What does the World Book Encyclopedia say about Christmas?
At last, a truly comprehensive look at Christmas and all of its customs with its long history around the world. The World Encyclopedia of Christmas contains articles on the history of Christmas baking, drinking, and merrymaking, and Christmas dramas, music, literature, art, and films.
What does the word Christmas mean?
Christmas, Christian festival celebrating the birth of Jesus. The English term Christmas (“mass on Christ’s day”) is of fairly recent origin. The earlier term Yule may have derived from the Germanic jōl or the Anglo-Saxon geōl, which referred to the feast of the winter solstice.
What is Christmas according to Catholic?
What we mean is this – rather than focus on the birth of an infant Jesus Christ, let us think about Christmas as God being born into the world into the fully human form of Jesus Christ. Let us also view Christmas as a celebration of God’s love for each and every person in the whole world.
What is the history behind Christmas?
The origins of Christmas stem from both the pagan and Roman cultures. The Romans actually celebrated two holidays in the month of December. The first was Saturnalia, which was a two-week festival honoring their god of agriculture Saturn. On December 25th, they celebrated the birth of Mithra, their sun god.
What is the origin of gift giving at Christmas?
Gift-giving in general is an ancient tradition that came to be associated with the Christian feast of Christmas. In ancient Rome, gift giving might have occurred near the winter solstice in December which was celebrated during the Saturnalia holiday.
Why did the Catholic Church make Christmas on December 25?
The Roman Christian historian Sextus Julius Africanus dated Jesus’ conception to March 25 (the same date upon which he held that the world was created), which, after nine months in his mother’s womb, would result in a December 25 birth.
What does the second purple candle mean?
faith
The four candles represent the four weeks of Advent, and one candle is lit each Sunday. The second candle, also purple, represents faith. It is called the “Bethlehem Candle” as a reminder of Mary and Joseph’s journey to Bethlehem. The third candle is pink and symbolizes joy.
What is the meaning of Christmas?
The World Book Encyclopedia defines “Christmas” as follows: “The word Christmas comes from “Cristes Maesse”, an early English phrase that means “Mass of Christ.”
Is the word’Christmas’blasphemous?
This word “merry” by itself is innocent and innocuous enough, but as we will now see, it becomes heinously blasphemous when used with the word “Christmas.”. Here let it be noted that most people think that the word, “Christmas” means “the birth of Christ.”.
What is the mass?
In essence, the Mass is the ceremonial slaying of Jesus Christ over and over again, followed by the eating of his flesh and the drinking of his blood. [our note: this is a very great blasphemy.