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Christmas: Christmas Eve
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Christmas is a holiday in December. December 24th is Christmas Eve and December 25th is Christmas Day. In the UK, people give presents to their friends and families. Play with Christmas words, find out about Christmas customs around the world, and listen to a story and a song.
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NORWALK, Conn., Nov. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas and New Year's Eve are magical holidays celebrated everywhere. But according to actress and author Mariel Hemingway, the holidays are even more memorable in certain locations.
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Customers who visit the Blockbuster store in Novi, Mich., on Christmas Day may have their choice of being helped by Frosty the Snowman, little Cindy Lou Who or even the Grinch. Store employees don nametags bearing the names of their favorite holiday movie characters as part of the holiday festivities.
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As Christmas evolved in the United States, new customs were adopted and many old ones were reworked. The legend of Santa Claus, for example, had origins in Europe and was brought by Dutch settlers to New York in the early 18th century. Traditionally, Santa Claus—from the Dutch Sinterklaas—was depicted as a tall, dignified, religious figure riding a white horse through the air. Known as Saint Nicholas in Germany, he was usually accompanied by Black Peter, an elf who punished disobedient children. In North America he eventually developed into a fat, jolly old gentleman who had neither the religious attributes of Saint Nicholas nor the strict disciplinarian character of Black Peter.
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Contrary to advertising campaigns that tout Christmas as beginning with Advent (or Halloween!), the actual Christmas Season in most Western church traditions begins at sunset on Christmas Eve, December 24, and lasts through January 5. Since this time includes 12 days, the season of Christmas is known in many places as the Twelve Days of Christmas. January 6 is usually celebrated as Epiphany, although it carries different significance in various church traditions. Due to different calendars in use in various eras and locations of the church, some cultures and church traditions celebrate Christmas on January 6 (in the older Julian calendar still used as the religious calendar in Eastern Churches, January 6 corresponds to December 24 on our modern calendar).
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Christmas was universally celebrated until the Reformation, but afterwards many "reformers" rejected Christmas. The English Puritans were particularly hostile to Christmas and went to absurd lengths to suppress it. During the brief Calvinist reign in England, parliament forbade the celebration of Christmas, even going so far as to force shops to be open. This attitude carried over into the Americas where Christmas was outlawed or criminalized in Puritan states. For example, in Massachusetts, until the 1830s, anyone who missed school or work on December 25th was subject to a fine. During the earliest days of the USA, with the exception of Catholics, Anglicans, and Lutherans, the religious and secular celebration of Christmas would've been quite rare. Even in the 21st century, many people, for a variety of reasons (all suspect from a Catholic viewpoint), reject the celebration of Christmas.
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Christmas Eve