History of the holiday Christmas: the date of the celebration. The biblical story of the Christmas holiday
One of the most revered holidays among Christians is the Nativity of Christ. He adores both adults and children. And what do we know about its origin, what is the history of the Christmas holiday?
About Christmas every year a lot of different films are filmed. In one way or another, the story of the celebration of the Nativity of Christ is revealed, in others the directors try to convey the spirit of celebration.
There is a belief that on the eve of Christmas, you canto hear the sound of heavenly bells that praise the Lord for the birth of Jesus Christ, the son of God, the Savior of mankind. In honor of this event God's grace falls on the sinful earth, angels begin to grow wings.
Christmas and New Year - this is perhaps the brightest family holidays. Christmas night is shrouded in many secrets and legends. It is believed that it is perfectly suitable for reconciliation.
History of the holiday Christmas: When to celebrate
Everyone knows that various Christian denominations celebrate Christmas at different times:
Catholics on December 25;
Orthodox on January 7th.
This difference is due to the fact that Orthodox andCatholics use different calendars to determine the date of birth. In the Orthodox tradition, the chronology is conducted according to the old style, or the Julian calendar, while Catholics, back in 1582, during the papacy of Gregory XIII, switched to a new style and conduct the chronology according to the Gregorian calendar.
Every hundred years the difference between styles increases by one day. Today it is 13 days. It is for this period that the Gregorian, or the New Calendar, is older than the old calendar.
It must be said that all such calculi in anythe case is quite approximate, because today the exact date of the birth of Jesus is unknown. All that we know for certain is that the birth of Christ took place in Bethlehem in the period 12-1 BC. e. These data are based on the fact that Jesus was born at the time when Herod the Great ruled, and this ruler died in 4 BC. e. - 1 year old. e.
Some scholars try to calculate the birth of Jesus by the Bethlehem star. Many believe that this name was received by Halley's comet, which flew near Earth in 12 BC. e.
What is the specific date associated with - December 25 orJan. 7? As a lot of Christian celebrations, this tradition goes back to the era of paganism. It was on this day that the ancient Romans celebrated Saturn. Holidays during the winter solstice were incredibly widespread in all, without exception, pagan, especially agricultural cultures. For this reason, one of the greatest holidays of Christianity began to celebrate on this day, filling traditional rituals with new meaning.
The history of the holiday Christmas according to the Bible
The Bible mentions a lot about howJesus was born. Luke in his Gospel stopped in most detail on this, where he tells in detail how Mary and Joseph traveled to Bethlehem, and how the son of God was born.
According to legend, Mary gave birth to a baby in a stable and put it in a nursery, since there was no place for them in the hotel.
At this time the shepherds saw an unusual glow andcame to bow to the newborn. Complement the narrative of the Gospel of Matthew. It contains an indication that at that moment, as Jesus was born, a bright star appeared in the sky, indicating the path of the Magi to the place of birth of the Messiah.
As the news of an unusual baby, to whomwas destined to become the King of the Kings, quickly spread throughout Judah, Herod ordered the killing of all newborn boys. Forewarned Joseph and his family fled to Egypt and saved the little Jesus.
I must say that, despite such descriptions,scientists can not answer for sure when and where Jesus was born. This is due to the fact that the Jews did not consider the birth a holiday, since this day symbolized for them the beginning of suffering and pain.
The exact date is first mentioned in the centuries after Christ left the sinful world. Only in 221 in the annals of Sextus Julia is a specific date - December 25.
At the same time, the reference to shepherds forcesto think about whether Christ could have been born in December. The summer or autumn period seems more likely. The fact is that in winter in this area it is rainy and cold, and in connection with this the herds are not grazing.
However, whatever the story of the holidayChristmas, the main thing in this holiday is precisely the spirit of unity, love and forgiveness granted to us by the Lord, and we, mortals, in turn, share them with each other. Today it is not so important at what time Jesus lived and whether he lived at all. Much more significant was the idea of charity, forgiveness and brotherly love, which symbolizes the celebration of Christmas.
