Joyful Christmas: What are the customs or activities of Christmas in Europe and America?

Customs and Celebrations

There are a large number of Christmas customs, secular, religious, national, Christmas-related, and varying greatly from country to country. Most familiar Christmas symbols and activities, such as the Christmas tree, Christmas ham, Christmas firewood, holly, mistletoe, and the exchange of gifts, were absorbed by Christian missionaries from the early Asatru pagan winter solstice holiday Yule. The celebration of the winter solstice was widely practiced in northern Europe long before Christianity arrived there, and today the word Christmas is still the pagan jul (or yule) in the Scandinavian languages. Christmas trees are thought to have first appeared in Germany.

Instead of trying to ban popular pagan holidays, Pope Egelio I allowed Christian clergy to reinterpret the Christian meanings they gave them, and he allowed most of the customs to continue, with minor modifications, or even to remain as they were.2 The dealings of the religious and governmental authorities with the celebrants allowed Christmas to continue. In areas where Christian theocracies flourished, such as England under Cromwell and the early New England colonies, celebrations were banned.3 After the Russian Revolution, Christmas celebrations were banned for 75 years by the Soviet Soviet***tarian regime. Even in some Christian denominations today, such as the Jehovah's Witnesses, some fundamentalist and Puritan organizations, Christmas is still viewed as a pagan holiday with no Biblical sanction and is refused to be celebrated.

[edit]Folk customs

Since the practice of Christmas celebrations became popular in Northern Europe, a combination of Northern Hemisphere winter Christmas decorations and the Santa Claus myth have emerged.

Santa Claus and the gifts he brings:

Santa Claus Christmas gift-giving is close to becoming a worldwide custom. The concept of a mysterious figure bringing gifts to small children derives from St. Nicholas, a well-meaning bishop who lived in Asia Minor in the 4th century. The Dutch imitated him by giving gifts on St. Nicholas' Day (December 6th). In North America, the British colonists dissolved this tradition into the celebration of the Christmas holiday, and Sinterklaas accordingly became Santa Claus or the figure known as Saint Nick. In Anglo-American tradition, Santa Claus always arrived cheerfully on Christmas Eve in a reindeer-drawn sleigh, climbed down the chimney into the house, left presents for the children, and ate the food they left for him. He spends the rest of the year busy making presents and supervising the children's behavior and recording it.

The French name for Santa Claus is Père Noel (almost identical to Santa Claus), whose red-and-white suit once inspired the Coca-Cola Company to paint the image of Santa Claus that spread around the world in the 1930s. In some cultures, Santa is accompanied by Knecht Ruprecht, or "Black Peter". In some versions, gnomes in toy workshops make the holiday gifts, and sometimes Santa and Mrs. Claus are husband and wife. In North American and British supermarkets during the Christmas season, there are Santa Clauses that children can ask for gifts.

In many countries, children prepare empty containers so that Santa can fill them with small gifts such as toys, candy or fruit. In the United States, children hang Christmas stockings over the fireplace on Christmas Eve because Santa Claus has said he will come down the chimney on Christmas Eve to put presents in the stockings. In other countries, children put empty shoes outside so that Santa can give gifts on Christmas Eve (or St. Nicholas Day, December 5th). Giving gifts is not just about Santa Claus; family members and friends also give gifts to each other.

Time to give gifts:

In many countries, St. Nicholas Day is still the day to give gifts to each other. In many parts of Germany, children take out their shoes and put them on the windowsill on the evening of Dec. 25, and the next morning they will find them filled with candy and small gifts. In Germany, the main gift-giving date is December 24, when Santa Claus brings presents or puts them under the Christmas tree. The same is true in Hungary, except that the gift-giver is "little Jehovah" rather than Santa Claus.

In many areas, including the Netherlands, the Christmas holiday still retains its religious character. In Spain and other countries with similar traditions, the gift-givers for Epiphany on Jan. 6 are priests (magi), fortune-tellers and pagan ministers.

The song The Twelve Days of Christmas speaks to one of these gift-giving customs. It describes how the British traditionally celebrate Christmas by giving each other gifts every day from Christmas to Epiphany. In most parts of the world, Christmas gifts are given on Christmas Eve night or Christmas morning. Until recently, the British gave gifts to friends on Boxing Day.

Christmas cards:

Christmas cards (Christmas cards) are popular in the United States and Europe, and are seen as a way of maintaining relationships with distant friends and family. Many families include an annual family photo or family news with the card, which typically includes information about the family members' strengths and specialties over the past year.

Christmas stockings:

The earliest ones used to be a pair of large red socks of any size. Since Christmas stockings were to be used for gifts, they were a favorite of children, who would hang their stockings next to their beds at night, waiting to receive their gifts the next morning.

Christmas hat:

That's a red hat, it is said that at night to wear to bed in addition to sleep peacefully and a little warm, the next day you will also find in the hat a little more beloved people to send gifts. In the carnival night it is more the main character of the whole scene, no matter which corner you go to, you will see all kinds of red hats.

[Edit paragraph] Christmas meal

Just as the Chinese people eat New Year's dinner in the Spring Festival, Europe and the United States over Christmas is also very focused on the whole family sitting around the Christmas tree, *** into the holiday meal.

The custom of eating turkey for Christmas dinner began in 1620. This custom flourished in the United States. The English have roast goose for Christmas dinner, not turkey. Austrians love Christmas Eve, the whole family about friends and relatives in groups to the restaurant to eat a Christmas dinner, which, turkey, chicken, roasted cowboy meat and pork leg essential, accompanied by famous wine, eat everyone happy.

