(1) Religiously
Christmas has become a custom all over the world, but have you ever explored the origin of this day? Do you know why we celebrate this day?
The origin of Christmas can be traced back to the birth of Jesus before 21.
in what year was Jesus born?
Although it is impossible to investigate the exact year, most archaeologists believe that it should be the year when the century was divided (that is, the year of BC), but the correct date of birth cannot be determined. Therefore, the early Christians took the Mishraism of the Roman Empire as the first day to commemorate the birth of the Sun God on December 25th every year.
So Christmas is an important festival for Christians to commemorate the birth of Yahya.
According to the Bible, Jesus was born in Bethlehem, a small Jewish town. Mary, the mother of Jesus, was pregnant because of the Holy Spirit. In her dream, the angel Gabriel appeared to her and told her that she was going to give birth to the son of God, and he would be called Jesus. When she returned to her hometown with her husband Yue Se, all the hotels were full, so Mary was forced to give birth to Jesus in the manger. Inspired by God, three doctors in the far east followed a bright star in the sky to find Jesus, bowed down and worshipped him, opened the treasure box and presented him with gold, frankincense and myrrh as gifts. Pastors in Bethel also heard the voice of angels from heaven, offering them good news of the birth of Jesus.
(2) In folklore
That can be traced back to Germany. In Germany, the four Sundays before Christmas are ranked first, second, third and fourth respectively. The Christmas market started around the first festival, and on the day of the first festival, every household will light the first candle in the adventskranz, and then each festival will smoke separately and then light the other candles in the wreath. When the fourth candle is lit, it means that Christmas is coming!
During this period, German families began to prepare for all kinds of shopping, decoration and cleaning at the same time. Is this like our twelfth lunar month? Children will also get an "ADVENTSKALENDER", which is a paper box with 1 to 24 small "doors" on it, and there is a small toy or candy behind each door. Just like when we were young, we smoked in the grocery store attached to our home. Children can open one door every day from December 1st, just before Christmas on December 24th. But naughty children usually can't wait to open it all on the first day!
▲ The origin of Santa Claus
Christmas is an exciting day, especially for children. I believe everyone is familiar with Santa Claus? Once upon a time, there was an old man named Nicholas, who loved to help poor families all his life. Once, he helped three poor people to give them three bags of gold to escape the misfortune of being sold. When Nicholas secretly gave one of the bags of gold to one of the women, he threw the gold through one of the windows and fell right into a stocking on the wall. So, the gift-giving method of putting gifts in Christmas socks goes door to door to ask for candy!
It is said that on the night of Christmas Eve, the husband's association will drive a reindeer sleigh full of gifts to send some children who have behaved well in the past year. He will quietly climb into the house from the chimney and stuff the gifts in socks hanging on the bedside. Therefore, children always hang colorful socks on the bedside, and put a cup of hot milk next to the socks to quench their thirst for hard-working Santa Claus and give themselves a big gift.
The next day, every child couldn't wait to open the ceremony and want to know what reward he got.
In 1822, after a Dutch missionary spread the story of this great philanthropist to the United States, American businessmen used this festival to publicize advertisements with great fanfare and make a lot of money every year, which also followed suit in Japan and other countries in Asia. Therefore, the custom of dressing up as Santa Claus to celebrate Christmas has gradually become popular all over the world.
▲ The origin of Christmas tree
1. It is said that in the 16th century, Germans first put evergreen pine and cypress branches in their houses for decoration. Later, German missionary Martin Luther put candles on fir branches in the Woods and lit them, making them look like starlight guiding people to Bethlehem, just like the Magi found Jesus according to the stars in the sky two thousand years ago. Today, people have switched to small light bulbs instead of candles.
2. Legend has it that a long time ago, a farmer met a poor child on Christmas Day. He warmly received the child. When the child left, he broke off a pine branch and put it on the ground. The pine branch immediately turned into a tree, which was covered with gifts to thank the farmer for his kindness.
