Description

Christmas is an annual festivalcommemoratingthe birth of Jesus Christ, observed most commonly onDecember 25 asa religious and cultural celebration among billionsof peoplearound the world. A feast central to the Christianliturgical year,it is prepared for by the season of Advent or theNativity Fast andinitiates the season of Christmastide, whichhistorically in theWest lasts twelve days and culminates on TwelfthNight; in sometraditions, Christmastide includes an Octave.Christmas Day is apublic holiday in many of the world's nations, iscelebratedculturally by a large number of non-Christian people, andis anintegral part of the holiday season.

The celebratory customs associated in various countrieswithChristmas have a mix of pre-Christian, Christian, andsecularthemes and origins. Popular modern customs of the holidayincludegift giving, completing an Advent calendar or Adventwreath,Christmas music and caroling, lighting a Christingle, anexchangeof Christmas cards, church services, a special meal, andthedisplay of various Christmas decorations, includingChristmastrees, Christmas lights, nativity scenes, garlands,wreaths,mistletoe, and holly. In addition, several closely relatedandoften interchangeable figures, known as Santa Claus,FatherChristmas, Saint Nicholas, and Christkind, are associatedwithbringing gifts to children during the Christmas season andhavetheir own body of traditions and lore. Because gift-giving andmanyother aspects of the Christmas festival involve heightenedeconomicactivity, the holiday has become a significant event and akeysales period for retailers and businesses. The economic impactofChristmas is a factor that has grown steadily over the pastfewcenturies in many regions of the world.

While the month and date of Jesus' birth are unknown, bytheearly-to-mid 4th century, the Western Christian Church hadplacedChristmas on December 25, a date later adopted in theEast,although some churches celebrate on the December 25 of theolderJulian calendar, which, in the Gregorian calendar,currentlycorresponds to January 7, the day after the WesternChristianChurch celebrates the Epiphany. The date of Christmas mayhaveinitially been chosen to correspond with the day exactlyninemonths after the day on which early Christians believed thatJesuswas conceived, or with one or more ancient polytheisticfestivalsthat occurred near southern solstice (i.e., the Romanwintersolstice); a further solar connection has been suggestedbecause ofa biblical verse[a] identifying Jesus as the "Sunofrighteousness".