On December 25, Western Christians celebrate the Nativity of Christ. This is a great church holiday celebrated in most countries of the world. The birth of the Savior is celebrated by representatives of different religious denominations. The first mention of the important day dates back to the 4th century. Until now, church authors argue among themselves about the true date of the Bethlehem night that gave Jesus Christ to the world. Some of them claim that the pagan holiday “Birth of the Sun” was celebrated on December 25. After the adoption of Christianity, the church tried to eradicate all pagan echoes, but it is not so easy to erase customs that have developed over centuries. Therefore, old holidays were filled with new Christian meaning. Other authors prove the scientific hypothesis. Exactly 9 months are counted from the Feast of the Incarnation (Conception of Christ), which is celebrated on March 25 according to the Gregorian calendar. The Christmas holiday is one of the most beloved and kind. It lasts 12 days. 5 days of pre-celebration and 6 days of post-celebration. On December 24, Christmas Eve, Christmas Eve begins. Strict fasting until the first star shining in the sky. According to tradition, this star is called the Star of Bethlehem. Christmas services are held three times. At midnight, at dawn and at lunchtime. This is a symbolic recognition of Christ in the bosom of his father God, then in the body of the Mother of God, and finally in the souls of righteous Christians. Traditionally, all houses are decorated at this time. Christmas trees with a symbolic star on the top, beautiful wreaths, garlands, candles. Since the 13th century, the custom arose in churches and then in homes to place a manger with a baby, which symbolizes Jesus. Housewives set rich tables for their households. Christmas is celebrated with family. Before dinner, Christmas bread, specially baked and blessed in the church, is usually broken. On Christmas days you can carol. Painted children and adults, dressed in fancy dress, try to enter every home with songs and poems. At the same time, it is important to treat the carolers well, since the guests will have couplets about stingy people that make the unfriendly hosts laugh. The Nativity of Jesus is an important day in the history of all mankind, which is why it is celebrated so widely. Pagan roots are closely intertwined with religious beliefs and have given rise to new interesting traditions. This is a holiday that both adults and children look forward to with excitement.

Kolyada is a holiday starting with the first star, Christmas Eve among the Slavs, Christmas Eve. Kolyada falls on December 25th. Scientists believe that the holiday, although associated with Christmas, has pagan roots. Christian, pagan and everyday motifs are miraculously intertwined in this celebration: sometimes it is difficult to determine the origin of certain rituals. Sometimes the word “kolyada” is used to refer to the winter solstice, or solstice. In the minds of the Slavs, Kolyada is the turn of the winter sun to spring, the beginning of a new year and a new agricultural cycle. According to legend, on December 25, the Slavic god Kolyada begins the fight against winter. Before celebrating Kolyada, housewives clean their homes and yards. All family members wash and steam in the bathhouse to cleanse themselves not only physically, but also mentally. Caroling is a congratulatory tour of the courtyards by a group of people, often young people, singing ritual songs and receiving a treat for this. In the old days, groups of congratulating people were clearly differentiated by age, but later such differentiation was erased. The hosts are obliged to welcome guests cordially, otherwise the coming year will be full of sorrows and sorrows. Folklorists note that caroling is more common among Ukrainians and Belarusians; among Russians, the church especially struggled with these visits. An invariable attribute of caroling is considered to be mumming, that is, changing one's appearance with the help of skins, masks, and horns. Most often, sheepskin coats are worn inside out, with the fur facing up, to create the image of a formidable bear. Sometimes people dress up as a goat, bull, goose, crane or horse. In the old days, they also dressed up as old people and gypsies. In the Christian era, a group of carolers began to carry a pole with a star at the end, symbolizing the Star of Bethlehem. And the carols themselves began to include the glorification of Jesus. In some areas, carolers are seated on hay and asked to cluck to help the chickens lay eggs better. Before Christmas, unmarried girls tell fortunes about their betrothed or their fate. Boys and men participate in fist fights. Women voice everything that happens with songs. Sometimes young people organize festive gatherings with games. Couples often form at such gatherings. In honor of the pagan belief about the birth of a new sun, the Slavs burned large bonfires on Kolyada with wishes for a good harvest next year. They also performed magical rituals with grain so that the bread would be born. Bread, porridge and pork dishes must be present on the table. In the north, they used to bake special ritual cookies in the shape of animals and birds. The Slavs have long held funeral dinners on Kolyada or left the remains of the festive meal for the spirits at night.

