Christmastide, Christmas Eve, Advent, Annunciation, Epiphany, Baptism of the Lord, Nativity Fast, Nativity of Christ, Old Christmas, Yule, St. Stephen's Day, Boxing Day In summary, there are four different dates used by different Christian groups to mark the birth of Christ, given in the table below. Ehorn, Lee Ellen; Hewlett, Shirely J.; Hewlett, Dale M. (September 1, 1995). December Holiday Customs. Lorenz Educational Press. p.1. ISBN 978-1-4291-0896-6. Correspondence between Julian December 25 and Gregorian January 7 of the following year holds until 2100; from 2101 to 2199 the difference will be one day more. [ citation needed] Post-classical history The Nativity, from a 14th-century Missal; a liturgical book containing texts and music necessary for the celebration of Mass throughout the year

In a nutshell, we celebrate the 4 Sundays leading up to Christmas by singing Christmas carols, playing hand bells, and eating European Christmas goodies. 19. LIGHT THE WORLDThe Liturgical Year. Thomas Nelson. November 3, 2009. ISBN 978-1-4185-8073-5 . Retrieved April 2, 2009. Christmas is not really about the celebration of a birth date at all. It is about the celebration of a birth. The fact of the date and the fact of the birth are two different things. The calendrical verification of the feast itself is not really that important ... What is important to the understanding of a life-changing moment is that it happened, not necessarily where or when it happened. The message is clear: Christmas is not about marking the actual birth date of Jesus. It is about the Incarnation of the One who became like us in all things but sin ( Hebrews 4:15) and who humbled Himself "to the point of death-even death on a cross" (Phil. 2:8). Christmas is a pinnacle feast, yes, but it is not the beginning of the liturgical year. It is a memorial, a remembrance, of the birth of Jesus, not really a celebration of the day itself. We remember that because the Jesus of history was born, the Resurrection of the Christ of faith could happen. But we try really hard to keep Christ as the focus of our Christmas season and have lots of fun Christian Christmas traditions that keep Him as the center of our celebrations. A number of nations have issued commemorative stamps at Christmastide. [225] Postal customers will often use these stamps to mail Christmas cards, and they are popular with philatelists. [226] These stamps are regular postage stamps, unlike Christmas seals, and are valid for postage year-round. They usually go on sale sometime between early October and early December and are printed in considerable quantities. The earliest extant specifically Christmas hymns appear in fourth-century Rome. Latin hymns such as " Veni redemptor gentium", written by Ambrose, Archbishop of Milan, were austere statements of the theological doctrine of the Incarnation in opposition to Arianism. "Corde natus ex Parentis" ("Of the Father's love begotten") by the Spanish poet Prudentius (d. 413) is still sung in some churches today. [210] In the 9th and 10th centuries, the Christmas "Sequence" or "Prose" was introduced in North European monasteries, developing under Bernard of Clairvaux into a sequence of rhymed stanzas. In the 12th century the Parisian monk Adam of St. Victor began to derive music from popular songs, introducing something closer to the traditional Christmas carol. Christmas carols in English appear in a 1426 work of John Awdlay who lists twenty five "caroles of Cristemas", probably sung by groups of ' wassailers', who went from house to house. [211] Child singers in Bucharest, 1841

The government of the People's Republic of China officially espouses state atheism, [276] and has conducted antireligious campaigns to this end. [277] In December 2018, officials raided Christian churches prior to Christmastide and coerced them to close; Christmas trees and Santa Clauses were also forcibly removed. [278] [279] See also The rival "History of Religions" hypothesis suggests that the Church selected December 25 date to appropriate festivities held by the Romans in honor of the Sun god Sol Invictus. [63] This cult was established by Aurelian in 274. An explicit expression of this theory appears in an annotation of uncertain date added to a manuscript of a work by 12th-century Syrian bishop Jacob Bar-Salibi. The scribe who added it wrote: Print out and assemble these darling Nativity figures for play and for learning the true story of Christmas. Bonus: They kind of look like Minecraft figures. 😉 A very entertaining nativity musical, 'Jesus' Christmas Party' isbased on million-selling storybook by Nicholas Allan, and it has huge child-appeal.The show is lively, funny and very easy to direct, with songs that almost teach themselves!Two versions of the script are included- one for age 5 to 7, the other for age 7 to 10.

Who did God tell in the book of Genesis ‘all peoples on Earth will be blessed through you,’ foretelling that Jesus would be among his descendants? Abraham One of our favorite traditions is celebrating German Advent. I was introduced to this spiritual tradition when I lived in Germany and ever since, we've incorporated it into our festivities. In 1743, German Protestant Paul Ernst Jablonski argued Christmas was placed on December 25 to correspond with the Roman solar holiday Dies Natalis Solis Invicti and was therefore a "paganization" that debased the true church. [88] However, it has been also argued that, on the contrary, the Emperor Aurelian, who in 274 instituted the holiday of the Dies Natalis Solis Invicti, did so partly as an attempt to give a pagan significance to a date already important for Christians in Rome. [89] Frøyshov, Stig Simeon. "[Hymnography of the] Rite of Jerusalem". Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology. The English word "Christmas" is a shortened form of "Christ's Mass". The word is recorded as Crīstesmæsse in 1038 and Cristes-messe in 1131. [24] Crīst ( genitive Crīstes) is from Greek Khrīstos (Χριστός), a translation of Hebrew Māšîaḥ (מָשִׁיחַ), " Messiah", meaning "anointed"; [25] [26] and mæsse is from Latin missa, the celebration of the Eucharist. [27]

The Bible only mentions goats, and not sheep, an ox or an ass, being present at the birth of Jesus.

Christmas Plays for Primary Schools

Hi, I'm Melissa! I share simple holiday and family fun ideas so you can create more memories together.