When is Christmas? What kind of people have you lived?

The name "Christmas" is the abbreviation of "Christian Mass". Mass is a church service. Christmas is a religious holiday. We celebrate it as the birthday of Jesus, so it is also called Christmas. On this day, all Christian churches in the world hold special ceremonies. But many Christmas celebrations have nothing to do with religion. Exchanging gifts and sending Christmas cards make Christmas a day of universal celebration.

Christmas is the biggest festival in the Christian world. At the beginning of the 4th century AD, 65438+1October 6th was a double festival for churches in the Eastern Roman Empire to commemorate the birth and baptism of Jesus, which was also called Epiphany, that is, God revealed himself to the world through Jesus. The only exception at that time was the church in Lulaleng, which only commemorated the birth of Jesus, not the baptism of Jesus. Later, historians found in the calendar used by Roman Christians that the page of 65438+ February 25, 354 AD recorded: "Christ was born in Bethlehem, Judah." After textual research, it is generally believed that Christmas on February 25, 65438 may have started in 336 AD. It spread to Antioch in Asia Minor in 375 AD and to Alexandria in Egypt in 430 AD. The church in Jerusalem accepted it at the latest, while the church in Armenia still insisted that Epiphany was the birthday of Jesus in 654381October 6th. 65438+February 25th was originally the birthday of Mithra, the Persian sun god (that is, god of light), and it was a pagan festival. At the same time, the sun god is also one of the gods of Roman Catholicism. This day is also the winter solstice festival of the Roman calendar, and pagans who worship the sun god regard this day as the hope of spring and the beginning of the revival of everything. Perhaps for this reason, the Roman church chose this day as Christmas. This is one of the measures that the early church tried to christianize pagan customs. Later, although most churches accepted the date of 65438+ February 25th as Christmas, due to the different almanac used by local churches, the specific date could not be unified, so the date from 65438+February 24th to 65438+the following year1October 6th was designated as ChristmasTide, and local churches could celebrate Christmas during this period according to local conditions. Since February 25th, 65438 was recognized as Christmas by most churches, the Epiphany Day on June 6th, 65438/KLOC-0 was originally to commemorate the baptism of Jesus, but the Catholic Church designated June 6th, 65438 as the "Three Kings' Day" to commemorate the story that three kings (that is, three doctors) came to worship when Jesus was born. With the widespread spread of Christianity, Christmas has become an important festival for Christians and even non-Christians of all denominations. In many countries in Europe and America, people attach great importance to this festival and associate it with the New Year. The excitement and solemnity of the celebration greatly surpassed the New Year and became a national festival. The main commemorative activities of 65438+February 25th are all related to the legend of the birth of Jesus. There is a story about the birth of Jesus. Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. God even sent the angel Gabriel to Yue Se in his dream, telling him not to abandon Maria just because she was unmarried and pregnant, but to marry her and name the child "Jesus", which means to save people from sin.

When Mary was about to give birth, the Roman government issued an order that all people must declare their nationality when they came to Bethlehem. Yue Se and Mary had to obey. When they arrived in Bethlehem, it was already dark, but they couldn't find a hotel for the night, only a stable could stay. Just then, Jesus was born! So Mary only gave birth to Jesus in a manger. In order to commemorate the birth of Jesus, future generations designated1February 25th as Christmas, and watched it every year to commemorate the birth of Jesus.

Christmas commemorates the birth of Jesus on1February 25th, but no one knows his real date of birth. /kloc-In the 20th century, Christmas cards became popular, Santa Claus appeared, and Christmas became popular.

The legend of Santa Claus

The legend of Santa Claus appeared in Scandinavia thousands of years ago. In Norse mythology, Odin, the god of wisdom, art, poetry and war, rode his eight-legged horse around the ends of the earth in winter to punish evil and promote good and distribute gifts. At the same time, his son Thor, dressed in red, used lightning as a weapon to fight the god of ice and snow in the dark and finally defeated the cold. According to pagan legend, Santa Claus is a descendant of Odin. There is also a legend that Santa Claus comes from Saint Nicholas, so Santa Claus is also called Saint Nicholas. Because most of these stories promote the Christian spirit, their origins and storylines are mostly forgotten, but Santa Claus lives in people's spiritual world forever. Every Christmas, Santa Claus rides on Aries, and the holy boy comes to the world with a Christmas tree. With the change of the world, writers and artists began to describe Santa Claus as a familiar image today, dressed in red and with a white beard. At the same time, different countries and cultures have different interpretations of Santa Claus. In Germany, it is said that he dressed up as a holy boy and put nuts and apples in children's shoes. He travels around in a two-wheeled carriage, observing people's behavior, especially children. If he behaves well, he will get many prizes, such as apples, nuts and sugar. Bad boys get whipped. Parents had a brainwave and used this legend to encourage their children to obey. It has greatly surpassed the New Year and become a national holiday. Santa Claus has become the most popular symbol and tradition of Christmas. The image of a happy old elf driving a reindeer and pulling a sleigh full of toys and gifts to give gifts to every child from house to house has been deeply left in people's memory.

165438+ Religious soldiers from Italy brought the relics of Saint Nicholas back to Italy at the end of the 20th century and built a church in the port city of Bari to commemorate him. Soon, Christians from all over the world flocked to worship the saint. These pilgrims brought the story of saint nicholas back to their homeland, so the legend about Santa Claus has its own characteristics in different countries.

