesus. The advent of the 19th century saw fir wreaths laden with 24 candles representing the 24 days before Christmas reduced to a much safer four candles. Eventually, Christmas day traditions spread from Europe to Latin America and North America as well as other parts of the world.
Traditions of Christmas
Gift-Giving
Most people give gifts to friends and loved ones. Gold, frankincense, and myrrh represent the original gifts the Magi gave to the baby Jesus.
Christmas Re-enactment’s
Over several days leading up to Christmas in Mexico, there are re-enactments of Mary and Joseph’s frantic search for an inn where the baby Jesus might be born. On Christmas Day, children take turns batting a piñata stuffed with little toys and holiday candy.
Carolling
In town squares, business districts, and in front of private homes, groups of singers sing carols on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
Celebration and shopping
The day is also observed to shop the relevant and necessary household items. This is the time of the year; you may experience a good discount or at least you may feel that discount.
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