We wish You a Merry Christmas!
We want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a GREAT holiday season. Our office is closed on December 24 and 25, 2024 and will re-open on December 26.
The Christmas season is also called the holiday season. It is recognized in many Western and other countries. The season is generally considered to run from late November to early January. It includes at least Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. There are various other holidays and festivals that may be celebrated.
It is associated with a period of shopping that makes up the peak season for the retail sector. There is also a period of sales at the end of the season. Many stores and businesses create Christmas window displays. Decorations of all types can be found at businesses and homes. Christmas tree lighting ceremonies where trees decorated with ornaments and light bulbs are illuminated are traditions in many areas.
The Christmas holiday season is traditionally considered to start on the day after Thanksgiving Day. That day is known as Black Friday, but some call it Green Friday. It is widely believed to be the busiest shopping day of the entire calendar year.
Learn the History of the Christmas Holiday
The winter solstice is said to be the shortest day of the year. That’s because it has the least amount of daylight. It signals the beginning of winter. The solstice may have been a special moment of the annual cycle for some cultures. This is visible in the physical remains of late Neolithic and Bronze Age archaeological sites. Those sites are Stonehenge in England and Newgrange in Ireland. The primary axes of both monuments seem to have been carefully aligned. They are on a sight-line pointing to the winter solstice sunrise at Newgrange and the winter solstice sunset at Stonehenge.
Saturnalia was an ancient Roman festival in honor of the deity Saturn. It was held on December 17 of the Julian calendar. It was later expanded with festivities through December 23. The holiday was celebrated with a sacrifice at the Temple of Saturn. It was also celebrated in the Roman Forum and with a public banquet. Following these celebrations was a period of private gift-giving, continual partying, and a carnival atmosphere that overturned Roman social norms.
The earliest source stating that December 25 was the date of birth of Jesus was Hippolytus of Rome. He lived from 170 to 236. His writings were based on the assumption that the conception of Jesus took place at the Spring equinox. He believed that to be on March 25. He then added nine months to arrive at December 25.
There is historical evidence that by the middle of the 4th century, the Christian churches of the East celebrated the birth and Baptism of Jesus on January 8. Churches in the West celebrated a Nativity feast on December 25. This was possibly influenced by the Winter solstice. Late in the 4th century, the calendars of both churches included both feasts. Clement of Alexandria in the 2nd century made the earliest suggestions of a feast of the Baptism of Jesus on January 6. There is no mention of another feast until 361, when Emperor Julian attended a feast on January 6.
In the Christian tradition, the Christmas holiday season is a period beginning on Christmas Day on December 25. In some churches, the holiday season continues through Twelfth Night, the day before the Epiphany. That is celebrated either on January 6 or on the Sunday between January 2 and 8. In other churches, it continues until the feast of the Baptism of the Lord. That falls on the Sunday following the Epiphany, or on the Monday following the Epiphany if the Epiphany is moved to January 7 or 8. If the Epiphany is kept on January 6, the Church of England’s use of the term Christmas season corresponds to the Twelve Days of Christmas. It ends on Twelfth Night.
