Why do we celebrate Christmas Day on 25th December?
In the 3rd century, the Roman Empire, which at the time had not adopted Christianity, celebrated the rebirth of the Unconquered Sun (Sol Invictus) on December 25th. … The church in Rome began formally celebrating Christmas on December 25 in 336, during the reign of the emperor Constantine. It was quite a normal practice to substitute a religious holiday of a god/faith, religion on top of it with another religious holiday. So, the Sun-god gets replaced by the Son of God.
Christmas Eve / Day
In Germany, Christmas Eve is a special day when everyone gets their presents. The children early and the parents later on in the day, depending on the tradition of the house. However, in the UK Christmas Day is a special day and this is the day when everyone gets their presents. Children in the UK are often very excited about their presents and so they cannot wait until the afternoon. Thus, they are allowed to open their presents very early on Christmas morning.
“When in Rome do as the Romans do.” Means: Example:
For me, as an Englishman living in Germany, I had to get used to the German tradition of celebrating and giving presents on the 24th of December. It felt wrong to me, as you do not receive your birthday presents one day before your birthday, but on your actual birthday. Still, you have to “do as the Romans do”. You must adhere, follow, and go along with, the customs, traditions and rituals of a country you are either visiting or living in. In Japan, everyone takes their shoes off BEFORE they enter a building/house/home and as a visitor so should we. So, “When in Rome do as the Romans do.”
Sometimes we hang Christmas Stockings up which have a few small presents in them in order to keep the children interested until the adults awake.
A Christmas stocking is an empty sock or sock-shaped bag that is hung on Saint Nicholas Day or Christmas Eve so that Saint Nicholas (or the related figures of Santa Claus and Father Christmas) can fill it with small toys, sweets, fruit, coins or other small gifts when he arrives.
Where did stockings come from for Christmas?
The tradition dates back to a legend about Saint Nicholas.
According to History.com, hanging stockings come from a legend about Saint Nicholas. In that legend, Saint Nicholas gave three poor sisters gold coins and dropped the coins down the chimney.
BOXING DAY the 26th of December
“Boxing Day” meaning the name comes from a time when the rich used to box up gifts to give to the poor. Boxing Day was traditionally a day off for servants, and the day when they received a special Christmas box from their masters. The servants would also go home on Boxing Day to give Christmas boxes to their families. Servants live in a “Tide Cottage” which they rent from their Master/Lord of the Manor. The wooden box would have some money, meat, tobacco, old clothes etc. in it as a special gift from the Master to his workers.
What do Brits do on Boxing Day?
Boxing Day is also a time when the Brits show their eccentricity by taking part in all kinds of bizarre traditions including swimming the icy cold English Channel, or legging it into the sea, fun runs and charity events. The 26th of December is a big day for sales too.
Christmas is celebrated to remember the birth of Jesus Christ, who Christians believe is the Son of God.
The name ‘Christmas‘ comes from the Mass of Christ (or Jesus). A Mass service (which is sometimes called Communion or Eucharist) is where Christians remember that Jesus died for us and then came back to life. The ‘Christ-Mass‘ service was the only one that was allowed to take place after sunset (and before sunrise the next day), so people had it at Midnight! So we get the name Christ-Mass, shortened to Christmas.
The Date of Christmas
No one knows the real birthday of Jesus! No date is given in the Bible, so why do we celebrate it on the 25th of December? The early Christians certainly had many arguments as to when it should be celebrated! Also, the birth of Jesus probably didn’t happen in the year 1 but slightly earlier, somewhere between 2 BC and 7 BC, possibly in 4 BC (there isn’t a 0 – the years go from 1 BC to 1!).
The first recorded date of Christmas being celebrated on December 25th was in 336, during the time of the Roman Emperor Constantine (he was the first Christian Roman Emperor). But it was not an official Roman state festival at this time.
However, there are many different traditions and theories as to why Christmas is celebrated on December 25th.
A very early Christian tradition said that the day when Mary was told that she would have a very special baby, Jesus (called the Annunciation) was on March 25th – and it’s still celebrated today on the 25th of March. Nine months after the 25th of March is the 25th of December!
March 25th was also the day some early Christians thought the world had been made, and also the day that Jesus died on when he was an adult (Nisan 14 in the Jewish calendar) and they thought that Jesus was conceived and had died on the same day of the year.
The Winter Solstice is the day when there is the shortest time between the sun rising and the sun setting. It happens on December 21st or 22nd in the Northern Hemisphere. (In the Southern Hemisphere, this time is the Summer Solstice and the Winter Solstice happens in late June.)
To pagans, this meant that they knew that the days would start getting lighter and longer and the nights would become shorter – marking a change in the seasons. To celebrate people had a mid-winter festival to celebrate the sun ‘winning’ over the darkness of winter. At this time, animals that had been kept for food were also often killed to save having to feed them all through the winter and some drinks which had been brewing since the autumn/harvest would also be ready to drink. So it was a good time to have a celebration with things to eat and drink before the rest of the winter happened. (We still have New Year celebrations near this time now!)
In Scandinavia, and some other parts of northern Europe, the time around the Winter Solstice is known as Yule (although the word Yule only seems to date to about the year 300). In Eastern Europe, the mid-winter festival is called Koleda.
Wit, wit, wit – Drink and Other Drugs:
Witz, Witz, Witz – Trinken und andere Drogen:
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Quote by Raymond George.
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