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Christmas
Christmas

Christmas

It is arguably every child's favorite holiday. And probably some adults, too. (C'mon – you can admit it). With fluffy snow, cheery passers-by, merry music, scrumptious cookies, and twinkling lights on nearly every house on the block, how could it not be? Who can resist the smell of wrapping paper mixed with freshly chopped pine tree? Who can contain their excitement about the wonderful surprises (both given and received) under the tree on Christmas morning?

Christmas is about giving and sharing, about loving and caring. (And it's the one time of year where it's perfectly acceptable for adults to jitter with giddiness over cookies, egg nog, department store sales, presents and snowball-throwing.) Seriously though, Christmas is such a happy time that it's downright inspiring. It's captivating. It's, well... merry!

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History of Christmas

  • The History of Christmas"Jesus Christ is the reason for the season." No, this isn't some trite old adage, it's the truth. The origin of Christmas stems all the way back to the precious baby boy's birth in Bethlehem. Hence, the word Christmas comes from the old English "Cristes maesse" meaning Christ's Mass. The actual birthday of Jesus is not known, but early Church Fathers in the 4th century fixed his birthday around the old Roman Saturnalia festival (17 - 21 December), a traditional pagan festivity.

    The first mention of the birthday of Jesus is from the year 354 AD, and it took many moons after that for Christmas to earn proper recognition. Eventually, all Christian churches accepted the date of December 25th as the birthdate although there was no evidence.

    An interesting fact about the history of Christmas...? It wasn't declared a federal holiday until June 26, 1870! Although traditionally a Christian holiday, Christmas is also now observed as a cultural holiday by many non-Christians.

Christmas Songs

  • Christmas SongsOne of the best ways to get into the holiday spirit is to listen to Christmas music. Whether you're singing Christmas carols to the neighbors, enjoying a Christmas CD while baking those delicious cookies, or tuning into the radio's holiday selection while wrapping presents, Christmas music is infectious. You just can't help but to sing along. However you enjoy your Christmas music, make sure these top Christmas songs are in your repertoire this holiday season:

    1. Deck the Halls (Fa-La-La-La-La)
    2. Jingle Bells
    3. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
    4. The First Noel
    5. Silent Night
    6. O Come all Ye Faithful
    7. Joy to the World
    8. O Christmas Tree
    9. Hark the Herald Angels Sing
    10. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
    11. We Wish You a Merry Christmas
    12. Twelve Days of Christmas
    13. Up on the Housetop

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