圣诞节的背景英文

Westernersinred,greenandwhitethreecolorsforChristmascolors,ChristmascomeseveryfamilyshoulduseChristmascolorstodecorate.redLubricioushaveChristmasflowerandChristmascandle.GreenistheChristmastree.ItisthemainChristmasdecorations,withcuttofir,Naigivestheevergreentreeofaclassofdecorateandbecome.Theoverhangingcolorfullights,giftsandflowers,alsolitholyChristmascandle.RedandwhitechristmastimeisSantaClaus,Christmasactivitiesinthemostpopularfigure.WesternchildreninChristmasEvebeforegoingtosleep,shouldbeinthefireplaceorpillownexttoputasock,waitingforSantaClausintheirlittlepresentsFillitin.Inthewest,Santaisalsoacustom.

Christmas is a Christian holiday that celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. No one knows the exact date of Christs birth, but most Christians observe Christmas on December 25.

圣诞节是一个基督教节日，庆祝耶稣基督的诞生。没有人知道基督诞生的确切日期，但大多数基督徒在12月25日庆祝圣诞节。

On this day, many go to church, where they take part in special religious services. During the Christmas season, they also exchange gifts and decorate their homes with holly, mistletoe, and Christmas trees.

这一天，世界所有的基督教会都举行特别的礼拜仪式。圣诞节期间，人们交换礼物，寄圣诞卡，用冬青、槲寄生和圣诞树装饰他们的家。

The word Christmas comes from Cristes maesse, an early English phrase that means Mass of Christ. The story of Christmas comes chiefly from the Gospels of Saint Luke and Saint Matthew in the New Testament.

圣诞节这个词来自克里斯蒂斯·梅斯，一个早期的英语短语，意思是基督弥撒。圣诞节的故事主要来自新约中的圣卢克福音和圣马太福音。

TherearespecialChristmasservicesinChristianchurchesallovertheworld.ButmanyofthefestivitiesofChristnasdonothaveanythingtodowithreligion.ExchanginggiftsandsendingChristmascardsarethemodernwaysofcelebratingtheChristmasintheworld.这一天，世界所有的基督教会都举行特别的礼拜仪式。但是有很多圣诞节的欢庆活动和宗教并无半点关联。交换礼物，寄圣诞卡，这都使圣诞节成为一个普天同庆的日子。

