3. Advent – Christian
Festival
Advent is a term from the Latin word 'adventus' which means
"arrival".
It is a time of waiting for the arrival of Christmas, the coming
of Jesus to earth when he was born as a baby at Bethlehem
about two thousand years ago.
4. Boxing Day
Interesting Christmas Fact
The Christmas boxes were made from
clay and were necessarily made in
the shape of a box. They were often
hollow clay balls with a slit in the
top.
7. Christmas Cards
Interesting Christmas Card Facts
In 1846 1000 cards, with the same design as the first Christmas cards, were sold to the public at
1 shilling each by Felix Summerly's Treasure House in Bond street.
Postmen in Victorian England were popularly called "robins" because their uniforms were red.
Victorian Christmas cards often showed a robin delivering Christmas mail.
In the nineteenth century, the British Post Office used to deliver cards on Christmas morning.
The first Christmas stamp was released in Canada in 1898.
The average person in Britain sends 50 Christmas cards each year.
8.
9. The Story of the Silent Night
The Story of the Silent Night
Frank Sinatra - .mp3
Carol
Carol
The carol Silent Night was
The carol Silent Night was
written in 1818, by an Austrian
written in 1818, by an Austrian
priest Joseph Mohr. He was told
priest Joseph Mohr. He was told
the day before Christmas that the
the day before Christmas that the
church organ was broken and
church organ was broken and
would not be prepared in time for
would not be prepared in time for
Christmas Eve. He was saddened
Christmas Eve. He was saddened
by this and could not think of
by this and could not think of
Christmas without music, so he
Christmas without music, so he
wanted to write aacarol that could
wanted to write carol that could
be sung by choir to guitar music.
be sung by choir to guitar music.
He sat down and wrote three
He sat down and wrote three
stanzas. Later that night the
stanzas. Later that night the
people in the little Austrian
people in the little Austrian
Church sang "Stille Nacht" for
Church sang "Stille Nacht" for
the first time.
the first time.
The first instrument on which the
The first instrument on which the
carol "Silent Night" was played
carol "Silent Night" was played
was aaguitar.
was guitar.
10. How to pull a cracker?
Christmas
Cracker on a
plate
The traditional way to pull a cracker is crossing
your arms and ..
11. Everyone holds their cracker in their
right hand and pulls their neighbours
cracker with the free left hand.
... pulling a whole circle of crackers
around the table.
12. Interesting Facts
Up until the 1960's is was compulsory for all Roman Catholics to attend a Mass on
Christmas Day. The law for this compulsory attendance was passed during the 16th century.
In 1551, playing sport on Christmas Day was made illegal. This law was later ignored.
In 1834, Christmas Day became one of only four days on which banks closed. The Bank
Holiday Act of 1871 extended the official Christmas holiday to include the following day
(Boxing Day).
13. The Christmas Dinner is the main Christmas
meal and is traditionally eaten at mid-day or
early afternoon on Christmas Day in England,
and also in the rest of Britain.
17. Most houses in Britain, will have a
tree of some sort or other which they
will decorate and will place the
presents under.
Interesting Fact
Interesting Fact
Trees were decorated with apples, cakes and
Trees were decorated with apples, cakes and
sweets for many centuries.
sweets for many centuries.
18. To celebrate Jesus' birthday
on Christmas Day many
people decorate their homes.
19. What are the different names of Father
Christmas/ Santa Claus?
Father Christmas is called different names around the world. The
most popular name now-a-days is Santa Claus.
Austria: Christkind ("Christ child")
Belgium: Sinterklaas (Santa Claus) and De Kerstman ("Father
Christmas")
Canada: Santa Claus; Père Noël ("Father Christmas")
Denmark: Julemanden
Estonia: Jõuluvana
Finland: Joulupukki
United States: Santa Claus
France: Père Noël ("Father Christmas");
20.
Germany: Weihnachtsmann ("Christmas Man"); Christkind in southern
Germany
Hungary: Mikulás ("Nicholas"); Jézuska or Kis Jézus ("child Jesus")
Italy: Babbo Natale ("Father Christmas"); La Befana
Netherlands & Flanders: Sinterklaas
Norway: Julenissen
Poland: Swiety Mikolaj
Portugal: Pai Natal ("Father Christmas")
Russia: Ded Moroz, "Grandfather Frost
Spain: Papa Noel
Sweden: Jultomten
Switzerland: Samichlaus
United Kingdom: Father Christmas; Santa Claus
23. Mummers' Plays
Did you know?
The word pantomime comes from the Greek words Pan,
which means all, and mimos, which translates as imitator.
Mumming is best described as early
pantomime. The plays are based loosely on the
legend of St. George and the dragon. The plays
are intended to show the struggle between good
and evil.
29. Christmas Traditions
Christmas Traditions in Russia revolve around several special days:
December 25 an unofficial holiday
January 7 celebrated by the orthodox church
New Years Eve - 31 December
The original gift-giver in Russia was Saint Nicholas
Grandfather Frost, Dyed Moroz who travels in a magical decorated sleigh
drawn by three white horses and delivers gifts on New Year's Day assisted by
Snegurochka the Snow Maiden
30. The Food!
A special dish called kutya is served on Christmas Eve made of berries, walnuts, sugar and poppy seeds
On Christmas Eve the meal is called “The "Holy Supper" and consists of twelve servings in honor of the 12
apostles. The 12 servings typically consist of:
Soup
Lenten bread called "pagach"
Grated garlic
Honey
Baked cod
Fresh fruit including Apricots, Oranges, Figs and Dates or Stewed fruit including prunes and apricots
Nuts
A meal of Kidney beans with shredded garlic potatoes with peas
Parsley Potatoes
Kapusta (sauerkraut)
Bobal'ki which are small biscuits combined with poppy seed - Some bobal'ki are served with sweet cabbage
or sauerkraut
Red Wine
39. About Jesus Christ:
14% do not know who he is.
Less than 50% "believe in Christ". This probably means that they do not believe that he is the son
of God; the exact meaning of the question was not defined
22% believe that he is "just a story."
Church affiliation:
49% identify themselves as affiliated with a religious group.
27% belong to the Church of England (Episcopalian, Anglican). This is a drop from 40% in 1990.
9% are Roman Catholics, unchanged since 1990.
Church attendance:
3% of the population goes to church only at Easter and Christmas.
46% say that they have never gone to church at all.
A 2005 survey of Church of England members and clergy found a phenomenon that has
been often observed in other denominations on both sides of the big pond: the clergy is
more liberal than the congregations.
97% of both clergy and laity believe in God.
80% of both clergy and laity believe in the resurrection of Jesus
62% of the laity and 60% of the clergy believe in the virgin birth of Jesus.
65% of the laity and 61% of the clergy believe that Jesus converted water into wine.
One in three clergy and one in four laity favor the ordination of "practicing homosexuals."
56% of the laity and 48% of the clergy believe that same-sex behavior is wrong.
