In 1993, though, a Halloween-Christmas film hybrid starring a slightly demented but well-meaning skeleton in a bat bowtie who nearly gets Santa killed was no easy sell. Worried the film would frighten young viewers used to “The Little Mermaid” and “Aladdin,” Disney released the film under its Touchstone Pictures banner, reserved for titles with more mature themes than standard Disney fare (a few years earlier, “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” got the same treatment). Prior to and through the early Christian centuries, winter festivals were the most popular of the year in many European pagan cultures. Reasons included the fact that less agricultural work needed to be done during the winter, as well as an expectation of better weather as spring approached. [101] Celtic winter herbs such as mistletoe and ivy, and the custom of kissing under a mistletoe, are common in modern Christmas celebrations in the English-speaking countries. [102] In summary, there are four different dates used by different Christian groups to mark the birth of Christ, given in the table below.

Christmas’ went from a cult classic to How ‘Nightmare Before Christmas’ went from a cult classic to

Christian church services at Christmas include carol singing . These are happy songs which tell the Christmas story. Some Christians start Christmas Day with a midnight communion service (also called a midnight mass). Have tested; Randall's displayed "no" as per main image. isitchritmas displayed "yes" as per explanation. RedHillian ( talk) 02:44, 3 December 2019 (UTC)

What is a white Christmas?

There's an assumption here that people will only want to celebrate Christmas once a year. Might be different for someone living in a community with multiple religions who likes the holiday, or wants an excuse to take an additional day off work! -- Marcus Rowland ( talk) 11:08, 3 December 2019 (UTC)

What is Christmas and when and how is it celebrated around

The earliest extant specifically Christmas hymns appear in fourth-century Rome. Latin hymns such as " Veni redemptor gentium", written by Ambrose, Archbishop of Milan, were austere statements of the theological doctrine of the Incarnation in opposition to Arianism. "Corde natus ex Parentis" ("Of the Father's love begotten") by the Spanish poet Prudentius (d. 413) is still sung in some churches today. [210] In the 9th and 10th centuries, the Christmas "Sequence" or "Prose" was introduced in North European monasteries, developing under Bernard of Clairvaux into a sequence of rhymed stanzas. In the 12th century the Parisian monk Adam of St. Victor began to derive music from popular songs, introducing something closer to the traditional Christmas carol. Christmas carols in English appear in a 1426 work of John Awdlay who lists twenty five "caroles of Cristemas", probably sung by groups of ' wassailers', who went from house to house. [211] Child singers in Bucharest, 1841 A number of figures are associated with Christmas and the seasonal giving of gifts. Among these are Father Christmas, also known as Santa Claus (derived from the Dutch for Saint Nicholas), Père Noël, and the Weihnachtsmann; Saint Nicholas or Sinterklaas; the Christkind; Kris Kringle; Joulupukki; tomte/nisse; Babbo Natale; Saint Basil; and Ded Moroz. The Scandinavian tomte (also called nisse) is sometimes depicted as a gnome instead of Santa Claus. Every year, children in Austria get ready for St Nicholas to visit them and as the traditions go, if the children have been well-behaved, he'll reward them. If the children have been bad, they'll have to face Krampus. Although it follows the Julian calendar, the Ancient Church of the East decided on 2010 to celebrate Christmas according to the Gregorian calendar date. In fact, in most settings where a single outcome is a lot more common than any other one, predicting always that most common outcome would yield very high accuracy without any usefulness. It isn't hard to find examples even more accurate than Randall's:

Navigation menu

Nightmare” characters now make regular appearances at the Disney parks during Halloween and Christmas, greeting young visitors and appearing on seasonal merchandise. Disney films even more explicitly dealt with death: The popular Pixar film “Coco” starred several skeletons, and the studio even released a fully animated version of “Frankenweenie,” based on Burton’s short film of the same name. Burton has even gone on to direct more children’s films for Disney, including “Alice in Wonderland” and “Dumbo,” his dark streak dampened but still intact. Christmas and its cycle". New Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol.3 (2nded.). Catholic University of America Press. 2002. pp.550–557.

