MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR

Behind Christmas History lies the story of the birth of Jesus Christ. The actual date as well as the year of the birth of the Lord Jesus is not known, as there is no mention of it in the Bible. This is evident from the fact that St Mark, an ancient gospel starts with the story of the baptism of Christ. The customs and the traditions inter linked with the Christmas festival predates the birth of Christ.

25th December is regarded to be the day when Christ was born. This particular date actually comes from Rome. The Romans observed the festival of Saturnalia, to worship Saturn [the God of sowing] and also to celebrate the rebirth of the Sun God. This festival was celebrated for a weeklong period, that is, from 17th December to 25th December. The Saturnalia festival was devoid of any Christian customs, so in order to introduce some Christian traits into the Festival, some Christian leaders declared the last day of the Roman festival to be the day when Jesus was born. From then onwards Christmas began to be celebrated on 25th December.

The story dealing with the birth of Jesus Christ is found only in the New Testament .The story goes that Jesus was born to Father Joseph and Mother Mary in a manger in Jerusalem. Jesus was thought to be the Son of God, who was sent with the task of guiding the people in the right path. The word Christmas means Christ's Mass in old English.