Which country celebrates Christmas? Why is it called Christmas? Thank you for your questions.

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 called Epiphany, also known as Epiphany, that is, God appeared 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 Salem accepted it at the latest, while the church in Armenia still insisted that epiphany was the birthday of Jesus in 654381October 6. 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 65438+February 25th as Christmas Day, the calendars used by churches in different places were different, and the specific dates could not be unified. Therefore, the period from 65438+February 24th to 65438+1October 6th of the following year was designated as Christmas Tide, 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 of 654381October 6th only commemorates the baptism of Jesus. However, the Catholic Church designated June 6, 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 on February 25th, 65438 are all related to the legend of the birth of Jesus. There is a story about the birth of Jesus, who 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 because she was unmarried and pregnant, but to marry her and name the child "Jesus", which means to save people from sin. When Maria was about to give birth, the Roman government issued an order that everyone must declare their household registration when going 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. At that time, Jesus was born! So Mary only gave birth to Jesus in a manger. In order to commemorate the birth of Jesus, later generations designated1February 25th as Christmas, and mass was held 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 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 St.? 6? 1 Nicholas has come, so Santa Claus is also called St. Nicholas. Because most of these stories carry forward 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 glass/St. Nicholas in his poem Impression of St. Nicholas, that is, Santa Claus you saw at the beginning of this article. Thomas Nash 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 arrived by boat on February 6, 65438 with an assistant named Black Peter. 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 also took an assistant named Knecht ruprecht, Krampus or Pelzer Bok, 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 is called La Befana in Italy and Santa Claus in France is called Santa Claus or Santa Claus. Santa Claus in Switzerland is called Christkindl or Christchild. Santa Claus in Scandinavia is called julenisse or Juletomite. 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. Legend of Christmas stockings Long 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 packets of yellow 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. About the custom of Christmas It is a recent year that people in China have been exposed to Christmas, and the atmosphere in different parts of the country is different. For example, some coastal areas have a festive atmosphere, such as Shenzhen, Guangzhou and other southernmost areas. Being close to Hong Kong and open cities, the younger generation has different religious beliefs, but they have made Christmas a universally celebrated day. 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.