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Christmas

Christmas, the birth anniversary Jesus Christ, is celebrated by Christians with great fervor. It falls on December 25th. It is perhaps the only festival that is celebrated with equal amount of joy and happiness all across the world..
The exact day of the Christ child's birth has never been pin pointed though it is being celebrated since the year 98AD. In 137 AD the bishop of Rome ordered the birthday of the Christ child celebrated as a solemn feast...
In 350 Ad another bishop of Rome, Julius I, chooses December 25 as the observance of Christmas.

By mid December people start decorating their houses, put up Christmas trees, make cribs with figures of baby Jesus, mother Mary, Joseph. They decorate and Illuminate the Christmas tree. Shopping shops become busier as Christmas approaches and often stay open till late..

The celebrations start on 24th evening with carol singing and the Santa Claus visiting houses. The main religious celebration ios a mid night mass followed by the pealing of church bells to usher in the day of Christmas. On the Christmas day, day services are held in the churches. The messages and sermons of love and redemption are given out. Christmas cakes and wines are served to the visitors and gifts are exchanged amongst friends and relatives.

Father Christmas (Santa Claus) has become the human face of Christmas. Pictures of the old man with long white beard, red coat, and bag of toys are seen everywhere. Children believe that he comes into houses down the chimney at midnight and leaves presents for the children. Father Christmas is based on the real person, St. Nicholas which explains his other name Santa Claus. He was a Roman Catholic bishop, who lived during the fourth century in Asia Minor (modern day Turkey). He was renowned for his munificence to the poor and used to give money to poor without them knowing about it. I t is said that one day, he climbed the roof of the house and dropped a purse of money down the chimney. It landed in a stocking which a girl had put to dry by the fire. This explains the belief that father Christmas comes down the chimney and places gifts in children's stockings.