CHRISTMAS – Endz

INTRODUCTION

People around the World celebrate Christmas on December 25 to celrbrate the birth of Lord Jesus Christ.
Special prayers will be held in churches around the world on Christmas Day.
Christmas is the most important celebration in Christian majority countries.
But in most countries,Christmas has become a celebration that brings joy to everyone beyond being a special celebration of a religious group.
Christmas is a celebration of peace and calm.

HISTORY

Historians are not clear about the actual birthday of Christ.
There is no indication of this in the Bible either in the Old Testament or the New Testament.
According to Believers, it is said that Christ was born between 6 BC and 4 BC.
Believers have estimated this period in relation to the historical events described by the Gospels Matthew and Luke.
The word Christmas is derived from the two words ‘Christus’ and ‘Mase’ which means the Mass of Christ.
In the ancient Roman Empire, December 25 was celebrated as the birthday of the Sun God.
With the adoption of Christianity by the Roman Emperor, its influence spread throughout the Roman Empire.
Thus Believers argue that December 25 started to be celebrated as Christ’s birthday.
History says that Christmas was first celebrated on December 25 in AD 336.
But a few years later, Pope Julius I officially declared December 25 as Christmas Day.

STORIES BEHIND CHRISTMAS

The Gospel of Luke

The account of the birth of Christ in the Gospel of Luke is as follows:
The angel announces that the virgin Mary is pregnant by the Holy Spirit. Joseph took Mary who was fully pregnant from Nazareth and left for Bethlehem.
At the end of the journey, a cradle(place used to feed cows and horses) was prepared for Mary who suffered from pain.
Finally Jesus was born in a holy cradle.

The Gospel of Matthew

The account of Christ’s birth in the Gospel of Matthew is as follows:
Unlike Luke’s, Matthew presents the wise men coming from the East by way of the star-pointed road, having predicted the birth of Christ.
It is indicated in the narratives that the kings who came from faraway lands after hearing about the birth of Christ, presented a lot of gifts for Christ.
Based on this,there is an argument that the sages may have come from Arabia or Persia.
These descriptions states that the birth of Jesus Christ caused changes in all lands.

CELEBRATION DAY

Christmas is celebrated on December 25th by various groups of Christians such as Catholics, Protestant churches, Greek Orthodox Church and Romanian Orthodox Church.
In contrast, most of the Eastern Christian Orthodox Churches observe January 6 as the birthday of Jesus.

CELEBRATION METHODS

The customs and ways of celebrating Christmas vary from country to country and time to time.
But the truth is that many of the celebrations have been borrowed from abroad.
It is generally believed that most of the rituals associated with Christmas came from Germany.
Examples are the Christmas tree and exchanging gifts with each other.
The rituals of the winter special day called Yule which existed before the spread of Christianity in Germany, were later adapted to Christmas.

RELIGIOUS PRACTICES

All Christian denominations start preparing for Christmas at the beginning of December.
Catholics call this the season of advent.
The good news and glory about the birth of Jesus are praised during this time.

REMEMBERANCE CEREMONIES

Celebration of the birth of Jesus will begin at midnight on the 24th in Christian churches.
But in some places such rituals are performed on Christmas day itself.
A section of Syriac Christians in Kerala welcome Christmas by fasting for 25 days.
This kind of fasting is done by avoiding non-vegetarians.

SECULAR PRACTICES

Although Christmas is a celebration of the Christian community, Christmas gives more importance to secular ways than to religious celebrations.

STORY BEHIND GRANDPA SANTA CLAUS

Santa Claus is an important part of the Christmas celebrations.
Saint Nicholas who lived in the 4th century and sacrificed his life for the poor became Santa Claus.
Belief is that on Christmas Eve,Santa Claus enters the chimneys of each house in a cart pulled by winter deer and leaves without being seen by anyone.
Centuries ago,Saint Nicholas was born in the Turkish port city of Lycia in Patara.
He became a priest at the age of nineteen and after visiting countries like Egypt and Palestine, he came back and was appointed as the bishop of Meera.
But that was the time when the Roman emperors started attacking the Christians.
Nicholas focus was on saving the victims.
After this he had to serve jail time.
But even after his release from prison,He continued his service activities.
Old Santa Claus pictures show Saint Nicholas dressed as a bishop.
The modern Santa Claus is a hulky figure with a white beard, hair and moustache wearing a red coat with a white collar, red trousers, a black leather belt and boots.
This form was given by Thomas Nast,who is known as the father of political cartoons.
Thomas Nast modernized Santa during the Civil War in America.

STORY BEHIND CHRISTMAS STAR

Starlights are hung to honor the star that guided the wise men who traveled to Bethlehem after learning of the birth of Jesus.
In many countries there is a practice of putting up star lights in the houses during Christmas.

STORY BEHIND CHRISTMAS TREE

One Christmas night,a Forest ranger and his family heard a knock on the door and when they opened it,a helpless little boy stood on the doorstep.
He received him and gave him everything he needed to bath and eat and let him sleep in his children’s beds.
At dawn, on Christmas Day, they were awakened by the singing of angels.
That little boy, on the other hand, became little Jesus.
After cutting a stick from the Devataru(Cedar) Tree in the courtyard of their hut, Jesus thanked them and disappeared.
It was after this that the tradition of decorating the trees on Christmas night began.
According to the old Christian Calender,December 24 was the day of Adam and Eve(First Human Beings).
So it is said that the Christians believe this tree represented the tree of Eden.
This practice of decorating pyramid-shaped trees on Christmas days spread to other countries as well.