CRISTMAS
Christmas is an annual commemoration of the birth of Jesus Christ[6][7] and a widely observedholiday, celebrated
generally on December 25[3][4][5] by millions of people around the world.[2][8] A feast central to the Christian liturgical year,
it closes the Advent season and initiates the twelve days of Christmastide,
which ends after the twelfth night.[9] Christmas is a civil holiday in many of the world's nations,[10][11][12] is celebrated by an increasing number
of non-Christians,[1][13][14] and is an integral part of the Christmas and holiday season.
While the birth year of Jesus is estimated among modern historians
to have been between 7 and 2 BC, the exact month and day of his birth are
unknown.[15][16] His birth is mentioned in two of the
four canonical
gospels. By the early-to-mid 4th century, the Western Christian Church had placed Christmas on December 25,[17] a date later adopted in the East.[18][19] The date of Christmas may have
initially been chosen to correspond with the day exactly nine months after
early Christians believed Jesus to have been
conceived,[20] or with one or more ancient polytheistic festivals
that occurred near southern
solstice (i.e., the Roman winter solstice);
a further solar connection has been suggested because
of a biblical verse[a]identifying Jesus
as the "Sun of righteousness".[20][21][22][23][24]
The original date
of the celebration in Eastern Christianity was January 6, in connection with Epiphany, and that is still the date of
the celebration for the Armenian Apostolic Church and in Armenia, where it is a
public holiday. As of 2013, there is a difference of 13 days between the modern Gregorian calendar and the older Julian calendar.
Those who continue to use the Julian calendar or its equivalents thus celebrate
December 25 and January 6, which on the Gregorian calendar translate as January
7 and January 19. For this reason, Ethiopia, Russia, Georgia, Ukraine, Serbia, the Republic of Macedonia, and the Republic of Moldova celebrate Christmas on what in the
Gregorian calendar is January 7. Eastern Orthodox Churches in Bulgaria,Greece, Romania, Antioch, Alexandria, Albania, Finland, and the Orthodox Church in America celebrate Christmas on December 25 in
the revised Julian calendar, corresponding to
December 25 also in the Gregorian calendar.
The celebratory
customs associated in various countries with Christmas have a mix of pre-Christian, Christian, and secular themes and origins.[25]Popular modern
customs of the holiday include gift giving, Christmas music and caroling,
an exchange of Christmas cards, church celebrations, aspecial meal, and the display of various Christmas decorations, including Christmas trees, Christmas lights, nativity scenes, garlands, wreaths,mistletoe, and holly. In addition,
several closely related and often interchangeable figures, known as Santa Claus, Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas,
and Christkind,
are associated with bringing gifts to children during the Christmas season and
have their own body of traditions and lore.[26] Because gift-giving and many other
aspects of the Christmas festival involve heightened economic activity among both
Christians and non-Christians, the holiday has become a significant event and a
key sales period for retailers and businesses. The economic impact of Christmas
is a factor that has grown steadily over the past few centuries in many regions
of the world.
BY:SREELAKSHMI.H
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