Why do westerners abroad attach importance to Christmas?

Christmas is the biggest festival in the Christian world. It is generally believed that 65438+February 25th, as Christmas, may have started in the Roman Church in 336 AD. At the beginning of the 4th century, 65438+1October 6th was a double festival for the Eastern Roman Empire Church to commemorate the birth and baptism of Jesus, that is, God revealed himself to the world through Jesus. This day is also the winter solstice festival of the Roman calendar, which means the beginning of the revival of everything. Perhaps for this reason, the Roman church chose this day as Christmas. Later, due to the different almanac used by local churches, the specific date could not be unified, so the period from February 24, 65438 to the following year1October 6 was designated as ChristmasTide, and local churches could celebrate Christmas during this period according to local conditions. In many countries in Europe and America, people attach great importance to this festival and associate it with the New Year. The excitement and solemnity of the celebration greatly surpassed the New Year and became a national festival. Christmas Eve on February 24th, 65438 and Christmas Day on February 25th, 65438 are all related to the legend of the birth of Jesus.

The origin of Santa Claus

Of course, Santa Claus is indispensable for Christmas. According to the Bible, there is no mention of this man in the book. How did he become one of the protagonists of Christmas?

According to legend 1600 years ago, there was an old man named Nicholas in Bari, the Netherlands, who loved helping poor families all his life. Once he helped three poor girls and gave them three bags of gold, which saved them from being sold.

1822, the story of this great philanthropist was spread to the United States by Dutch missionaries, and dressed as Santa Claus gradually swept the world. According to the survey, the above story has the following contents; When Nicholas secretly gave a bag of gold to one of the women, he threw the gold out of a window and fell into a sock hanging on the fireplace. As a result, the gift-giving method of putting gifts in Christmas socks has spread to this day.

On Christmas Eve, children always hang a pair of colorful socks on the bed, and then put a cup of hot milk next to the socks for Santa Claus to drink, so that Santa Claus can quench his thirst and give himself a big gift.

The origin of Christmas tree

The Christmas tree has always been an indispensable ornament to celebrate Christmas. If there is no Christmas tree at home, it will greatly reduce the festive atmosphere. There are many different legends about the origin of Christmas tree.

One of them said: About16th century, the Christmas tree first appeared in Germany. The Germans took evergreen pine and cypress branches to their homes for decoration and made it into a Christmas tree. Later, German Martin Luther put candles on the branches of fir trees in the forest and lit them to make them look like they were guiding people to Bethlehem. Nowadays, people have switched to small pink light bulbs.

According to another legend. A long time ago, a farmer met a poor child at Christmas. He received the child warmly. When the children left, they broke a pine branch and put it on the ground. The pine branch immediately turned into a tree, and the tree was covered with gifts to thank the farmers for their kindness.

Christmas tree really appeared in Christmas, first seen in Germany, and then introduced to Europe and America, and became an indispensable ornament for Christmas with its beautiful posture. There are many kinds of Christmas trees, including natural pine and cypress trees, artificial Christmas trees and white Christmas trees.

Every Christmas tree is covered with dazzling decorations, but there must be a huge star at the top of each tree, which symbolizes that three doctors followed the star to find Jesus, and only the head of the family can hang this star of hope. sage