Hundreds of poems have been written about the Nativity of Christ; this great holiday is sung by poets and musicians of all times and peoples, regardless of beliefs and beliefs. For all Christians, whether Orthodox, Catholic or Protestant, this is one of the most important annual holidays. Each religion has its own established traditions in celebrating Christmas. The Lutheran faith also has differences. First of all, this is an abundance of candles, symbolizing the starry sky at the hour of the birth of Jesus Christ. Mandatory attributes are an elegant Christmas tree and a star, symbolizing the Bethlehem rising star. Often it is placed on the top of the spruce tree. Next, Lutherans, like Catholics, install a manger (nativity scene) in the house. That is, it depicts a stable, a cave in which the Savior came into this world, and in the form of figures the holy family: Mary, Joseph, Baby Jesus. Figures of shepherds and wise men are also added. A Christmas play is always performed, most often with a plot about the birth of Christ. In the Lutheran Church there is also the tradition of Advent, with the first day of the Nativity Fast beginning. It is not as strict as in Orthodoxy, and concerns not so much gastronomic restrictions as it is “time WITHOUT”. Lutheran Lent is a period of renunciation of pleasures to which the heart is attached. While waiting for Christmas, an Advent wreath is traditionally woven and candles are placed on it. There are four of them, based on the number of weeks immediately preceding Christmas. December 24 – Holy evening and Holy night before Christmas. Evening and night services are held in churches. Parishioners usually sit in the pews, and rise and kneel only at the most significant moments of the liturgy. Music plays an important role in the life of believers. Almost every church has an organ. It is difficult to imagine the Lutheran Church without the names of such outstanding musicians and pious Lutherans as Sebastian Bach or Dietrich Buxtehude, as well as without congregational singing. The Reformation movement attracted new adherents with its chants from the very beginning. These can be chorales, many of which were written by Martin Luther himself, the initiator of the Reformation, and hymns, and ancient church chants, translated into the current language. By the way, Luther is also credited with the invention of Kriskind (Saint Nicholas among Catholics), who gives gifts to children. They say that Martin really wanted to preserve the custom of giving children's Christmas gifts, but since Protestants did not recognize Catholic saints, he came up with Nikolaus Kriskind instead. And then comes December 25, the day when, according to the Gregorian calendar, thousands of Christians around the world celebrate the Nativity of Christ. Lutherans congratulate each other with the words: “Christ is born!” and receive the answer: “Praise him!” Families gather at home around the festive table with the traditional Christmas goose or turkey and special biscuits served with tea or coffee. Many even travel long distances just to maintain traditions and celebrate Christmas with their families, and on the second day of the holiday they go to visit other relatives.

In the Middle Volga and Urals regions, from December 25 to January 7, the Tatars celebrate the winter solstice. It is called Nardugan (shaitan tue), which literally means “wedding of the devil.” After the end of the economic year, the baptized Tatars, in preparation for the cold winter, took all the necessary measures to ensure they had a good harvest for the next year. Following signs, they tried to predict the future, and with the help of ritual dances and rituals they wanted to ensure their well-being in the next year. The Nardugan holiday is very ancient. This is evidenced by its name. "Nar" in Mongolian means "flame, sun", and "dugan" means "born". That is, Nardugan literally means the birth or awakening of the sun, nature. Turkic-speaking peoples were of the opinion that it was during the period from December 25 to January 7 that all evil forces lose their power and cannot interfere with the forces of Light. It was on December 25 that young boys and girls put on ritual costumes, masks and walked around the nearby courtyards of Christian families. Men dressed up as women, and women dressed up as men. They smeared soot on their faces. A certain ritual was performed in the courtyard of each house, including a greeting dance, as well as shouts of “Narduganga-a-a” or “Shaitan tuena-a-a.” Children in costumes also took part. All dances were performed with the accompaniment of a violin. The walk around the courtyards began with the onset of evening, and the main part of the celebrations unfolded as daylight hours increased, when the effect of dark forces, according to legend, became weak. In addition to the welcome dance, other dances were performed: - dance on the threshold of the house; - dance of the grandmother (spinner) and dance of the grandfather; - dance of gratitude with wishes of all sorts of blessings; - farewell dances; - dances with elements of fortune telling; - games, round dances around or near the fire. Walking around the fire symbolized the movement of the sun across the sky, and the fire was represented as an improvised solar halo. The owners of the courtyards treated the mummers, just like at Christmas time. During the celebration of Nardugan (they call this holiday Rashtua), Mishar Tatars bake a sweet dish called “bavyrsak”, as well as other national treats.

