Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve

The designation of Christmas Eve as "Night" although it is the night before Christmas Day is due to the fact that in the old Jewish calendar it was transformed into the day at sunset. Therefore, Christmas Day begins after sunset on the day before Christmas (on the solar system), and this is why it was called the Christmas Eve.

Christmas is celebrated in many countries of the world, where Christmas Eve is associated with Christmas Eve dinner and the character of Santa Claus, known for his famous stories to distribute gifts to children.

Christmas is celebrated in various ways around the world, varying by region and country. Common elements in this celebration in many regions of the world include attending religious rituals for this occasion, such as midnight mass or sunset prayers and exchanging gifts with relatives and acquaintances. The Christmas period is one of the most important periods in the Christian calendar and is often closely related to other holidays during this time of the year and includes Barbara, Immaculate Conception, St Stephen's Day, St. Nicholas Day, New Year's Day, and Epiphany.

Christmas is considered the second most important Christian holiday ever after Easter, and the memorial of the birth of Jesus Christ begins from the night of December 24 and the day of December 25 in the Gregorian and Julian calendars, however, and as a result of the difference of the two calendars thirteen days, the holiday falls in the churches that follow the Julian calendar on the eve of January 6 And on January 7.

Although the Bible does not mention the date or date of Jesus' birth, the Church Fathers have set the date since the Council of Nicaea in 325, the date on this date. Likewise, the ecclesiastical tradition has been considered in the middle of the night. In the middle of the night, however, Pope Pius XI in the Catholic Church established the event in 1921 as officially in the middle of the night; it is also mentioned, that before Christianity December 25 was a pagan holiday to honor the sun, and with the inability to set a precise date for the birth of Jesus The Fathers of the Church the feast of the sun as the date of remembrance, a symbol of the universe of Christ The sun of the New Testament and the light of the world.

Christmas is part and climax of the "Christmas time" in which Christian churches recall the events that preceded and preceded Christmas, such as the good news of Mary, the birth of John the Baptist, and the circumcision of Jesus.

As a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world, religious ceremonies and special prayers for the majority of Christians are accompanied with Christmas, family meetings and social celebrations, most notably the setting of the Christmas tree, the exchange of gifts, the reception of Santa Claus, the singing of Gregorian hymns and the eating of Christmas dinners, and these festive Christmas-related customs In many countries there are origins from pre-Christian times and secular origins in addition to those associated with Christianity.

And culturally significant numbers of non-Christians also celebrate the holiday, which is an official holiday in most countries of the world, and in the Arab world it is a holiday in Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan, Palestine and for the people of the sect in Iraq. Also, Christmas is one of the most common occasions that people spend money on, and for this occasion there are songs, music, movies, plays and numerous TV series that deal with it, in its various dimensions.

Christmas Day is celebrated as a major holiday and an official holiday in most countries of the world, including non-Christian majority countries. In some non-Christian regions such as Macau and Hong Kong, the holiday was adopted as an official holiday during the pre-colonial colonial rule, and in other cases Christmas was adopted as a public holiday due to the influence of Christian minorities or foreign cultural influences in the country. Countries like Japan have embraced.

Where birthdays are very popular despite the presence of a relatively small number of Christians, many secular aspects of Christmas, such as giving gifts and decorations and imitation of the Christmas tree. Among the countries where Christmas is not an official holiday, include Afghanistan, Algeria, Bhutan, Libya, Maldives, Mauritania, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Tajikistan, Tunisia, Turkmenistan and Yemen.

While Christmas is not considered official or public, the following countries are given to the right to holiday. These countries include Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Cambodia, China, Comoros, Iran, Israel, Japan, Kuwait, Laos, Mongolia, Morocco, Sultanate of Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Thailand, Turkey, Uzbekistan, United Arab Emirates and Vietnam.