Christmas In AUSTRALIAFor the majority of Australians, Christmas Downunder has all the glitter, tinsel and razzmatazz of a Christmas in New York, London Paris or Vancouver. The major difference is one of WEATHER....Christmas Down Under is never White. Snow has rarely fallen if ever on this date, Down Under. We have during past Christmases experienced all the seasonal variations of a Summer Down Under.....electrical storms, floods, hailstorms, cyclones and bushfires. But 80% of the time we are blessed with blue skies and depending on our Australian location, temperatures ranging from 25-38 degrees centigrade. Currently it is Summer Down Under and daily temperatures range from 30-40 degrees centigrade on the mainland. Tamania is always slightly cooler. Christmas is special to the majority of Australians for it is our Summer Holiday season and students especially are "wrapping" up their school year. That means sitting for end of Semester tests or exams and waiting for their results, as well as getting ready for the Summer Holidays. For the majority of Australian students this means ...SUN....SURF....SHOPPING. For students it means an end to homework and school studies and the beginning of lots of time for family, relatives and "mates". Our neighbours, the "Kiwis" or New Zealanders are actually the first ones to really celebrate the joyous day of Christmas. New Zealand is the first country immediately west of the international date line. So we're sorry most of American friends have to wait an extra day for Christmas. So how do we REALLY celebrate Christmas? You must remember that Australia, though huge in size, has a population of just over 18 million people. Our country is a harmonious mix of many ethnic groups. Our backgrounds are very varied....our people have connections with England, Scotland, Ireland, Northern Europe, Italy, Greece, Spain, France, Middle East, Vietnam, China, Japan, Thailand as well as North and South America. So you can imagine that each of these national groups brings the colour ,customs and festive rituals of the Christmas celebrated in their respective homelands. As Australians we are able to appreciate culturally diverse Christmas celebrations. However, up until 30 years ago, our Christmas celebrations were heavily influenced by our original Anglo-Celtic influences. The English style of Christmas served as our model for celebrating Christmas.......right down to the traditional roast turkey and steamed pudding in over 35 degree heat. Today with the huge influx of overseas migrants our Christmas celebrations are heavily influenced by the ethnicity of families involved. Common sense is prevailing today in terms of weather. Traditional dinners have been replaced with family gatherings in back yards, picnics in parks, gardens and on the beach. For many, it is the occasion to be with friends and relatives, to share love and friendship and not to forget, the exchange of gifts in the traditional manner. For many, it is of course a time to enjoy and consume massive quantities of food. A typical Christmas menu could include seafood, glazed ham, cold chicken, duck or turkey, cold deli meats, pasta, salads galore, desserts of all types, fruit salad, pavlovas, ice-cream plus Christmas edibles of all varieties such as mince pies,fruit cake, shortbread, chocolates etc. There has been a suggestion that "Swag Man" take over Santa's franchise Down Under!!! There is a lot of concern about Santa Claus perhaps suffering heat stroke whilst Down Under. "Swag Man" wears a brown Akubra, a blue singlet and long baggy shorts. He spends all winter under Uluru with his merry dingoes and then at Christmas time, he gets in his huge four-wheel drive and sets off through the red dust to deliver his presents. For those interested, the first official Christmas Down Under was celebrated on the 25th December,1788 at Sydney Cove by Reverend Johnson. After the service, Governor Arthur Phillips and his officers dined heartily, toasting the King of England and his family. But for the majority of the first white inhabitants...the convicts....there was no change to their regular menu... bread rations only. The only goodwill which seemed to have been displayed was to Michael Dennison. He was a convict who stole a pound of flour from Martha Pugh. He was sentenced to 200 lashes by the whip. But since it was Christmas, only 150 were delivered. Currently everyone is beginning to get ready for the "silly season". Everyone is busily planning Christmas break-up parties. Children are writing letters to Santa Claus. Decorations are being bought and set up. Shopping centres and malls are experiencing record breaking crowds. In homes, many of the traditional Christmas rituals are being followed. Many children are helping to decorate the family Christmas tree. We have yet to follow the American ritual of getting "real" Christmas trees......though some do use gum tree branches. Children are learning Christmas Carols so that they may be sung at festive occasions such as public "Carols by Candlelight" and school concerts. Christmas stockings are being hung in homes....though fireplaces are in short supply. Cards galore are being written and posted. Everyone awaits.......the anticipation is high! It must also be mentioned that with all the glitter, tinsel and razzmatazz.......Australians consider Christmas a time for remembering the true meaning of Christmas.........a time for remembering the birth of Jesus and the spiritual meaning of Christmas . For many, Christmas will begin with families attending a mid-night mass. 70% of Australians are either Catholic, Anglican or Lutheran. After the mid-night Mass, a little sleep is attempted. For many, the children in various households, wake up the family at dawn. Gifts are unwrapped and the joy of Christmas begins. For many with relatives and friends overseas, it is a mad scramble to get an early phone call to relatives worldwide. Christmas In BRITISH ISLESMany of our current American ideals about the way Christmas ought to be derive from the English Victorian Christmas, such as that described in Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. The caroling, the gifts, the feast, and the wishing of good cheer to all - these ingredients came together to create that special Christmas atmosphere. The custom of gift-giving on Christmas dates only to Victorian times. Before then it was more common to exchange gifts on New Year's Day or Twelfth Night. Santa Claus is known by British children as Father Christmas. Father Christmas, these days, is quite similar to the American Santa, but his direct ancestor is a certain pagan spirit who regularly appeared in medieval mummer's plays. The old-fashioned Father Christmas was depicted wearing long robes with sprigs of holly in his long white hair. Children write letters to Father Christmas detailing their requests, but instead of dropping them in the mailbox, the letters are tossed into the fireplace. The draft carries the letters up the chimney, and theoretically, Father Christmas reads the smoke. Gifts are opened Christmas afternoon. From the English we get a story to explain the custom of hanging stockings from the mantelpiece. Father Christmas once dropped some gold coins while coming down the chimney. The coins would have fallen through the ash grate and been lost if they hadn't landed in a stocking that had been hung out to dry. Since that time children have continued to hang out stockings in hopes of finding them filled with gifts. The custom of singing carols at Christmas is also of English origin. During the middle ages, groups of serenades called "waits" would travel around from house to house singing ancient carols and spreading the holiday spirit. The word "carol" means "song of joy." Most of the popular old carols we sing today were written in the nineteenth century. The hanging of greens, such as holly and ivy, is a British winter tradition with origins far before the Christian era. Greenery was probably used to lift sagging winter spirits and remind the people that spring was not far away. The custom of kissing under the mistletoe is descended from ancient Druid rites. The decorating of Christmas trees, though primarily a German custom, has been widely popular in England since 1841 when Prince Albert had a Christmas tree set up in Windsor Castle for his wife Queen Victoria, and their children. The word "wassail" is derived from the Anglo-Saxon phrase waes hael, which means "good health." Originally, wassail was a beverage made of mulled ale, curdled cream, roasted apples, nuts, eggs, and spices. It was served for the purpose of enhancing the general merriment of the season. Like many of the ancient customs, "wassailing" has a legend to explain its origin. It seems that a beautiful Saxon maiden named Rowena presented Prince Vortigen with a bowl of wine while toasting him with the words "Waes hael." Over the centuries a great deal of ceremony had developed around the custom of drinking wassail. The bowl is carried into a room with great fanfare, a traditional carol about the drink is sung, and finally, the steaming hot beverage is served. For many years in England, a roasted boar's head has been associated with Holiday feasting. The custom probably goes back to the Norse practice of sacrificing a boar at Yuletide in honor of the god Freyr. One story tells of a student at Oxford's Queen College who was attacked on Christmas Day by a wild boar. All he had in his hand to use as a weapon was his copy of Aristotle, so he shoved the book down the boar's throat. Wanting to retrieve his book, the student cut off the animal's head and brought it back to the college where it was served for Christmas dinner with much pomp and ceremony. The celebration of Boxing Day, which takes place on December 26 - the feast of St. Stephen, is a part of the holiday season unique to Great Britain. Traditionally, it is on this day that the alms box at every English church is opened and the contents are distributed to the poor. Also, this is the day that servants traditionally got the day off to celebrate with their families. It became traditional for working people to break open their tip boxes on this day. Boxing Day began in the mid-nineteenth century when the custom of tipping by rich persons to persons in service positions had apparently gotten out of hand. Children and others pretended to be in the trades and solicited tips. The custom was expanded to giving to anyone and everyone who had less money than you did, and soon the streets at Christmastime were full of aggressive soliciting of tips. To contain the nuisance "Boxing Day" was designated as the one day for giving to the less fortunate.