Is it Christmas Today?

Online Etymology Dictionary". Archived from the original on January 13, 2012 . Retrieved December 13, 2011. At the time of the 2nd century, the "earliest church records" indicate that "Christians were remembering and celebrating the birth of the Lord", an "observance [that] sprang up organically from the authentic devotion of ordinary believers." [41] Though Christmas did not appear on the lists of festivals given by the early Christian writers Irenaeus and Tertullian, [24] the Chronograph of 354 records that a Christmas celebration took place in Rome eight days before the calends of January. [42] This section was written in AD 336, during the brief pontificate of Pope Mark. [43] Radishes have always played an integral part in Oaxaca's Christmas cuisine, as an essential ingredient and a decorative garnish. The average number of days in a year in the Gregorian calendar is exactly 365.2425, not 365.25. Leap years are skipped in years divisible by 100 except in years divisible by 400. Programmerjake ( talk) 18:12, 4 December 2019 (UTC) The calculation hypothesis suggests that an earlier holiday, the Annunciation (which celebrated the conception of Jesus), held on March 25 became associated with the Incarnation. [63] Christmas was then calculated as nine months later. The calculation hypothesis was proposed by French writer Louis Duchesne in 1889. [64] [65] The Bible in Luke 1:26 records the annunciation to Mary to be at the time when Elizabeth, mother of John the Baptist, was in her sixth month of pregnancy (cf. Nativity of Saint John the Baptist). [66] [67] Thus, the ecclesiastical holiday to commemorate the Annunciation of the Lord was created in the seventh century and was assigned to be celebrated on March 25; this date is nine months before Christmas, in addition to being the traditional date of the equinox. [67] It is unrelated to the Quartodeciman, which had been forgotten by this time. [68]Poll: In a changing nation, Santa endures". Associated Press. December 22, 2006. Archived from the original on December 26, 2018 . Retrieved December 24, 2018. The calculation hypothesis is considered academically to be "a thoroughly viable hypothesis", though not certain. [73] It was a traditional Jewish belief that great men were born and died on the same day, so lived a whole number of years, without fractions: Jesus was therefore considered to have been conceived on March 25, as he died on March 25, which was calculated to have coincided with 14Nisan. [74] A passage in Commentary on the Prophet Daniel (204) by Hippolytus of Rome identifies December 25 as the date of the nativity. This passage is generally considered a late interpolation. But the manuscript includes another passage, one that is more likely to be authentic, that gives the passion as March 25. [75] Hyden, Marc (December 20, 2021). "Merry Christmas, Saturnalia or festival of Sol Invictus?". Newnan Times-Herald. Archived from the original on December 26, 2022 . Retrieved February 17, 2023. Around 274 ADᵃ, Emperor Aurelian set December 25—the winter solstice at the time—for the celebration of Sol Invictus who was the 'Unconquered Sun' god. 'A marginal note on a manuscript of the writings of the Syriac biblical commentator Dionysius bar-Salibi states that in ancient times the Christmas holiday was actually shifted from January 6 to December 25 so that it fell on the same date as the pagan Sol Invictus holiday,' reads an excerpt from Biblical Archaeology. / Could early Christians have chosen December 25 to coincide with this holiday? 'The first celebration of Christmas observed by the Roman church in the West is presumed to date to [336 AD],' per the Encyclopedia Romanaᵃ, long after Aurelian established Sol Invictus' festival. Aha! I found some more info from your blog: https://konklone.com/post/isitchristmas-dot-com-2013-more-and-better 172.68.142.59 21:55, 3 December 2019 (UTC) The rival "History of Religions" hypothesis suggests that the Church selected December 25 date to appropriate festivities held by the Romans in honor of the Sun god Sol Invictus. [63] This cult was established by Aurelian in 274. An explicit expression of this theory appears in an annotation of uncertain date added to a manuscript of a work by 12th-century Syrian bishop Jacob Bar-Salibi. The scribe who added it wrote: