Christmas

Christmas is an important Christian festival celebrated on December 25th.

This day marks, and honors the birth of Jesus of Nazareth,...

…who was born in Bethlehem on this day to Mary and Joseph.

Celebrations start with a mass before midnight on Christmas Eve.

This mass ceremony, which is held in churches marks the beginning of Christmas Day.

Traditional customs include exchanging gifts, church celebrations,…

…and the display of various decorations…

… including the Christmas tree,…

… lights, mistletoe,…

…nativity scenes and holly leaves.

Santa Claus is a popular mythological figure, often associated with bringing gifts on Christmas.

Santa is often shown riding a sleigh pulled by reindeers.

The entire Christmas season spans more than a week, and is known as Yuletide.

Often, people in the western hemisphere have vacations at this time that span until the New Year.

Christmas also heralds sales and fairs,…

…and is associated with Christmas cakes.

The first Noel Carol. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANUV9vD1zg8

The First Noel is of unknown origin but is generally thought to be sixteenth century English. There is a misconception that the First Noel was French and it is believed that this is because of the French spelling of Noel as opposed to the olde English Anglo-Saxon spelling of the word as Nowell. After England was captured by the Normans numerous words were adopted from the Norman French language and Noel was re-spelt as Nowell, the early printed versions of this carol use the Nowell spelling. The First Noel was first published in 1833 when it appeared in "Christmas Carols Ancient and Modern," a collection of seasonal carols gathered by William B. Sandys.

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