Friends! We offer withhe day to remember the history of the most family-oriented and anticipated holiday of Christians - the story of Christmas. We would also like to remind you that the school-wide competition is ongoing "New Year's Rockin' Eve."and we invite you to take an active part.
- History of the holiday
- When was Jesus born, after all?
- The main symbols and characters of Christmas
- Where did the chronology of the Nativity of Christ (BC and AD) come from?
What Christmas means
Over 2,000 years ago there was a married couple, Joseph and Mary, living in the city of Nazareth. A son was soon to be born to the couple. In addition, it was the couple's only and long-awaited child. Even before he was conceived, Mary had been told that he would be the Savior of the human race.
Historically, Palestine, where Nazareth was located, was part of the Roman Empire. On the eve of Jesus' birth, the Roman emperor announced a census, and the couple traveled to their hometown of Bethlehem.
However, they did not manage to spend the night in the town. Fortunately, they came across a cave used by shepherds for stabling their cattle. It happened to be the place where the baby was born that night.
In a field nearby shepherds were tending sheep and an angel appeared to them just after Jesus was born. He told them about the miraculous appearance of the Saviour. The shepherds hurried to the cave and were the first to see the baby with their own eyes.
That same night a bright star lit up in the sky and the three wise men saw it. As soon as they saw it, they rushed there and brought the first gifts to Jesus as the future king of the Jews. According to the story, the gifts were gold, frankincense and smyrna.
This is how people have described the story of the Nativity, which has become a symbol of humanity's hope for salvation, which was foretold as early as Adam and Eve when they were expelled from Paradise.
So when was Jesus born
As we know, the history of the celebration of Christmas dates back to the 1st century AD. Although, when Jesus was born, it was not customary for Jews to celebrate birthdays, so it is impossible to know the exact date of Christmas.
Until the 4th century AD, Christmas was celebrated together with Epiphany, on January 6. But around the middle of the same century, the Roman Church separated these holidays. As a result, Christmas was celebrated separately, on December 25, and Epiphany was left on January 6.
Why December 25th? Because the pagans celebrated the winter solstice on that date. Thus, new Christians could continue to celebrate the holiday on the dates they were accustomed to.
The symbols of Christmas
Christmas tree - symbolizes the eternal life after death that Jesus preached
Advent wreath - is also a symbol of eternity, as we discussed in more detail in the article about Advent season.
Bethlehem Sightride - an important symbol in the Christmas story. It is the star that showed the Magi the way to the baby Jesus. It is used to decorate the top of the Christmas tree
Angels - God's messengers who brought Mary news of a future savior son
Ostrolist - symbolizes the crown on Jesus' head at the crucifixion, and its red berries are drops of Christ's blood
Bells - they used them to welcome the birth of Jesus
Candles - they're lit before Christmas as a symbol of the light that Christ brought to the people.
Christmas creche - the scene of the birth of Jesus Christ in a manger, surrounded by Mary, Joseph, shepherds and animals
When the world switched to the chronology of the Nativity of Christ (our era)
Of course, before Christ appeared, mankind had their own calendars. For example, in the Christian Byzantium, the chronology was from the creation of the world by God. It was calculated in the 4th century AD, according to the description from the Old Testament.
And later, in the 7th century in England lived the famous monk Bede the Venerable, who researched the works of another monk - Dionysius the Lesser. Bede was able to calculate roughly the year Jesus was born and used it as a starting point. Since he gave all dates in his writings from the Nativity of Christ, this tradition spread throughout Europe.
In Russia until 1699 the chronology was kept as in Byzantium, from the creation of the world. It is interesting that at that moment in the country was 7208 year. But by decree of Peter the GreatOn January 1, people woke up in the year 1700 from the Nativity of Christ, and the old chronology was abolished.
However, there are still countries in the world that keep their own time, such as Israel, Egypt, China, Thailand and others. But for the convenience of communication with the rest of the world, these countries have two calendars - local and global.
