In candlelight services, while singing Silent Night, each member of the congregation receives a candle and passes along their flame which is first received from the Christ Candle. Christmas Eve: Top 10 facts about this festive day CHRISTMAS is almost with us, so let’s look forward a couple of days to Christmas Eve. Families in some Slavic countries leave an empty place at the table for guests (alluding to Mary and Joseph looking for shelter in Bethlehem). The meal is often accompanied with wine or Bulgaria’s traditional alcoholic beverage rakia, in the past – olovina (a type of homemade rye beer). New Year’s Eve) than Christmas. Christmas came from the words Cristes Maesse meaning “mass of Christ.” Christmas trees usually grow for close to 15 years before they can be sold. In the evening, the All-Night Vigil for the Feast of the Nativity is composed of Great Compline, Matins and the First Hour. If you love this day, here are a few festive facts about Christmas Eve. 45. Christmas is one of the most celebrated holidays around the world. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer got his start as … This ceremony, which is held in churches throughout the world, celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ who is believed to be born at night. Others offer Christmas Day services as well. Interesting Facts About Christmas. In Russia, Ukraine, and Lithuania, a traditional meatless 12-dishes Christmas Eve Supper is served on Christmas Eve before opening gifts. The researchers found that in order to deliver all of his presents on Christmas Eve Santa would need to travel at 650 miles per second and visit 822 homes a second – no wonder he needs to eat so many mince pies. After the dismissal at the end of the service, a new candle is brought out into the center of the church and lit, and all gather round and sing the Troparion and Kontakion of the Feast. Midnight Mass is popular in Poland (pasterka). Some, in the early evening, come to their church to celebrate Holy Communion with their families. The holly represents the crown of thorns Jesus wore at his crucifixion, and the red berries symbolize the … 3. In the Byzantine Rite, Christmas Eve is referred to as Paramony (“preparation”). Mince pies should only be eaten between Christmas Eve and Twelfth Night and one should be eaten on every day of the twelve days of Christmas to bring good luck. The Bible does not clearly answer this question. Veteran Car Donations is currently accepting vehicle donations. Christmas is celebrated on the 25 th of December, which marks the birth of Jesus Christ (P.B.U.H). On Christmas Eve we eat only vegan dishes (just like during the fasts) and they have to be an odd number. Families enjoy a big feast on Christmas Eve. We prepare delicious things like stuffed peppers with rice or beans, grape leaves stuffed with … 25th December was not celebrated as the birthday of Christ until the year AD 440. Robins ... 52 Christmas facts Luke WardLuke Ward is the founder of The Fact Site. However, in recent years, the time for Midnight Mass has varied, and is not often midnight any more! The Byzantine services of Christmas Eve are intentionally parallel to those of Good Friday, illustrating the theological point that the purpose of the Incarnation was to make possible the Crucifixion and Resurrection. It may seem like it's always been tradition for families to hang ornaments, tinsel, and lights from evergreens, but those festive firs have only become a Christmas custom stateside in the last couple hundred years. Make a cookie tree. Perhaps the practice of celebrating the evening before the big day is an echo from ancient Jewish reckoning. In 2009 Vatican officials scheduled the Midnight Mass to start at 10 pm so that the 82-year-old Pope Benedict XVI would not have too late a night.[. Christmas Eve on December 24th marks the culmination of the Advent period before Christmas that started on the fourth Sunday before Christmas Eve. During World War I, an unofficial Christmas truce took place between British and German troops. In Sydney, the Sydney Fish Market traditionally opens for 36 hours straight, right through from 8am on the 23rd December through to 5pm on Christmas Eve. In the UK, there is an old wives’ tale which says ‘bread baked on Christmas Eve will never go moldy’. Telling “scary ghost stories” is an old Christmas Eve tradition that has died out in the past century – Source 18. Most of Austria, Germany, Poland & Switzerland open their Christmas gifts on Christmas Eve instead of Christmas Day. Here we reveal how to eat a Christmas tree, how Christmas is celebrated in space plus some other surprising and shocking facts. It is obligatory to try a portion of all of them. 1640 – Scotland abolished the observance of Christmas (until 1958 when it became a legal holiday). 1.1.1 China Christmas Fact #2: Chinese (especially youth) however, celebrate Christmas as a carnival time.. 1.1.1.1 China Christmas Fact #3: Some of them eat apples on this day A traditional Christmas dinner in early England was the head of a pig prepared with mustard. Oh Ho the Mistletoe. Christmas Vespers are popular in the early evening, and midnight services are also widespread in regions which are predominantly Lutheran. For Christmas dessert, get inspired by the French with this whimsical cake that looks like a Yule log, enjoyable for the whole family to create on Christmas Eve. Decorated Christmas trees are not traditional in Serbia although, due to Western influences, they are becoming more common. Last updated on February 15th, 2020. Other churches have late evening services perhaps at 11 pm, so that the church can celebrate Christmas Day together with the ringing of bells at midnight. Christmas Eve is the evening or entire day before Christmas Day, the festival commemorating the birth of Jesus. Facts about Christmas Day. 30. The Christmas Eve meal is not served in Hungary until a twinkling star is seen in the sky. It is broadcast outside the UK via the BBC World Service, and is also bought by broadcasters around the world. The third day is referred to simply as “the Third Day of the Nativity”. Your health and safety are of utmost importance to us. 25th December was not celebrated as the birthday of Christ until the year AD 440. The number of dishes used to be traditionally an odd number (usually 5, 7, 9, or 11.). 52 Christmas facts you never knew about the festive period. The Magi may also appear, and are sometimes not placed in the scene until the week following Christmas to account for their travel time to Bethlehem. 21. For centuries, Christmas was celebrated not as a single day, but as a whole season in parts of the world, beginning with this day, December 24, Christmas Eve. 2. By William … So you and your kids probably know Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer, who pulls Santa’s sled on Christmas Eve. While other Christian families throughout the world celebrate the Christmas Eve meal with various meats, Italians (especially Sicilians) celebrate the traditional Catholic “Feast of the Seven Fishes” which was historically served after a 24-hour fasting period. In the Philippines, the custom has expanded into the nine-day Simbang Gabi, when Filipinos attend dawn Masses (traditionally beginning around 04:00 to 05:00 PST) from 16 December, continuing daily until Christmas Eve.eval(ez_write_tag([[300,250],'uselessdaily_com-medrectangle-4','ezslot_0',110,'0','0'])); 12. For Christians, this day, usually December 25, is the religious celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, but it has also been adopted by many non-Christians as the most wonderful time of … To visit every child on Christmas Eve, Santa would have to travel at 3000 times the speed of sound, visiting over 800 homes per second! Christmas Eve Christmas Eve is celebrated on December 24, the day before the Christian holiday of Christmas. Vegan dishes ( just like during the fasts ) and they have to be an odd (. The sky will never go moldy ’ Poland ( pasterka ) the past century – Source 18 of. 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