What is special about Christmas?

                                  Christmas

      

Christmas Day, on December 25, is one of the most festive Christian holidays in many countries around the world.  It is also a popular holiday celebrated by non-Christians. Christmas Day is an annual celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. The date of December 25th was chosen in the 4th century. The popular customs of celebrating Christmas include gift-giving, sending holiday cards, Christmas trees and lights, caroling, a feast and church celebrations.

Christmas is one of the most important as well as popular festivals celebrated throughout the year. Christmas is the kind of festival that is so popular that it is celebrated in more than 160 countries throughout the world, by adults and children alike. Christmas is celebrated by those following the religion of Christianity, though the festival has universal appeal, across all religions. There are many ways to celebrate Christmas and the manner with which Christmas is celebrated is different in many countries, even though the Christmas spirit is universal in nature People celebrate Christmas Day in many ways. It is often combined with customs from pre-Christian winter celebrations. Many people decorate their homes, visit family or friends and exchange gifts. ... Some groups arrange meals, shelter or charitable projects for people without a home or with very little money.

History of Christmas

The word Christmas is derived from the Old English word “Cristes maesse” which literally translates to Christ's Mass. Although no one knows for sure the exact date of Christ's birth, the date chosen to celebrate it is related to the Roman Saturnalia festival that lasted from the 17th -21st of December. This date was chosen somewhere during the 4th century AD by the heads of the church. The date became widely accepted by most branches of Christianity with the exception of the Armenians who reserved the 6th of January for Christmas celebrations.

Significance Of Christmas

The Significance of Christmas is known to men, all over the world. Though it is true that Christmas is celebrated as the day of the Birth of Christ into this world, yet it also symbolizes a very deeply significant truth of the spiritual life. Jesus Christ is the very personification of Divinity. He was born at a time when ignorance, superstition, greed, hatred and hypocrisy prevailed upon the land. Purity was forgotten and morality was neglected. In the midst of these conditions, Christ was born and He worked a transformation in the lives of people. He gave a new and a spiritual turn to the lives of man. There came a change upon the land. People started upon a new way of life. Thus a new era dawned for the world.

Facts about Christmas   
1. Christmas trees have been sold in the United States since 1850.
2. Every year, Europeans decorate about 50 million live Christmas trees and the United States about 35 million.
3. It takes on average 6-8 years for a Christmas tree to be fully grown, but it can take as long as fifteen years.
4. The Germans made the first artificial Christmas trees out of dyed goose feathers.
5. Each year more than 3 billion Christmas cards are sent in the U.S. alone.
6. All the gifts in the Twelve Days of Christmas would equal 364 gifts.