Today, Catholics, Protestants, and some Orthodox churches around the world celebrate Christmas. We recall the most interesting facts from the history of the Christmas tradition.
1. The English word Christmas is a combination of two words: Christ, which means Messiah, and mass, which means the Eucharist or the Lord's evenings.
2. The date for celebrating Christmas - December 25 - was not chosen by chance. The Church Fathers believed that Christ, according to prophecy, was born at the winter solstice, the shortest day on earth. St. Augustine writes that the birth of Christ symbolizes the rising of the sun, as described in Malachi 4: 2.
3. The most popular (!) Christmas melody in the world, Carol of the Bells, was written in 1901 by the Ukrainian music teacher Nikolai Leontovich.
4. The tradition of giving gifts to children for Christmas comes from the Bible story in which wise men from the east brought gifts to the newborn Jesus.
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5. The tradition of placing and decorating a Christmas tree at Christmas dates back to the Protestant Reformation in Germany. According to some reports, it was Martin Luther who was the first person to put an evergreen tree in his home, decorating it with fruits and candles.
6. Today, in many Muslim, Buddhist and communist countries, Christmas is completely banned.
7. Despite all the persecutions and prohibitions, Christmas is the most celebrated, largest and most decorated holiday in the world! And no matter how hard the Democrats try to rebrand Christmas, replacing the word Christmas with Holiday, they will not succeed!
You will be interested to know what do they eat at Christmas in different countries of the world