The origin of turkey at Christmas

Roasted turkey is traditionally served at the Christmas table. In some Asian countries, turkey may be eaten only on Christmas Day to celebrate the festive season; but in Europe and America, especially the American continent, turkey is a very common meat, and it is even a traditional food on the two big days of Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Turkey is a specialty of the Americas, and was domesticated by the Indians before Europeans came to the Americas. The name turkey is "Turkey" in English. Because Europeans think it looks like the Turkish costume: body black head red. Europeans loved to eat roast goose. After immigrating to the Americas, they had a request to eat goose before they could raise it well, so they ate turkey and found that turkey was better than goose. And there were a lot of turkeys in North America. So roasted turkey has become a big dish for Americans, essential for important holidays. This custom has a history of more than three hundred years. It is said that on Christmas Day in 1620, a large number of immigrants from England arrived in the American continent, Portsmouth Hill. At that time, there was a lack of produce there, and only turkeys were found all over the mountains, so they caught turkeys as the main dish for the holiday. Therefore, in addition to ham, sweet potatoes, vegetables, raisin pudding, fruitcake, cocktails, Christmas dinner, of course, there is no lack of turkey this "brother"!

The most traditional way to prepare a turkey is to rub it well inside and out with salt and peppercorns and then roast it in the oven for about 3 hours. Turkey has been eaten for nearly 400 years. The "Dinner" in "Christmas Dinner" and "Thanks giving Dinner" symbolizes the harvest and reunion. "It was not originally meant to be eaten at dinner, but at noon. Instead, it should be eaten at noon. Thanksgiving Day falls on the Thursday of the fourth week of November. It is very close to Christmas, which is the big holiday of the year. And Christmas is the day to give thanks for the coming of Jesus. Thus, the turkey dinner, which symbolizes thanksgiving, extends to Christmas.

Christmas decorations

In the West, Christmas is also a time of family reunion and festivities, often with the dressing up of Christmas trees. Whether Christian or not, a Christmas tree is prepared for Christmas in the West to add to the joyous atmosphere of the holiday. Christmas trees are usually made of evergreen trees such as cedar, symbolizing the longevity of life. The tree is decorated with a variety of lights and candles, colorful flowers, toys, stars, and hung with a variety of Christmas gifts. On Christmas night, people sing and dance around the tree and enjoy themselves.

Christmas decorations include Christmas decorations and Christmas lights to decorate the tree, indoor wreaths and evergreens to decorate, especially holly and mistletoe is traditionally used materials. In North and South America and a few European regions, the outdoors is traditionally decorated with lights, including sleighs, snowmen, and other Christmas images decorated with lights.

The traditional Christmas flower is the gorilla wood (also known as poinsettia and Christmas red, with scarlet, pink, and cream flowers). Christmas plants also include holly, red lone flower, and Christmas cactus.

Prevailing municipalities also support Christmas decorations by hanging Christmas signs in the streets or placing Christmas trees in squares. In the United States, decorations have also been sued several times for including religious themes, which the prosecution argues is a government endorsement of a particular religious practice and a violation of religious freedom.

[edit]Christmas carols

There are three main Christmas carols that have been popular for a long time: one is "Christmas Eve"; one is "Hark, the Angels Annunciate"; and the third is "Jingle Bells".

Santa Claus Santa Claus originally referred to Nicholas, the bishop of Asia Minor in the 4th century A.D., who was known for his kindness and generosity to the poor. By the 6th century, the East honored him as St. Nicholas. Since the folklore about Nicholas was associated with children and gifts, Santa Claus became the image of a kindly old man who specialized in delivering gifts to children at Christmas. In the 18th century, through literature and paintings, Santa Claus gradually became the image of a white-bearded, white-browed old man in a red coat.

The song's lyrics were written in 1816 by Joseph Mohr, a priest in a small country church in a small part of Austria, and the composer, Franz Gruber, was an obscure local music teacher. The story goes that it was because the organ in the little church was broken, so Father Mohr asked Mr. Gruber to compose the song he had written with guitar accompaniment in case of an emergency. The sheet music was later brought out by the organ repairman, and the song became known to the outside world. The song quickly spread and became a favorite. Today it is almost the official "holiday song" of Christmas. It has been translated into many languages. The page above has 105 different versions of the lyrics in 67 different languages. (The Chinese translator, Liu Tingfang, was also a member of the "May 4th New Culture Christians", the "Life Society", and was said to be a small but sociable "general" with great social skills. The first is the "Battle of the Bulge", which is the first of its kind in the world.)

This popular song has a catchy tune, beautiful lyrics, and is filled with a heavenly peace. One can imagine the obscure Father Mohr looking out over the moonlit Austrian countryside on a hillside on the night before Christmas, reflecting on the Biblical account of the birth of the Savior, and lamenting the salvation that God had accomplished through the incarnate Son, and being inspired by the grace of God, to write these immortal lines of "Stille Nacht! Father Mohr lived a meager life, gave all his wealth to local schools and nursing homes, and died without a penny to his name, truly embodying the spirit of the Christmas tradition of "fraternity and charity". The author of the song "Christmas Eve" is also particularly unknown, so much so that those who came after him did not know his name for a long time, and so there are still times in history when the author of the song is categorized under the name of Beethoven, Handel, and these "greats". God, who works alone in wonders, has once again "reversed" the "famous" and the "nameless" by using an obscure priest of a small country church and an unknown amateur composer to create and leave this popular song for the world to enjoy. He used an obscure country church priest and an unknown amateur composer to create and leave the world with a Christmas song that will live on for generations to come. The origin of "Christmas Eve" can be considered a miracle in itself.

In this busy holiday season, let's forget about those chores for a while! Quiet down, listen to the softly sung "Christmas Eve" from the heart, and think about the true meaning that the baby born in Bethlehem that night 2,000 years ago had for humanity, for history, and for your and my personal lives