/kloc-in the 0/2 century, St. Nicholas's Day appeared in Europe, with giving gifts and charitable activities as the main activities. Germany, France and the Netherlands take 65438+February 6th as a religious memorial day to give gifts to children and the poor.

When the Dutch colonists came to America, they took their bishop Cindy Glass with them. Sintirklass is wearing a red cassock and riding a white horse. Cindy glass's American image has gradually evolved into a happy old elf. At first, American writer washington irving described him as a round and fat Dutch old man in his comedy The History of new york. 1823, the poet Clement Moore continued to dramatize the image of Cindy Crass/St. Nicholas in his poem Impression of St. Nicholas, that is, Santa Claus you saw at the beginning of this article.

ThomasNash was a cartoonist in 1960s. He drew a fat and kind Santa Claus as an illustration of Harper's Week. The image of Santa Claus began to take root in the hearts of Americans. With the passage of time, the image of Santa Claus has been transmitted back to Europe, South America and the whole world.

Many countries have kept their own customs and legends about Santa Claus. According to Dutch legend, Santa Claus Sintirklass also arrived by boat with an assistant named BlackPeter on February 6, 65438. He brought a big book describing the performance of all Dutch children in the past year. A good boy gives them presents, and a bad boy is taken away by his assistant. German Santa Claus will also bring an assistant named KnechtRuprecht ruprecht, Krampus or Pelzebock, with a big bag of gifts on his shoulder and a stick in his hand. A good boy can receive his gifts, and a naughty boy will teach him some sticks.

Santa Claus in Italy is called Rabefana; ; Santa Claus in France is called FatherChristmas or PereNoel；; Santa Claus in Switzerland is called Christkindl or ChristChild；; Santa Claus in Scandinavia is called julenisse or juletomte；; Like France, Santa Claus in Britain is also called Santa Claus. His image is more solemn and thinner than other Santas. Santa Claus in North America takes a sleigh pulled by reindeer to give presents to children.

The legend of Christmas socks

A long time ago, there was a kind-hearted nobleman whose wife died of illness, leaving him and his three daughters. The aristocrat tried many inventions and failed, but he had no money, so they had to move to a farmhouse, and his daughters had to cook, sew and clean themselves.

A few years later, the daughters gradually reached the age of marriage, but the father was even more depressed because he had no money to buy dowry for his daughters. One night, after washing clothes, the daughters hung their socks in front of the fireplace to dry. St Nicholas learned about their father and came to their door that night. He saw from the window that the whole family was asleep, and he also noticed the girls' stockings. Immediately, he took out three small bags of gold from his pocket and threw them into the chimney one by one, just falling into the girls' stockings.

The next morning, the daughters woke up to find that their socks were full of gold, enough for their dowry. The nobleman was able to see his daughter get married with his own eyes and lived a happy life from then on.

Later, children all over the world inherited the tradition of hanging Christmas stockings. Children in some countries have other similar customs, for example, in France, children put their shoes by the fireplace and so on.

Christmas is not really old.

1837, that is, the day before Queen Victoria ascended the throne, 65438+February 24-65438+February 25, no English child would hang stockings by the fire; No one has ever heard of Santa Claus; Seen Christmas cookies; Eat a turkey symbolically; Even Christmas trees are rare. In fact, from 65438 to 0837 and thousands of years ago, Christmas was not a special day on the calendar. Compared with many China festivals with a long history, Christmas is indeed a very modern festival.

Christmas, which people are familiar with today, has a history of only over one hundred years. It was gradually established and improved from 1830 to 1930. It can be said that this festival is an invention of the middle class in Victorian England, which reflects the thoughts of this new class and various changes in the economic and social structure at that time. Before 1830, all rural areas in Britain had their own winter festivals, but none of them were recognized by the country. With the rise of the urban middle class,1February 25th and 26th were designated as the festival days at the end of the year, and the previous outdoor community gatherings became the theme of family-centered reunion. 1870 Santa Claus first appeared in Britain, marking the formal establishment of the modern Christmas model. 1932, King George V of England made the first Christmas proclamation, describing Christmas as a family holiday, and the British Empire was like a big family. Since then, the king's Christmas message has been broadcast on time every year in the whole country and all British colonies. The idea of the Christmas Proclamation came from BBC President JohnReith, who pointed out that the Christmas Proclamation issued by the King of England would generate the moral standards of the whole people. It is also helpful to the sales of radios, which shows that the proclamation has both political and commercial cultural functions. It can be seen that the rise of Christmas is synchronized with the rise of national culture. /kloc-The development of railway transportation system, the establishment of national education system and the popularization of newspapers and periodicals in the 9th century paved the way for national culture, and the further consolidation of national culture needs the help of historical authority to lay a solid foundation.

The custom of Christmas

It is only in recent years that China people have come into contact with Christmas, and the atmosphere varies from place to place. For example, some coastal areas have a festive atmosphere, such as Shenzhen and Guangzhou, which are located at the southernmost tip of the country. Being close to Hong Kong and an open city, the younger generation has different religious beliefs, but they have regarded Christmas as a day of universal celebration. Now let's watch some regular Christmas programs together. On February 25th, 65438+, the churches will hold worship ceremonies respectively. Catholicism and Orthodox Church hold Christmas prayers, while Protestantism holds Christmas services. In some churches, celebrations begin at midnight. In addition to the worship ceremony, there will be a Christmas play and the story of the birth of Jesus.