Christmas

HISTORY:
The word Christmas comes from the words cristes maesse, or “Christi’s Mass”. Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus for members of the Christian religion, in America it is also considered as a celebration of mid-winter (people have celebrated this festival since pre-historic times. They marked the beginning of longer hours of daylight with fire and ritual offerings).

It’s thought that Jesus of Nazareth was born in springtime. December 25th was chosen for the celebration of his birth by a pope, Julius I.,in the 4th century – to include a Christian element in the long-established mid-winter festivals. Most of people don’t realize that the church did not even honor any type of festivity for the event (the birth of Jesus) until the 4th century.
The Romans celebrated the Festival of Saturnalia in December, honoring Saturn and their winter solstice.
The Germanic tribes of Europe also held a celebration of feasting to honor mid-winter. Centuries later, the Puritans in England tried to do away with Christmas altogether but they had little success. NOWADAYS:
In America is Christmas both a holiday and a holy day. It’s the biggest event of the year especially for kids and members of the Christian religion. The federal government, all state governments, all schools/colleges/universities and the vast majority of business in America give employees one or two days off at Christmas. As a federal holiday was it declared on June 26, 1870 under the government headed by President Ulysses S. Grant during the period of reconstruction following the American Civil War. PRESENTS:
People give presents at Christmas to remind them of the gifts that the shepherds and Wise Men brought when Jesus was born. No one was really in the habit of exchanging elaborate gifts until late in the 1800s. The Santa Claus story (described later), combined with an amazing retailing phenomenon that has grown since the turn of century, has made gift giving a central focus of the Christmas tradition.

THE CHRISTMAS TREE:
For families in North America and other parts of Europe, the Christmas tree is the symbol of the Christmas season. They decorate it with things like colored lights, popcorn strings and tinsel. Other evergreens have been a part of mid-winter festival long before Christ. They played a symbolic part because they stayed green and alive when other plants appeared dead and bare.

They represented everlasting life and hope for the return of spring.

THE CHRISTMAS STAR:
The wise man followed a bright star in the sky to the place where Jesus was born.
Still, many people prefer to believe that the strange star did appear, and that it was simply a miracle and throughout the world today, the Christian holiday has usually begun with the appearance of the first star on Christmas Eve. In general, the Christmas star symbolizes high hopes and high ideals – hope for good fortune, hope for reaching above oneself. For all human beings, regardless of religion, stars have special meaning for all share the heavens, no matter what barries keep them apart on earth.

CHRISTMAS DAY DINNER MENU:
Ham
Party potatoes
Green bean casserole
Sweet potato casserole
Deviled eggs
Vegetable tray
Relish tray
Rolls and butter
Assorted holiday cookies
Banana, nut, pumpkin breads

SANTA CLAUS:
It is amazing but true that the common, popular view of Santa that we all have today, along with all the crazy things around Santa like the sleight, the reindeer and the chimney, all came largely from two publishing events that occurred in the 1800s. Clement Moore wrote “The night before Christmas” in 1822. In the poem you can find the names from the reindeers, invents the sleight, comes up with the chimney and the bag of toys... Then, between 1863 and 1886, Harper’s Weekly ran a series of engravings by Thomas Nast. From these images come the concepts of Santa’s workshop, Santa reading letters, Santa checking his list and so on. Coca-Cola also played a role in the Santa image by running a set of paintings by Haddon Sundblom.
The red and white suit came, actually, from the original Saint Nicholas. Those colors were the colors of the traditional bishop’s robes. When we are celebrating Christmas lot of other religions have their own “Christmas”.
The Jewry- Festival of lights – HANUKKAH
Hanukkah means –dedication, it is a celebration in honor of a victorious battle for religious freedom. It lasts 8 days, beginning the 25th of the Hebrew month Kislev (november-december). During those days the families light on every day one candle on a special candleholder called Hanukkiya. After a battle 2000 years ago, the Jews had enough oil to light their holy light only one night. But somehow, the oil burned for eight days. That’s why the hanukkiya (also called menorah) holds 8 candles.

The African – KWANZAA
It is a cultural festival during which African Americans celebrate and reflect upon their heritage as the product of two worlds. It begins 26th December and lasts for seven days. Kwanzaa was founded in 1966 by Dr. Maulana “Ron” Karenga a collage professor and African American leader. He decided that the new holiday should be a harvest or “first fruits”.

Kwanzaa means “the first fruits of the harvest”.

The Muslims – RAMADAN
It marks the month prophet Mohammed is believed to have had their holy book, the Koran revealed to him by god. Ramadan is the 9th month of the Islamic lunar calendar being 11 to 12 days shorter than the Gregorian calendar.
Muslims can not eat and drink at all in the daytime during this period, breaking their fast only when sun sets and again before the sunrises, sharing special Ramadan treats. The days are spent in prayer and reflection.