Christmas is celebrated on December 25 in all Christian churches (Eastern Rite, Roman & Protestant). Since most Eastern Orthodox churches have not accepted either the Gregorian calendar or the Revised Julian Calendar reforms, the Ecclesiastic December 25 will fall on the civil date of January 7 for the years from 1900 to 2099.
Traditionally in the United Kingdom the Christmas season ran for twelve days following Christmas Day. These twelve days of Christmas, a period of feasting and merrymaking end on Twelfth Night, the Feast of the Epiphany. This period corresponds with the liturgical season of Christmas.
The Christmas period in some countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom, in practice now begins many weeks before Christmas, which allows for shopping and get-togethers, and extends beyond Christmas Day up to New Year's Day. This later holiday has its own parties, and in Scotland, Hogmanay —which occurs at the New Year— is celebrated more than Christmas.
Countries that celebrate Christmas on December 25th recognize the previous day as Christmas Eve, and some of them follow Christmas day with Boxing Day. In the Netherlands, Germany, and Scandinavia, Christmas Day and Boxing Day are called First and Second Christmas Day.
Christmas
Customs and Celebrations
An enormous number of customs surround Christmas, and vary from country to country. Many aspects, such as the Christmas tree, holly, the Christmas ham, the Yule Log, and the giving of presents were appropriated from the earlier Asatru pagan midwinter holiday of Yule and the traditional celebrations of the Winter solstice, which were very popular in northern Europe long before the arrival of Christianity. (Other major pagan holidays similarly appropriated include Easter and Halloween.) Rather than attempting to suppress these popular feast days, the Christian missionaries simply gave them a new Christian interpretation, while permitting most of the associated customs to continue with little or no modification. A few Christian churches, most notably the Jehovah's Witnesses and some Puritan groups, thus view Christmas as a pagan holiday not sanctioned by the
Bible and do not celebrate it.
In most Western countries, Christmas celebrations have both religious and secular aspects.