However, the Christmas tree really appeared at Christmas, first seen in Germany, and then introduced to Europe and the United States, and became an indispensable ornament for Christmas. They usually use colorful lights, wax, gifts or angels to install Christmas trees, especially people living in the northwest of the United States. Because of the rich forest resources in the area, they will choose a real tree as a Christmas tree with the whole family. There are many kinds of Christmas trees, including natural pine and cypress Christmas trees, artificial Christmas trees and white Christmas trees. Every Christmas tree is covered with dazzling decorations, but there must be a very big star at the top of each tree, like the star that led the Magi to find Jesus. Moreover, in traditional customs, only the head of the family can hang this star of hope, and others can't step in.
▲ The origin of Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve is also known as Christmas Eve. On that night, the whole family will gather in the living room, sing Christmas songs around the Christmas tree, exchange gifts with each other, share the joys and sorrows of life in the past year, and express their inner blessings and love. On this night, I will see a group of lovely little boys or girls, playing guitars with poems in their hands, and singing poems one by one to bring good news. In the end, how did the Jiayin team come from this festival?
On the night of Jesus' birth, a shepherd who was guarding his sheep in the wilderness suddenly heard a voice coming from the sky to tell them the good news of Jesus' birth. According to the Bible, Jesus came to be the king of the world, so angels spread the news to more people through these shepherds.
Later, people followed the example of angels and spread the news of Jesus' birth everywhere on the night of Christmas Eve. Until today, bringing good news has become an indispensable program for Christmas.
Usually, the Good News Team consists of about twenty young people, plus a little girl dressed as an angel and a Santa Claus. On Christmas Eve, after about nine o'clock, one family began to give good news. Whenever the good news team goes to a family, they will sing some familiar Christmas songs first, then the little girl will read the Bible to let the family know that tonight is the day of Jesus' birth, then everyone will pray together and sing a poem or two, and then the generous Santa Claus will send Christmas gifts to the small hall in that family, and the whole process of reporting good news will be completed!
The whole activity of reporting good news will last until about four o'clock the next morning.
▲ The origin of Christmas song "Christmas Eve"
"Christmas Eve, holy night, in the dark, shines brightly, according to the virgin mother and the baby, how much kindness and how much innocence, enjoy a godsend sleep, and enjoy a godsend sleep. This well-known and well-known Christmas song comes from Tiro, a small village in the Alps of Austria.
On the eve of Christmas in p>1818, Yue Se Mayer, a village priest, looked at the worn-out organ in the church and was annoyed, because several keyboards could no longer play, and he didn't know how to meet the upcoming Christmas party. On his way home from visiting the village, Pastor Mayer passed the hillside in the suburbs of the village. When he looked down at the quiet village from the top, several lights dotted the dark night, which was even more silent in the snowy snow. The world in front of him brought him back to the night when Jesus was born in Bethlehem 21, so peaceful and quiet, full of sacredness and peace. At this moment, he suddenly had a flash of light, and he hurried home and wrote the poem hidden in his mind into the lyrics of "Silent Night". The next morning, Reverend Mel went to his good friend Franz Gruber and gave him the poem. Guruba is a pianist. When he chanted this poem, he felt as if he were in the night of Jesus' birth, so he immediately made a piece of music to match the words. The two of them began to practice singing happily, ready to perform at the Christmas party in the evening. On the night of Christmas Eve,
the whole village, men, women and children, gathered in the small church. In the party, Pastor Er sang this new tune. Although there was no organ accompaniment that night, the simple and wonderful words and harmonious melody touched all the audience present and have been passed down to this day.
▲ The meaning of Christmas
For traditional Christians, Christmas is a celebration of the birth of Jesus. They will go to Christmas services on Christmas morning to commemorate Jesus and carry forward the spirit of Christ. However, ordinary people have regarded it as a popular folk activity, and it is a day for everyone to share their love and care for their family, friends and even others. It also symbolizes people's expectations for kindness, joy, peace, patience, gratitude, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness and temperance. In my impression, Christmas seems to be a festival that should be spent in the snow, but interestingly, for people living in the southern hemisphere, such as Australia or South America, Christmas is a summer festival!