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Christmas Essay

Many people is always asking to themselves, What’s the meaning of Christmas? It’s just giving presents? Eat turkey? But they don’t know the real meaning of Christmas, that’s why I’m going to explain it right here.
Christmas is so familiar that we sometimes wonder whether anything fresh and true can be said about it.
But there is a way to explore its meaning that may seem newto us today, yet is in fact quite traditional, dating back to the middle Ages and the ancient Fathers of the Church.
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday, celebrated on December 25, that commemorates the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. The date of commemoration is not known to be Jesus's actual birthday, and may have initially been chosen to correspond with either the day exactly ninemonths after some early Christians believed Jesus had been conceived, a historical Roman festival, or the winter solstice.[9] Christmas is central to the Christmas and holiday season, and in Christianity marks the beginning of the larger season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days.
Although a Christian holiday, Christmas is widely celebrated by many non-Christians, and some of its popularcelebratory customs have pre-Christian or secular themes and origins. Popular modern customs of the holiday include gift-giving, music, an exchange of greeting cards, church celebrations, a special meal, and the display of various decorations; including Christmas trees, lights, and garlands, mistletoe, nativity scenes, and holly. In addition, Father Christmas (known as Santa Claus in some areas,including North America, Australia and Ireland) is a popular mythological figure in many countries, associated with the bringing of gifts for children.
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. Theeconomic impact of Christmas is a factor that has grown steadily over the past few centuries in many regions of the world.
The word Christmas originated as a compound meaning "Christ's Mass". It is derived from the Middle English Christemasse and Old English Cristes mæsse, a phrase first recorded in 1038. "Cristes" is from Greek Christos and "mæsse" is from Latin missa (the holy mass). In Greek,the letter Χ (chi), is the first letter of Christ, and it, or the similar Roman letter X, has been used as an abbreviation for Christ since the mid-16th century. Hence, Xmas is often used as an abbreviation for Christmas.
Christmas Day is celebrated as a major festival and public holiday in most countries of the world, even in many whose populations are not majority Christian. In some non-Christiancountries, periods of former colonial rule introduced the celebration, in others, Christian minorities or foreign cultural influences have led populations to observe the holiday. Major exceptions, where Christmas is not a formal public holiday, include China. Around the world, Christmas celebrations can vary markedly in form, reflecting differing cultural and national traditions. Countries suchas Japan and Korea, where Christmas is popular despite there being only a small number of Christians, have adopted many of the secular aspects of Christmas such as gift-giving, decorations and Christmas trees.
Christians celebrate Christmas in many ways. In addition to this day being one of the most important and popular for the attendance of church services, there are numerous other devotions andpopular traditions. Prior to Christmas Day, the Eastern Orthodox Church practices the Nativity Fast in anticipation of the birth of Jesus, while much of the Western Church celebrates Advent. People decorate their homes, and exchange gifts. In some Christian denominations, children perform plays re-telling the events of the Nativity, or sing carols that reference the event. Some Christians also...