In England and Wales, the Christmas Day Act 2004 prevents all large shops from trading on Christmas Day. Similar legislation was approved in Scotland with the Christmas Day and New Year’s Day Trading Act 2007. Film studios release many high-budget movies during the holiday season, including Christmas films, fantasy movies or high-tone dramas with high production values to hopes of maximizing the chance of nominations for the Academy Awards. However, there is also a small Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem, which maintains the traditional Armenian custom of celebrating the birth of Christ on the same day as Theophany , but uses the Julian calendar for the determination of that date. As a result, this church celebrates “Christmas” on the day that is considered January 19 on the Gregorian calendar in use by the majority of the world. This is a public holiday in Armenia, and it is held on the same day that is internationally considered to be January 6, because the Armenian Church in Armenia uses the Gregorian calendar.
Irving’s fictitious celebrants enjoyed “ancient customs,” including the crowning of a Lord of Misrule. Irving’s book, however, was not based on any holiday celebration he had attended—in fact, many historians say that Irving’s account actually “invented” tradition by implying that it described the true customs of the season. During this time, unemployment was high and gang rioting by the disenchanted classes often occurred during the Christmas season. In 1828, the New York city council instituted the city’s first police force in response to a Christmas riot. This catalyzed certain members of the upper classes to begin to change the way Christmas was celebrated in America. In the early 17th century, a wave of religious reform changed the way Christmas was celebrated in Europe.
Eventually, Christmas Day traditions spread beyond Europe to Latin and North America and other places around the world. In the Middle Ages, the word mass referred to a religious feast day in honor of a specific person. This is what’s referred to by the ending -mas, which is used in the names of Christian holidays. By far the most well-known holiday that uses this ending is Christmas, but there are others, including Candlemas and Michaelmas. Shop the Christmas Sale at Oriental Trading to find a large selection of Christmas decorations, plates and cups, gift bags, stocking stuffers, nativity scenes, gift boxes, gifts, toys and more at great prices.
Although the month and date of Jesus’ birth are unknown, the church in the early fourth century fixed the date as December 25. This corresponds to the date of the winter solstice on the Roman calendar. It is exactly nine months after Annunciation on March 25, also the date of the spring equinox. Most Christians celebrate on December 25 in the Gregorian calendar, which has been adopted almost universally in the civil calendars used in countries throughout the world. However, part of the Eastern Christian Churches celebrate Christmas on December 25 of the older Julian calendar, which currently corresponds to January 7 in the Gregorian calendar. For Christians, believing that God came into the world in the form of man to atone for the sins of humanity, rather than knowing Jesus’ exact birth date, is considered to be the primary purpose in celebrating Christmas.
Early Christians celebrated the life of Jesus on a date considered equivalent to 14 Nisan on the local calendar. Because Passover was held on the 14th of the month, this feast is referred to as the Quartodeciman. All the major events of Christ’s life, especially the passion, were celebrated on this date.
Following the Parliamentarian victory over Charles I during the English Civil War, England’s Puritan rulers banned Christmas in 1647. The celebration of Christmas was banned on more than one occasion within certain groups, such as the Puritans and Jehovah’s Witnesses , due to concerns that it was too unbiblical. In addition to “Christmas”, the holiday has been known by various other names throughout its history. The Anglo-Saxons referred to the feast as “midwinter”, or, more rarely, as Nātiuiteð (from Latin nātīvitās below). In Old English, Gēola referred to the period corresponding to December and January, which was eventually equated with Christian Christmas.