In every Christian state, Christmas is one of the greatest and most important holidays of the year. On this day, the birth of Jesus Christ is commemorated in the holy city of Bethlehem. This date is one of the most important for the Christian people. In addition, Christmas is considered an official holiday in many countries where this religion is practiced. According to ancient custom, the event is celebrated on December 25, in accordance with the New Julian calendar. This tradition is directly related to the pagan celebration, which was celebrated on the same day in ancient Roman territory, in honor of the main pagan deity Saturn. This festival was an analogue of the New Year and the Nativity of Christ. As the years passed, paganism lost its relevance, and the clergy replaced the day of Saturn with the day of the birth of Christ. On the eve of the great event, it is necessary to adhere to a strict fast, which is called Christmas Eve. According to the ancient custom, on this day you need to eat juice - barley or wheat grains boiled with honey. After the first star appears in the sky, the fast comes to an end. On the eve of the holiday, people remember the prophecies and stories of the Old Testament relating to the birth of Christ. Christmas church services are held at midnight, dawn and during daylight hours. This event is also characterized by caroling traditions. Young people go from house to house, sing songs and bestow good wishes on their owners. They, in turn, give the carolers various souvenirs, mainly sweet treats and a variety of delicious dishes. If the owner of a house where guests come is stingy with gifts, then he is laughed at and threatened with misfortune. Caroling takes place amid bright fun, young people put on colorful masks and dress up in animal skins. But such a tradition was often condemned by clergy, arguing that it belonged to pagan customs. Therefore, in the future, they began to go caroling only to the closest people: best comrades, relatives and good neighbors. There is another Christmas tradition: all people decorate their homes with an elegant Christmas tree. The Russian people adopted this interesting custom from the Germans. It is in Germany that spruce is considered a symbol of a happy life and fertility. When the Christian religion spread to the center and north of Europe, the Christmas tree began to be decorated with colored balls, shiny garlands and original toys. It began to symbolize the tree of paradise with generous fruits.

For Christmas and other New Year holidays, it is customary to beautifully decorate the house and, of course, the Christmas tree. The forest beauty is decorated with balls, figures of Father Frost and the Snow Maiden, people and animals, lights, tinsel and garlands. New Year's toys are carefully stored and often passed down from generation to generation. December 25th is the Day of Giving Christmas Balls. This holiday, dedicated to Catholic Christmas, helps create a New Year's mood, belief in miracles and magic. An original decorated ball made by yourself or bought in a store is a good New Year gift. In Europe, there has long been a tradition of giving relatives or children who stopped by the house to wish Merry Christmas a ball they liked. The shape of the toy refers us to the apple - a symbol of harvest and fertility. The ancestors of the ancient Celts and other Europeans decorated Christmas trees with oranges, nuts, gingerbread and candy canes. Each decoration carried a special meaning, personifying a holy blessing, the mystery of divine providence or eternal life. An apple, which was treated to loved ones in honor of the holiday, occupied a place of honor among edible toys, which became the prototype of the Christmas tree ball. Beautiful fruits with plump sides, which were specially selected in the fall and stored until winter, were the main decoration of the spruce. The first decorative balls were made in 1848 in Thuringia. The outgoing year turned out to be a low harvest, and it was decided to replace apples with toys made of transparent or colored glass. Soon their production began to be carried out en masse. In addition to balls, glassblowers made various figurines that made German craftsmen from Saxony famous throughout the world. Glass toys were expensive, so they could not completely replace homemade jewelry. Fruits and sweets were still hung on Christmas trees. In Europe, walnut shells, cardboard, cotton wool, colored paper and shortbread cookies were used to decorate the forest beauty and create intricate toys. Snowmen, birds, animals and bells were made from these handy materials. Fake fruits were made from papier-mâché and velvet. A star was placed on the top of the tree - a symbol of Bethlehem. In Russia, toys were made from colored braid, fabric, dough, rowan tassels and straw - dolls (beregins) were made from them. Today, New Year's decorations are produced on an industrial scale. But the tradition of making them yourself is still alive. In honor of Christmas Ball Giving Day, on December 25, master classes on glass blowing and toy painting are held. This colorful decoration carries a piece of the author’s soul, so it will be a good New Year’s gift for loved ones. On the Day of Giving Christmas Balls, glass analogues of an apple - a symbol of fertility, wisdom, unity, love and immortality - are bought and given to work colleagues, friends and relatives.

