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Holydays: History of Christmas
Christmas is one of the most important festivals of Christianity, along with Easter and Pentecost, which celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ in Bethlehem. This feast is celebrated on December 25 by the Catholic Church, the Anglican Church, and some other Protestant Churches and the Romanian Orthodox Church, and Jan. 7 in other Orthodox churches, as they did not accept the reforms made to the Julian calendar, to spend our current schedule, called the Gregorian. English speakers use the word Christmas, which means “mass of the Christ.” In some Germanic languages, such as German, the holiday is called Weihnachten, which means “night of blessing.” The festivities of Christmas are proposed, as its name suggests, celebrate the nativity (or birth) of Jesus of Nazareth in this world. More about Christmas
Currently, Christmas is a celebration more profane than religious. It’s time for big business and exchanging gifts, meetings and fa
mily dinner’s. In the West celebrated the Rooster’s Mass in churches and cathedrals. In Latin America, rooted in Catholic tradition, especially the celebrated Christmas Eve (December 24) with a family dinner to be prepared for a variety of dishes, desserts and traditional beverages. It is also custom to attend the Rooster’s Mass and holding with fireworks. In Mexico, Christmas Eve is the culmination of a celebration that lasts nine days which is called "las Posadas". They start on December 16 and commemorating the journey of Mary and Joseph’s search for shelter before the birth of Jesus. More about “las Posadas”
Traditional elements of Christmas
v Christmas Tree: The tradition of adorning the Christmas tree seems that began in Germany and Scandinavia in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, spreading later to other European countries. It’s a conifer tree decorated with color ornaments, bright ribbons, stars, lights…etc.
v The Christmas Dinner: Consists of a feast at midnight, in honor of the birth of Christ, which took place at that time, so similar to the Jewish feast of Passover. Traditionally we eat turkey, cod and other dishes, depending on the venue or the traditions of the family.
v Christmas Nativity: Consist of the representation of the birth of Jesus, through a model of Bethlehem and its environs, where the main figures are the stable where Jesus was born, the Holy Family, animals and shepherds, the three wise men and a star with a trail that too often placed at the top of the Christmas tree. More about Christmas Nativity
v Crown Advent: It is a crown made based branches of cypress or pine tied with a red ribbon in which are placed four candles are usually red which marked the four Sundays of Advent before Christmas Day.
v The carols: There are songs or songs alluding to the birth of Christ or the Holy Family. Sing and hear carols
v Flower of Christmas Eve: A flower of Mexican origin for decorative use.
v The Posadas: These are a series of festivities that recall the route from St. Joseph and the Virgin Mary to reach Bethlehem. These celebrations take place from 16 to Dec. 24 in Mexico and Latin America. More about Las Posadas
v The Piñatas: It consists of an earthenware pot decorated with picks and chopped paper or cardboard figures decorated with colored paper, both filled with candy, fruit and sometimes toys and confetti, which breaks in each of the days of Posadas.
Links of interest
Apart from the Christian origins of Christmas, this festival has been mixing its religious character in the tradition of family life
, largely due to the popularity of this celebration and marketing.
It is from the nineteenth century when Christmas starts to take hold with the character it has today, because in this century became popular the habit of exchanging gifts, was created to Santa Claus and Christmas cards. Habits that over time the marketing (especially American) would use Christmas to expand the world by giving a character other than religious, and with topics that have little or nothing to do with the traditional Christmas celebration. Send free Christmas cards
sources:
"Navidad." Wikipedia, La enciclopedia libre. 9 dic 2008, 19:24 UTC. 10 dic 2008, 01:36 <http://es.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Navidad&oldid=22358410>.
“Que es la Navidad?.”Espacio de Memo. 10 dic 2008 http://jasan1spanish.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!49BF390D536D7A69!345.entry
“Vamos! a romper piñata”.Espacio de Memo. 10 dic 2008 http://jasan1spanish.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!49BF390D536D7A69!351.entry
“That it is Christmas?”Jasan’s Life. 10 dic.2008 http://jasan1.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!FCE4363F5CFE3E4C!574.entry
Technorati Tags: xmas,christmas,navidad,jasan,jasanone,espacio de memo,jasan’s life,posadas,santa+claus,nativity,christmas+tree
Jasan's Life 
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