"Christmas Day" redirects here. For other uses, see Christmas (disambiguation) and Christmas Day (disambiguation).
Christmas (Old English: Crīstesmæsse, meaning
"Christ's Mass")
is an annual commemoration of the birth of Jesus Christ and
a widely observed holiday, celebrated generally on December 25 by
billions of people around the world. A feast central
to the Christian liturgical
year, it closes the Advent season
and initiates the twelve days ofChristmastide. Christmas
is a civil holiday in many of the world's nations, is
celebrated by an increasing number of non-Christians,and
is an integral part of theChristmas and holiday season.
The precise
year of Jesus' birth, which some historians place
between 7 and 2 BC, is unknown. His
birth is mentioned in two of the four Canonical Gospels. By the early-to-mid
4th century, the Western Christian
Church had placed Christmas on December 25, a
date later adopted in the East. The
date of Christmas may have initially been chosen to correspond with the day
exactly nine months after early Christians believed Jesus to have
been conceived,as
well as the date of the southern
solstice (i.e., the Romanwinter
solstice), with a sun connection being possible because Christians
consider Jesus to be the "Sun of righteousness" prophesied in Malachi
The original
date of the celebration in Eastern Christianity was January 6,
in connection with Epiphany, and that is still the date of the
celebration for the Armenian Apostolic Churchand in Armenia,
where it is a public holiday. As of 2012, there is a difference of 13 days
between the modern Gregorian calendar and the older Julian
calendar. Those who continue to use the Julian calendar or its
equivalents thus celebrate December 25 and January 6 on what for the majority
of the world is January 7 and January 19. For this reason, Ethiopia,Russia, Ukraine, Serbia, the Republic of Macedonia, and the Republic of Moldova celebrate Christmas on
what in the Gregorian calendar is January 7; the Church of
Greececelebrates Christmas on December 25.
The popular
celebratory customs associated in various countries with Christmas have a mix
of pre-Christian, Christian and secular themes
and origins. Popular
modern customs of the holiday include gift giving, Christmas
music and caroling,
an exchange of Christmas cards, church celebrations,
a special meal, and the display of various Christmas decorations, including Christmas trees, Christmas
lights, nativity scenes, garlands, wreaths, mistletoe,
and holly.
In addition, several closely related and often interchangeable figures, known
as Santa Claus, Father
Christmas, Saint Nicholas and Christkind,
are associated with bringing gifts to children during the Christmas season and
have their own body of traditions and lore. Because
gift-giving and many other aspects of the Christmas festival involve heightened
economic activity among both Christians and non-Christians, the holiday has
become a significant event and a key sales period for retailers and businesses.
The economic impact of Christmas is a factor that has grown steadily over the
past few centuries in many regions of the world.