page_title: Christmas
section_title: Celebrations
hierarchical_section_title: Christmas / The history of Christmas / Celebrations
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Winterwald Weihnachtsmarkt (Palais Campofranco) Bozen 2006 Italiano: Mercatino natalizio Bosco incantato (Palazzo Campofranco) Bolzano 2006 English: Bolzano/Bozen Winter wood Christmas market (Palazzo Campofranco) 2006 Français&#160;: Marché de Noël Winterwald (Palais Campofranco) à Bolzano/Bozen 2006 Nederlands: Kerstmarkt Winterwoud (Palais Campofranco) Bozen 2006 Picture by Skafa
context_page_description: Christmas is a Christian holiday that refers to the birth of Jesus, and a cultural holiday for non-Christians.
  The day known as Christmas Day is celebrated on the 25th day of December. It is one of the most important days of the year for Christians, along with Easter when the death and resurrection of Jesus are celebrated. The season of preparing for Christmas is called Advent and begins on a Sunday about four weeks before Christmas. The Christmas Season ends 6 January or the Twelfth Day of Christmas, in which Epiphany is remembered.
  Christmas is celebrated all over the world, as a religious holiday or as a time of celebration by Christians and non-Christians alike. The traditions are different from country to country, but they nearly always include a feast, giving gifts or cards, and enjoying church or public festivities such as singing Christmas carols and songs. Santa Claus is a tradition in many countries of the world.
  Christmastide, as it is often called, is in the winter of the Northern Hemisphere, at a time when there were already ancient festivals.
context_section_description: Before the 4th century AD, Christians could only worship and celebrate in secret. The feast of Christmas probably began while Constantine was the Emperor of Rome, because it was he who made Christianity a legal religion and built some of Rome's oldest churches. Some old stone coffins or sarcophagi from this time are carved with pictures of Mary and baby Jesus and the Wise Men.
  Through the Middle Ages Christmas was celebrated with feasting, singing and plays. The plays were held in churches, and also in castles and in market places, where a big hay wagon was sometimes used as a stage.
  Because Advent was a time of prayer and preparation, most parties were held after Christmas, rather than before it. The main pre-Christmas celebration was the Feast of St. Nicholas on 6 December. In some countries, particularly the Netherlands, the tradition grew for children to receive presents on this day, rather than Christmas Day. The name of Saint Nicholas is now remembered in many countries as Santa Claus.
  Another festivity that takes place is the Feast of Saint Lucy (St. Lucia Day) on 13 December which is particularly celebrated in Scandinavia, where girls take part in candlelit processions, and the daughters of the house must rise early to bring coffee or chocolate to the family.
  For many centuries, the celebration of Christmas often began with a church service or mass, which lasted from late at night to after midnight on Christmas morning. Christmas Day was a time of feasting. On the following day, the Feast of Saint Stephen people from rich households would carry boxes of food out to the street for the poor and hungry. Many people would go back to work but employers would give gifts of money to their workers. The Holy Days continued with the feast of Saint John and Holy Innocents' Day. The feasting and parties ended on the Feast of the Epiphany, the day of the Three Wise Men, often called the "Three Kings". The season is nowadays remembered by the song "The Twelve Days of Christmas". William Shakespeare wrote a play to be performed as part of the celebration, called "Twelfth Night".
  For many, Christmas has become a time when having parties, sending messages to family and friends and giving presents has become more important than the celebration of Jesus' birth. Manufacturers and stores have responded to the feasting and present-giving with lots of advertising, decorations and displays. In the US, the Christmas displays are put up right after Thanksgiving, late in November. In some countries such as Australia, stores put up decorations at the beginning of November. Given that Jesus himself called people making money in the Jewish Temple 'robbers' (Matthew 21:13) many Christians are uneasy about profit instead of prophets at Christmas.
  Town councils celebrate by decorating streets and squares, and providing Christmas entertainment for shoppers. In countries of the Southern Hemisphere, where Christmas falls in Summer, there is a tradition of open-air Carol Services, often organised by the town council, which are attended by thousands of people.
  Many Christians celebrate Christmas by attending church, and with prayers and singing. And each year there are Bible readings from the Gospels that tell the story of the birth of Jesus.
caption: Christmas shopping in a market in Italy
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