Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth< /a> of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world.[2][3 ][4] A feast central to the Christian liturgical ye ar, it is preceded by the season of Advent or the Nativity Fast and initiat es the season of Christmastide, which historically in the West lasts < a title="Twelve Days of Christmas" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twel ve_Days_of_Christmas">twelve days and culminates on Twelfth Night. Christmas Day is a public holiday in many countries, is celebrated religiously by a major ity of Christians, as well as culturally by many non-Christian s, and forms an integral part of the holiday season organized around it.
The traditional Christmas narrative recounted in the New Testament, known as the Nativity of Jesu s, says that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, in accordance with messianic prophecies. When Joseph and Mary arrived in the city, the inn had no room and so they w ere offered a stable where the Christ Child was soon born, with angels proclaiming this news to shepherds who then spread the word.
There a re different hypotheses regarding the date of Jesus' birth and in the early fourth century, the church fixed the date as December 25. This corresponds to the traditional date of t he winter solstice on the Roman calendar. It is exactly nine month s after Annunciation on March 25, also the date of the spring equinox. M ost Christians celebrate on December 25 in the Gregorian calenda r, which has been adopted almost universally in the civil calendars< /a> used in countries throughout the world. However, part of the Eastern Christian Churches celebra te Christmas on December 25 of the older Julian calendar, which cu rrently corresponds to January 7 in the Gregorian calendar. For Christians, believing that God came into the world in the form of man to atone f or the sins of humanity, rather than knowing Jesus' exact birth date, is considered to be the primary purpose in celebrating Christmas.
The celebratory customs associated in various countries with Christmas have a mix of pre-Christian, Christian, and secular themes and origins. Popular modern customs of the holid ay include gift giving; completing an Advent calendar or A dvent wreath; Christmas music and caroling; viewing a Nativity play; an exchange of Christmas cards; church servi ces; a special meal; and the display of various Christmas decorations, including Christmas trees, Chri stmas lights, nativity scenes, garlands, wreaths, mistletoe, and holly. In addition, several c losely related and often interchangeable figures, known as Santa Claus, Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, and Christkind, are associ ated with bringing gifts to children during the Christmas season and have t heir own body of traditions and lore. Because gift-givin g and many other aspects of the Christmas festival involve heightened econo mic activity, the holiday has become a significant event and a key sales pe riod for retailers and businesses. Over the past few centuries, Christmas h as had a steadily growing economic effect in many re gions of the world.
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