Origin of ChristmasThe name Christmas is short for 'Christ's Mass'. A Mass is a kind ofChurch service. Christmas is a religious festival. It is the day we celebrateas the birthday of Jesus.There are special Christmas services in Christian churches all over theworld. But many of the festivities of Christmas do not have anything todo with religion. Exchanging gifts and sending Christmas cards are themodern ways of celebrating the Christmas in the orld.The birth of Jesus had a story: In Nazareth, a city of Galilee. The virgin'sname was Mary was betrothed to Joseph. Before they came together, she wasfound with child of the Holy Spirit. Joseph her husband was minded to puther away secretly. While he thought about these things, Gabriel, an angelof the Lord appeared to him in a dream and told him did not be afraid totake Mary as wife. And Mary will bring forth a Son, and he shall call hisname, Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.Before Jesus births, Joseph and Mary came to Quintus was governing Syria.So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city. Joseph also wentup out of Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the cityof David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and ofthe lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, whowas with child. So it was that while they were there, the days were completedfor her to be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrappedhim in swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger, because there was noroom for them in the inn.And that, Christmas is the feast of the nativity of Jesus, is on 25th,December every year. But nobody know the actual birthday of Jesus. Andthe Christmas has become popular when Christmas cards appeared in 1846and the concept of a jolly Santa Claus was first made popular in nineteenthCentury.