Merry Christmas

Christmas.
Christmas is the most popular and colorful holiday celebrated by Christians all over the world. The word Christmas comes from "Christs Mass", the Mass said in the Roman Catholic church to honour the birth of Jesus Christ. It is generally held on December 25th, but the Russian and other Eastern Orthodox churches celebrate Christmas on January 7th.
History.
Although Christmas is celebrated on December 25th, the actual date of Christs birth is not known. The earliest Christians did not even set aside a special day for observing the Nativity, or Christs birth. For more than three centuries Christs Mass was a movable feast.
The celebration of Christs birth on December 25th began in Rome in 4th century. It replaced the two pagan celebrations - the festival of rebirth of the sun and the feast of the god Saturn. That is why it is not surprising that so many Christmas customs go back to pagan times.
From Rome, the December holiday spread to Christians everywhere. For several centuries Christmas was kept only as a church festival. Gradually, however, it became a public holiday marked by feasting and merrymaking.
In 1644 the English puritans forbade the keeping of Christmas by Act of Parliament, on the grounds that it was a pagan festival. It was revived when Charles II came to throne in 1660.
Customs and Traditions.
There are a lot of traditions connected with Christmas. Some of them go back to pagan times, others are relatively new.
Christmas tree.
The Christmas tree that now spreads its lighted and decorated brunches every year in so many different countries came originally from Germany. In pre-Christian times evergreens, plants that remain green all the year round were worshipped as symbols of eternal life.