The ancient Greek scientist Archimedes discovered in the 3rd century. BC. the law of hydrostatics and aerostatics when taking a bath. DI. Mendeleev saw a table with a system of chemical elements in a dream. One of the fundamental laws of physics was discovered from an apple falling on his head - the theory of universal gravitation. It was developed in 1666 by Sir Isaac Newton. The force of gravity, within the framework of classical dynamics, explains the interaction of bodies not only on Earth, but also of planets, stars and meteorites in the Universe. An unusual holiday has been established in honor of the law discovered by Newton. December 25th is Gravimass Day. The initiator of the Grav Mass Day celebration is programmer Richard Matthew Stallman from the USA. Being a public figure and an atheist, he proposed celebrating Isaac Newton's birthday on December 25, as opposed to Christmas, as a symbol of the triumph of science over religion. Therefore, the holiday has a second name - Newtonmas ("Newton's Christmas"). Central to Newton's law are the mass of objects and the gravitational constant, the value of which was determined experimentally by the scientist. Therefore, these two concepts appear in the name of the funny celebration. Members of the Newton Association began celebrating Newtonmas in 1890, long before Stallman. For this purpose, they first met at Christmas in 1890 at the Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, located in London. The authorship of the neologism "gravimass" also belongs not to Stallman, but to the writer James Patrick Hogan. He worked in the science fiction genre, being a design engineer and programmer in his main specialty. Since 1968, Hogan began writing as an amateur, and 10 years later he devoted himself entirely to literary creativity. He owns a collection of short stories called Merry Gravmas. In honor of the holiday, Stallman, remembering how Newton developed the theory, recommends decorating the Christmas tree and other trees with apples, oranges and other fruits. When the fruits fall, anyone will be able to witness the action of the law of universal gravitation. Members of the identity should jokingly greet each other with phrases from Hogan's book "Happy Gravitational Mass!" and answer “Let the force be proportional to your acceleration!” Gravimass Day, which falls on December 25, the birthday of Isaac Newton, promotes the popularization of physics and its fundamental laws. Therefore, the holiday is celebrated by both scientists and people far from science, who pay tribute to the contribution made to its development by the English mathematician, astronomer, and founder of classical mechanics Isaac Newton.

