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| | At times, it is very difficult to choose a Christmas gift - after all, this holiday is fairly new for us and it is not known to us how our ancestors celebrated this holiday. Which gift would be appropriate to present to our loved ones at Christmas?
Let's start with history. The tradition to give gifts at Christmas has existed for more than two thousand years and it was started with the wise men who came to bow before the baby Christ and presented him gifts: gold (as for any king), labdanum (as for a person, who is directly related to God) and the very precious ointment myrrh (as for a dead person). Thus, all the gifts from the wise men had a deep symbolical meaning. Take an example from them - let your gifts be interesting!
For example, the Christmas greeting card bought in a shop. What could be more banal and more typical? But, here is a possible way to show some creativity and sharpness. In the early days, people made the greeting cards themselves. And now, thanks to greeting card shops, where greeting cards are sold in the millions, people give each other identical cards. Try to make a Christmas cards on your own, even if it does not look as aesthetic as the work of professional artist, but it would be your creation, and your kind relations towards the person will, by all means, be embodied in it.
Even if you do not a wish to make a card on your own (if it's not your forte) signing a ready-made greeting card with the author’s wishes is a sacred thing for everyone. Better, of course if it includes verses and also prose. Try to put your soul into the greeting - then it would necessarily come true.
Christmas is the great feast set in the memory of the birth of Jesus Christ in Bethlehem. The birth of Christ is one of the important Christian feasts, celebrated in more than 100 countries in the world.
The first information about the celebration of the Birth by Christians relates to the 4th century. The issue about the actual date of the birth of Jesus Christ is disputable and ambiguously solved among the church authors. Possibly, the selection of the 25th of December is connected with the profane solar feast “Birth of the invincible sun” falling on this day, which by accepting the Christianity in Rome become new in meaning.
According to one of the modern hypothesis, the selection of the date of birth took place by the reason of the simultaneous celebration of the incarnation of god (conception of Christ) and Easter by earlier Christians; correspondingly in the result of the summing up of 9 months to this date (25th March) The birth comes on the day of the winter solstice.
The feast Birth of Christ has five days of fore feast (from 20th to 24th December) and six days of post feast. In the eve of a feast, or in the day of the Royal hours of the feast (24th of December) a special strict fast is observed, which is called Christmas eve, as on this day a dish of boiled wheat, rye or oats mixed with honey, or porridge mixed with honey is added in food items. As per the tradition, the fast of Christmas Eve ends at the time of the appearance of the first evening star in the sky. The Old Testament prophecy and events related to the Birth of the Savior are recollected during the Royal hours of the feast. Christmas divine serves are performed three times: during midnight, sunset and in the day time, which symbolize the Birth of Christ in the bosom of God the Father, in the womb of the mother of God and in the heart of each Christian. |
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Bad Christmas gifts are something we all have received at one time or another. Maybe it was a pair of hand knitted socks from your Aunt Gladys or a battery powered lock de-icer from your 31 year old son. Whatever it was, we all remember them.
