Christians celebrate advent every December and the period covers the four Sundays prior to Christmas Day itself. Advent is when churchgoers and Christians tend to think about the real meaning of Christmas instead of modern-day distractions. The word Advent itself is the Latin for Coming and refers to the four …
When it comes to Christmas traditions, there’s a lot of focus on advertising, gift-giving and spending cash. In fact, it often seems like contemporary Christmases are more about hard work and planning than celebration. Yet, despite the many ways in which yuletide customs have changed, we continue to follow some …
Most of the Western world is familiar with the festive song ‘12 Days of Christmas.’ It’s a fun ditty that describes twelve days of gift-giving in the countdown to Christmas Day. While its origins are unclear – some say it’s an old children’s rhyme, others believe it hides coded messages …
What is Epiphany? Epiphany is a holiday where people celebrate the three kings that went and gave Jesus presents. It’s usually celebrated by Christians 12 days after Christmas or for Orthodox churches, it’s on January 19th. Epiphany is also another term for “revelation” and is when Jesus was baptized when …
The ringing of bells in general and church bells, in particular, has been something of a Christmas tradition. In the UK the four largest bells are rung in the final hour before midnight on Christmas Eve, and all the bells are rung on the completion of mass at midnight. In …
In some countries, mostly those with a previous connection with the United Kingdom, on 26th December, a day after Christmas, Boxing day is marked. These counties include Canada, South-Africa, and New Zealand. In Germany, the day is known as “Zweiter Weihnachtsfeiertag” which simply translates to Boxing day. The origin of …
The lighting of candles indicates the light coming from heaven. In many religions, there is the symbolic lighting of candles. The lighting of candles on Christmas symbolizes light from heaven, however, no one is sure how candle lighting is connected to Christmas. Christmas comes during the winter solstice and the …
