Christmas is the biggest festival in the Christian world. At the beginning of the 4th century AD, 65438+1October 6th was a double festival for churches in the Eastern Roman Empire to commemorate the birth and baptism of Jesus, which was also called Epiphany, that is, God revealed himself to the world through Jesus. The only exception at that time was the church in Jerusalem, which only commemorated the birth of Jesus, not the baptism of Jesus. Later, historians found in the calendar used by Roman Christians that the page of 65438+ February 25, 354 AD recorded: "Christ was born in Bethlehem, Judah." After textual research, it is generally believed that Christmas on February 25, 65438 may have started in 336 AD. It spread to Antioch in Asia Minor in 375 AD and to Alexandria in Egypt in 430 AD. The church in Salem accepted it at the latest, while the church in Armenia still insisted that epiphany was the birthday of Jesus in 654381October 6.
65438+February 25th was originally the birthday of Mithra, the Persian sun god (that is, god of light), and it was a pagan festival. At the same time, the sun god is also one of the gods of Roman Catholicism. This day is also the winter solstice festival of the Roman calendar, and pagans who worship the sun god regard this day as the hope of spring and the beginning of the revival of everything. Perhaps for this reason, the Roman church chose this day as Christmas. This is one of the measures that the early church tried to christianize pagan customs. Later, although most churches accepted 65438+February 25th as Christmas Day, the calendars used by churches in different places were different, and the specific dates could not be unified. Therefore, the period from 65438+February 24th to 65438+1October 6th of the following year was designated as Christmas Tide, and local churches could celebrate Christmas during this period according to local conditions. Since February 25th, 65438+ was recognized as Christmas by most churches, the Epiphany of 654381October 6th only commemorates the baptism of Jesus. However, the Catholic Church designated June 6, 65438+ as the "Three Kings Day" to commemorate the story that three kings (that is, three doctors) came to worship when Jesus was born. With the widespread spread of Christianity, Christmas has become an important festival for Christians and even non-Christians of all denominations. In many countries in Europe and America, people attach great importance to this festival and associate it with the New Year. The excitement and solemnity of the celebration greatly surpassed the New Year and became a national festival. The main commemorative activities of 65438+February 25th are all related to the legend of the birth of Jesus.
There is a story about the birth of Jesus. Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. God even sent the angel Gabriel to Yue Se in his dream, telling him not to abandon Maria just because she was unmarried and pregnant, but to marry her and name the child "Jesus", which means to save people from sin.
When Maria was about to give birth, the Roman government issued an order that everyone must declare their household registration when going to Bethlehem. Yue Se and Mary had to obey. When they arrived in Bethlehem, it was already dark, but they couldn't find a hotel for the night, only a stable could stay. Just then, Jesus was born! So Mary only gave birth to Jesus in a manger. In order to commemorate the birth of Jesus, later generations designated1February 25th as Christmas, and held mass every year to commemorate the birth of Jesus.
Christmas commemorates the birth of Jesus on1February 25th, but no one knows his real date of birth. /kloc-In the 20th century, Christmas cards became popular, Santa Claus appeared, and Christmas became popular.