Christmas Day

 25th December: Christmas Day 


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. Christmas is now celebrated by people around the world, whether they are Christians or not. It's a time when family and friends come together and remember the good things they have. People, and especially children, also like Christmas as it's a time when you give and receive presents! 

Jesus was a Jew, so this could be another reason that helped the early Church choose December the 25th for the date of Christmas! 

Christians believe that Jesus is the light of the world, so the early Christians thought that this was the right time to celebrate the birth of Jesus. They also took over some of the customs from the Winter Solstice and gave them Christian meanings, like Holly, Mistletoe, and even Christmas Carols! St Augustine of Canterbury was the person who probably started the widespread celebration of Christmas in large parts of England by introducing Christianity to the regions run by the Anglo-Saxons in the 6th century (other Celtic parts of Britain were already Christian but there aren't many documents about if or how they celebrated the birth of Jesus).

 

St Augustine of Canterbury was sent by Pope Gregory the Great in Rome and that church used the Roman Calendar, so western countries celebrate Christmas on the 25th of December. Then people from Britain and Western Europe took Christmas on the 25th of December all over the world! 

The first known date of Christmas being rejoiced on December 25th was in 336 AD, through the time of the Roman Emperor Constantine who was the first Christian Roman Emperor. After some years, Pope Julius was formally announced that the birth of Jesus would rejoice on the 25th of December. 

So whenever you celebrate Christmas, remember that you're celebrating a real event that happened about 2000 years ago, that God sent his Son into the world as a Christmas present for everyone

Location: India

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

British Police Officer John Saunders was Killed by Indian Revolutionaries

Image
17th December 1928: British Police Officer John Saunders was killed by Indian revolutionaries.  On 17 December 1928, Bhagat Singh and an associate, Shivaram Rajguru, fatally shot a 21-year-old British police officer, John Saunders, in Lahore, British India, mistaking Saunders, who was still on probation, for the British police superintendent, James Scott, whom they had intended to assassinate. They believed Scott was responsible for the death of popular Indian nationalist leader Lala Lajpat Rai, by having ordered a lathi charge in which Rai was injured, and, two weeks after which, died of a heart attack. Saunders was felled by a single shot from Rajguru, a marksman. He was then shot several times by Singh, the postmortem report showing eight bullet wounds. Another associate of Singh, Chandra Shekhar Azad, shot dead an Indian police constable, Chanan Singh, who attempted to pursue Singh and Rajguru as they fled.  After escaping, Singh and his associates, using pseudonyms, publi...
Read more

Goa's Liberation Day

Image
 19th December 1961: Goa's Liberation Day Goa Liberation Day is observed on 19th December every year in India. The occasion marks the day Indian armed forces freed Goa in 1961 from, 450 years of Portuguese rule.  The Portuguese first arrived in Goa in 1498 under the able guidance of explorer Vasco da Gama when he first landed in Calicut on the eastern western shores of India. They were very much happy with the discovery and establishment of Cape of Good Hope which turned out to be a very profitable trading route for them.   The Portuguese colonized several parts of India in 1510 but by the end of the 19th century Portuguese colonies in India were limited to Goa, Daman, Diu, Dadra, Nagar Haveli and Anjelica Island.  The Goa liberation movement, which sought to end Portuguese colonial rule in Goa, started off with small scale revolts, but reached its peak between 1940 to 1960, ending when India invaded Goa in 1961.  After the failure of diplomatic efforts with the...
Read more

National Consumer Day

Image
24th December 1986: National Consumer Day Every year the 24th of December is observed as “National Consumer Day” and the significance of this day is that on 24th December in the year 1986, the Consumer Protection Act, 1986, had received the assent of the President of India.  The Consumer Protection Act, 1986 is considered to be a historic milestone in the consumer movement in the country. Every year the observance of this day provides an opportunity for highlighting the importance of the consumer movement and the need to make the consumer more aware of their rights and responsibilities.  The awareness of consumer rights and duties is more important in rural areas and the responsibility of this rests with all of us, and more particularly with the government agencies. The state government has to play a vital role in promoting the welfare of consumers and protection of their rights. As a week-long observance of National Consumer Day, the Nagaland Voluntary Consumers’ Organisation...
Read more