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Christmas
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CHRISTMAS

Christmas traditions include a variety of customs, religious practices, rituals, and folklore associated with the celebration of Christmas. Many of these traditions vary by country or region, while others are universal and practiced in a virtually ubiquitous manner across the world.

Traditions associated with the Christmas holiday are diverse in their origins and nature, with some traditions comprising an exclusively Christian religious character with origins from within the religion, while others have been described as more cultural or secular in nature and have originated from outside the realm of Christian influence. Christmas traditions have also changed and evolved significantly in the centuries since Christmas was first instituted as a holiday, with celebrations often taking on an entirely different quality or atmosphere depending on the time period and geographical region.
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Christmas traditions include a variety of customs, religious practices, rituals, and folklore associated with the celebration of Christmas. Many of these traditions vary by country or region, while others are universal and practiced in a virtually ubiquitous manner across the world.

Traditions associated with the Christmas holiday are diverse in their origins and nature, with some traditions comprising an exclusively Christian religious character with origins from within the religion, while others have been described as more cultural or secular in nature and have originated from outside the realm of Christian influence. Christmas traditions have also changed and evolved significantly in the centuries since Christmas was first instituted as a holiday, with celebrations often taking on an entirely different quality or atmosphere depending on the time period and geographical region.
Christmas is a season of spiritual reflection on the foundations of the Christian faith. It’s also a celebration of the arrival of Jesus. Christmas is a time for Christians to praise God’s love for the world through the birth of the Christ child: Jesus. The Bible tells of His birth hundreds of years before, fulfilling prophecies from the Old Testament. 

"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." (Isaiah 9:6)

Read the full Christmas Bible story from all four books of the Gospel below. Find the accounts of Angel Gabriel visiting the Virgin Mary, the nativity of Jesus, angels visiting the shepherds, and the three wise men bearing gifts for the newborn King. Also, discover the scriptural meaning of Christmas that gives revelation of why Jesus became man and "the Word became flesh."
Christmas is celebrated on December 25 and is both a sacred religious holiday and a worldwide cultural and commercial phenomenon. For two millennia, people around the world have been observing it with traditions and practices that are both religious and secular in nature. Christians celebrate Christmas Day as the anniversary of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, a spiritual leader whose teachings form the basis of their religion. Popular customs include exchanging gifts, decorating Christmas trees, attending church, sharing meals with family and friends and, of course, waiting for Santa Claus to arrive. December 25—Christmas Day—has been a federal holiday in the United States since 1870.
For the first three centuries of Christianity, there was no liturgical feast specifically celebrating the physical birth of Jesus Christ. On 6 January, however, the Eastern Church centred on Constantinople celebrated the Epiphany (i.e. ‘manifestation’ or ‘revelation’) of Christ’s divine nature by the supernatural events at his baptism, and at some point they added a commemoration of his birth to the liturgy of this day. The earliest record of a feast of the Nativity on 25 December comes from a Roman church calendar of 354 A.D., and gradually spread through both Western and Eastern churches (except the Armenians, who still observe the Nativity on 6 January).
Santa Claus—otherwise known as Saint Nicholas or Kris Kringle—has a long history steeped in Christmas traditions. Today, he is thought of mainly as the jolly man in red who brings toys to good girls and boys on Christmas Eve, but his story stretches all the way back to the 3rd century, when Saint Nicholas walked the earth and became the patron saint of children. Find out more about the history of Santa Claus from his earliest origins to the shopping mall Santas of today, and discover how two New Yorkers—Clement Clark Moore and Thomas Nast—were major influences on the Santa Claus millions of children wait for each Christmas Eve.
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