According to the folk calendar, December 25 (December 12, old style) is the day of Spyridon Solstice. It comes from the church day of honoring the memory of St. Spyridon of Trimythous, a popular benefactor and wonderworker of the 3rd-4th centuries. Spiridon was from Cyprus, had a wife and daughter, led a righteous life and helped the poor. After the death of his wife, he devoted himself entirely to the Lord. For his efforts, hard work and modesty, he was elevated to the rank of bishop of the city of Trimifunt. The Almighty awarded Spiridon the gift of healing the seriously ill and the ability to cast out demons. By his behavior, the bishop set an example for the parishioners, distinguished himself from other church servants in his mercy and justice at the same time, and denounced priests who were incorrectly performing their duties. With the help of prayers, Spyridon could work miracles - cause rain in a drought, or stop it, light lamps, and once was able to resurrect a child. People called Spiridon the Solstice, because from his day the sun began to gradually extend the daylight hours, thereby reducing the dark night. People believed that Spyridon turned the heavenly body towards summer. According to legend, it was dangerous to leave the house, since a battle was beginning between light and darkness. It was in the darkness that evil forces gathered. To help the sun disperse them, people lit fires, set fire to hay wheels and sent them down the mountain to the reservoir. The symbolism of the sun was found in everything that resembled a circle. The people held round dances around the fire, walked around the houses in a circle, reading protective prayers. Women baked round loaves and flat cakes. The youth gathered before dawn on the hill and called on the sun to return to its native places. On the day of Spiridon there was a ritual of protecting the house from evil spirits. The housewife wedged the sickle into the door frame from above. At the same time, the owner drove the ax with the tip into the door threshold. It was believed that the power of iron at the entrance would stop evil. It was not recommended to work on Spiridonov's day, but fortune telling was allowed. To make chickens lay eggs more often, they were given food from the right hand. They often made a wish, broke the branches of an apple tree and put them in water, if the flowers bloomed for Christmas, the wish would come true. People watched the direction of the wind; if it changed during the day, the year foreshadowed a rich harvest. Sparrows actively preparing their nests meant the approach of severe frosts. Cloudiness in the morning sky predicted a short winter. If the cattle asked to go into the barn or the juniper bent its branches, a blizzard was expected. They said what the weather would be like on Spiridonov’s day, this is how it will happen on New Year’s Day.

Orthodox holidays on December 25:

The Orthodox Church celebrates the Day of Remembrance of the Wonderworker Saint Spyridon of Trimifuntsky on December 25. The holiday remembers the acts of a Christian saint who lived at the turn of the 3rd-4th centuries on the island of Cyprus. His biography presents an amazing image of a meek ascetic of the true faith, who accomplished many miraculous deeds. Saint Spyridon led a modest life as the father of a family, whose fame for his kindness and hospitality spread far beyond the island. Strangers and homeless people found shelter in the saint’s house; there was a place and food for all those in need. As a reward for virtuous deeds, the saint was endowed with the gift of clairvoyance, healing powers and the power to cast out demons. After his appointment as a bishop, Spyridon became a true loving father, fair and merciful, for his flock. Despite his high rank, the saint did not disdain to personally herd sheep and work in the fields. During the years of drought, the bishop, along with ordinary people, worried about the dying harvest, and thanks to his sincere prayers, rains irrigated the land. The saint showed irreconcilable severity towards the heartless hunters for profit. He, without fear, expelled the merciless grain merchant from the city, thereby saving the poor from inevitable hunger. Traditions have been preserved about miracles that occurred around the saint or from his deeds. It was not uncommon for parishioners to hear a choir of angelic voices singing along with the bishop in a church empty of people. In an incomprehensible way, the oil in the saint’s lamp was replenished by itself and did not decrease. Through the prayers of Spyridon, a recently deceased child was revived again. The saint paid special attention to the accuracy of the retelling of the Holy Scriptures and the rituals of the church rite. Spiridon experienced the greatest grief when he heard the incorrect reading of spiritual books. The last sermon of the holy bishop was filled with love addressed to God and his creations. Death, which came during prayer, showed the depth of Spyridon’s religiosity. In Rus', the day of remembrance of the saint was associated with the turn of the solar year. According to popular beliefs, Spyridon himself turned the solar course. From this day on, the daylight begins to gradually increase, displacing the darkness of the night. It was strictly forbidden to work on December 25, but during daylight hours it was possible to indulge in winter fun, and in the evening to light fires and conduct fortune telling. It was possible to help Saint Spyridon reverse the course of the heavenly body if one climbed to a hill and called upon the sun. It was forbidden to appear in the forest where there were bears. It was believed that on Spiridon the bear tossed and turned in its den and was easy to wake up. There were many weather signs associated with December 25: • a cloudy morning prophesied early spring; • sparrows drag fluff into their nests - to severe frosts; • the wind changes its direction sharply - we should expect a rich buckwheat harvest next year.