What
is Christmas?
The word Christmas comes from the words Cristes maesse, or
"Christ's Mass." Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus
for members of the Christian religion. Most historians peg the
first celebration of Christmas to Rome in 336 A.D.
Christmas is both a holiday and a holy day. In America it is one of
the biggest event of the year (especially for kids), and for
members of the Christian religions it is an important day on the
religious calendar.
Why
do people give each other presents on Christmas
day?
The tradition of gifts seems to have started with the gifts that
the wise men (the Magi) brought to Jesus. As recounted in the
Bible's book of Matthew, "On coming to the house they saw the child
with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshipped him. Then
they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold
and of incense and of myrrh."
As mentioned in the previous question, however, no one was really
in the habit of exchanging elaborate gifts until late in the 1800s.
The Santa Claus story,combined with an amazing retailing phenomenon
that has grown since the turn of the century, has made gift giving
a central focus of the Christmas tradition.
Why is
mistletoe hanging over the front door?
For Scandinavians, the goddess of love (Frigga) is strongly
associated with mistletoe. This link to romance may be where our
tradition of kissing under mistletoe comes from
