Презентация на тему "Christmas"

CELEBRATING CHRISMAS

Christmas is also called Noël, Nativity, Xmas, Yule

Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people

around the world.

• Christmas is one of the most celebrated holidays in the whole world. It is an occasion filled with lots of exciting colors and anticipated merriment. Different countries may have diverse ways of celebrating it following each particular customs and traditions. But if we would look at it, there are things found to be common among the ways how people celebrate Christmas.

Exchanging Christmas Gifts

When did the tradition of exchanging Christmas gifts start? The only gift giving that we could recall from the Christmas story was the giving of gifts - gold, frankincense and myrrh - by the visiting wise men to the baby Jesus.

Exchanging Christmas Gifts

Though many would associate gift giving nowadays to that done by the wise men, history says that it was adopted by the Christian church from the pagan festival called Saturnalia. The celebration of Saturnalia by Romans was held in mid-December and had the preparation of special foods, decoration of homes with greenery, singing and gift-giving as part of the occasion.

Exchanging Christmas Gifts

Saint Nicholas is another popular figure who is said to have been a symbol of gift giving in many European countries since the 1100's. He was a generous Christian bishop who gave gifts to the less fortunate especially children. Today, many countries like Germany and the Netherlands still celebrate Saint Nicholas Day (December 6). Saint Nicholas is said to give presents to children on St. Nicholas Eve (December 5) which the children open the next day.

Exchanging Christmas Gifts

Santa Claus, however, replaced Saint Nicholas as the symbol of gift giving and December 25 became the day of giving gifts. This is so particularly in the United States, Canada and Australia since the 1800's. Other countries have their own versions of Santa Claus like Father Christmas in the United Kingdom and Pere Noel in France.

Christmas Eve Dinner

What to serve for Christmas dinner? A traditional Christmas dinner in the United States, Canada and England usually serves roast turkey, mashed potatoes and various relishes. Fruitcake, minced pie and plum pudding are favorite desserts. Eggnog is also a popular Christmas beverage served in homes.

Christmas Eve Dinner

In France, families have a festive supper called Le reveillon after the midnight Mass where they serve a Christmas cake called buche de Noel , which looks like a miniature log. In Italy, many families serve eels and panettone (bread with raisins and candied fruit) for Christmas Eve dinner.

Christmas Eve Dinner

In Spain, Latin America and the Philippines, the family dinner on Christmas Eve is called Noche Buena . It usually comes after the family has attended the late evening mass called Misa de Gallo . The festive meal often consist of lechon or pig roast, hamon and quezo de bola.

Christmas Tree

A Christmas tree is a decorated tree, usually an evergreen conifer such as spruce, pine, or fir or an artificial tree of similar appearance, associated with the celebration of Christmas.

Christmas Tree

The modern Christmas tree was developed in medieval Livonia (present-day Estonia and Latvia) and early modern Germany, where Protestant Germans brought decorated trees into their homes. It acquired popularity beyond the Lutheran areas of Germany and the Baltic countries during the second half of the 19th century, at first among the upper classes.

Christmas Tree

The tree was traditionally decorated with "roses made of colored paper, apples, wafers, tinsel, and sweetmeats". In the 18th century, it began to be illuminated by candles, which were ultimately replaced by Christmas lights after the advent of electrification. Today, there is a wide variety of traditional ornaments, such as garlands, baubles, tinsel, and candy canes. An angel or star might be placed at the top of the tree to represent the Angel Gabriel or the Star of Bethlehem, respectively, from the Nativity. Edible items such as gingerbread, chocolate and other sweets are also popular and are tied to or hung from the tree's branches with ribbons.

Christmas Tree

• The first recorded Christmas tree can be found on the keystone sculpture of a private home in Turckheim, Alsace (then part of Germany, today France), dating 1576.

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