[Music]
what is Christmas for kids Christmas we
all love it everyone waits patiently for
the month of December to come around so
we can start thinking about what gifts
were going to get where we're going to
go shopping for our friends and family
and what ornaments and trimmings will be
hanging from the tree everyone feels
festive singing Christmas carols out in
the cold crisp weather unless you live
in California or Florida or somewhere
like that in which case you can Carol in
your shorts lucky you the Christmas
season also serves up all kinds of tasty
snacks and treats and provides lots of
parties to go to then there are the
Christmas lights and all the cool
decorations and maybe most importantly
there's Christmas vacation no school for
a week but aside from all the trappings
of the holiday season
what exactly is Christmas I mean why are
we doing all the celebrating does it
have something to do with Santa Claus
the reindeer why does it happen in
December how did all of this start to
understand Christmas the first step is
to understand the word itself the
literal meaning of Christmas is mass on
Christ's day mass referring to people
gathering together as in a massive
people and Christ's Day referring to the
day that Jesus was born that's right
at its core Christmas is a celebration
of the birth of Jesus Christ also known
as the Messiah the Savior the Son of God
and many other names
it is commonly accepted that Jesus
Christ was born on December 25th which
is why we celebrate on that day though
the exact date of his birth is not known
for sure
for people who were Christians Christmas
is a very holy day and a religious
celebration but for others Christmas is
celebrated in a more secular or
non-religious way no matter how you
commemorate Christmas
it's one of the most popular holidays in
the world a day when millions of people
catch up with family take time off from
work or school and exchange gifts and
well wishes in Germany Christmas is
known as Yule which refers to the winter
solstice or the start of winter
it's called Navidad in Spanish Natali in
Italian and Noel in French which are all
forms of the word Nativity meaning birth
so we know that Christmas is celebrated
all over the world but where was Jesus
himself actually born the birth of Jesus
took place in a town called Bethlehem
south of Jerusalem and a country now
known as Israel in the nativity scene
that were all familiar with Jesus is
depicted as a small baby in a barn or
cave or stable sometimes lying in a
manger which is a trough from which cows
or horses feed Jesus is usually seen
surrounded by his mother the Virgin Mary
his father Joseph an angel and the Three
Magi or wise men who come bearing gifts
such as gold frankincense which is a
type of incense and myrrh which is an
embalming oil the gifts of the three
wise men must be why we all give each
other presents for Christmas though I
don't know too many kids who'd be happy
opening up a box of myrrh on Christmas
morning maybe an Xbox was summer on the
side while Christmas Day is December
25th some people start their celebration
earlier in the month on the first Sunday
of December which is the beginning of
Advent during the Advent season a candle
is lit on each of the Sundays before
Christmas resulting in four candles
total there are many theories as to why
December 25th became known as the day
Christ was born it does seem like the
ideal day to celebrate because it gives
us a chance to carry the holiday all the
way through until New Year's Day
providing a whole week of vacation and
fun but as much as we love our resulting
holiday season that's probably not why
it was chosen
a more common theory as to why Christmas
is celebrated on the 25th of December is
that there was a holiday in the Roman
Empire that commemorated the Sun
starting to reappear and the amount of
daylight beginning to increase this
celebration signaled spring would soon
be on the way another explanation
revolves around the theory that the
world was created on the spring equinox
or March 21st as that theory goes four
days later on March 25th light was
created and Jesus was conceived which
means that nine months later or December
25th Jesus would have been born either
way the New Testament never mentions an
actual date and it wasn't until about
220 ad that December 25th first got its
designation as the day of Christ's birth
for many years
the birth of Christ was actually
celebrated on January 6th which was the
day he was baptized that day is known as
the Epiphany
everyone knows the song the twelve days
of Christmas with the swans a-swimming
and the Lords a-leaping well what that
song refers to are the twelve days after
Christmas that end on January 6th the
day of the Epiphany so when you
celebrate the twelve days of Christmas
you're celebrating December twenty-fifth
through January sixth
there are almost too many symbols and
traditions associated with Christmas to
explore here but there are some main
ones that we can dive into some of these
traditions are religious in nature and
some more secular of course you'd have
no Christmas without Jesus himself
without his birth there'd be no birthday
to celebrate his birth is so widely
celebrated because in the Christian
religion he's considered the son of God
born as a human being to save God's
children but you've also got Frosty the
Snowman and Santa Claus or Saint Nick
there is mistletoe and Christmas trees
and wreaths hung on the front door
you've got ornaments the nativity scene
Christmas caroling gifts on Christmas
morning
Alicia's eggnog and twinkling Christmas
lights of course you can't talk about
Christmas without mentioning Santa Claus
so how did he become associated with
Christmas well Santa is based on a guy
named st. Nicholas who lived in Turkey
in the 4th century he was a kind man who
gave out gifts to the poor and people
who needed help and he was known for
wearing red and white robes at some
point in history pious and generous st.
Nicholas transformed into jolly old st.
Nick or Santa Claus then you've got
Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer Rudolph
can be traced back to a poor advertising
writer who was hired in 1939 by a store
called Montgomery Ward to write a cheery
Christmas poem to hand out to customers
the resulting poem was the song we all
know and love today a classic while
precise origin of the Christmas tree is
unknown the ritual of bringing one into
our house to celebrate the holiday can
be traced back to the 16th century
Germany the Evergreen was chosen because
it stays green which represents the
everlasting nature of Christ himself the
first Christmas tree lights were
actually candles which were hung on the
tree talk about a fire hazard in Germany
the Christmas tree is known as
Tannenbaum other traditions on Christmas
include the midnight mass in which
Christians marked a start of the holiday
at midnight by going to church to pray
watch a procession like candles and more
then you've got the tradition of
mistletoe which actually came before
Christianity the Romans used the plant
as a symbol of peace love and
understanding they even started the
tradition of hanging it inside the house
later on Christians incorporated it into
their holiday by encouraging people to
kiss underneath a sprig of the plant and
frosty he dates back to a 1950 song
recorded by a famous singer named Gene
Autry
Frosty is an all-american creation but
in the 70 years since his creation his
spirit of win
Time cheer has spread over the world and
remained a staple of the holiday today
he's the only Christmas tradition we can
think of with a corncob pipe and a
button nose there are so many traditions
and celebrations that go along with the
Christmas season that we can't cover
them all here maybe you have something
that you do with your family or friends
that will become the next big Christmas
tradition like the Christmas tree or
mistletoe
either way Christmas is a great time of
year where everyone around the world can
come together and celebrate the spirit
of the season thanks for following
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