Christmas - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Overview

Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday

Holiday

A Holiday is a day designated as having special significance for which individuals, a government, or a religious group have deemed that observance is warranted. It is generally an official or unofficial observance of religious, national, or cultural significance, often accompanied by celebrations...

generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world

Christmas worldwide

The Christmas season is celebrated in different ways around the world, varying by country and region. Elements common to many areas of the world include the lighting of Christmas trees, the hanging of wreaths, Christmas stockings, candy canes, and/or the creation of Nativity scenes depicting the...

. It is a Christian

Christianity

Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...

feast that commemorates the birth

Nativity of Jesus

The Nativity of Jesus, or simply The Nativity, refers to the accounts of the birth of Jesus in two of the Canonical gospels and in various apocryphal texts....

of Jesus

Jesus

Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...

Christ

Christ is the English term for the Greek meaning "the anointed one". It is a translation of the Hebrew , usually transliterated into English as Messiah or Mashiach...

, liturgically

Liturgy

Liturgy is either the customary public worship done by a specific religious group, according to its particular traditions or a more precise term that distinguishes between those religious groups who believe their ritual requires the "people" to do the "work" of responding to the priest, and those...

closing the Advent

Advent

Advent is a season observed in many Western Christian churches, a time of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus at Christmas. It is the beginning of the Western liturgical year and commences on Advent Sunday, called Levavi...

season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days

Twelve Days of Christmas

The Twelve Days of Christmas are the festive days beginning Christmas Day . This period is also known as Christmastide and Twelvetide. The Twelfth Night of Christmas is always on the evening of 5 January, but the Twelfth Day can either precede or follow the Twelfth Night according to which...

. In much of the world's nations Christmas is a civil holiday

Public holiday

A public holiday, national holiday or legal holiday is a holiday generally established by law and is usually a non-working day during the year....

, is celebrated by an increasing amount of non-Christians, and is an integral part of the Christmas and holiday season.

The precise day of Jesus’ birth, which historians place between 7 and 2 BC, is unknown.

Discussions

Christmas Wishes 2009 – Fantastic Free Gift . Music Video

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Quotations

A Christmas Blessing During this Christmas season: May you be blessed With the spirit of the season, which is peace, The gladness of the season, which is hope, And the heart of the season, which is love.

Jesus, the Light of the World, as we celebrate your birth ... may we begin to see the world in the light of understanding you give us.

A Christmas shopper's complaint is one of long-standing.

A goose never voted for an early Christmas.

Irish Saying

A white Christmas fills the churchyard.

French Proverb

About all you can do is dream of a white Christmas, for it seems like it always leaves most of us in the red.

Ask your children two questions this Christmas. First: "What do you want to give to others for Christmas?" Second: "What do you want for Christmas?" The first fosters generosity of heart and an outward focus. The second can breed selfishness if not tempered by the first.

Christmas began in the heart of God. It is complete only when it reaches the heart of man.

Christmas is a race to see which gives out first — your money or your feet.

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