Is It Christmas Yet?

Product Information

The corresponding terms in other languages— Navidad in Spanish, Natale in Italian, Noël in French—all probably denote nativity. A gentle story about preparing for Christmas with bright, lively illustrations presented in a robust format for the youngest to enjoy. On 24 December 1968, in what was the most watched television broadcast to that date, the Apollo 8 astronauts Bill Anders, Jim Lovell and Frank Borman surprised the world with a reading of the Creation from the Book of Genesis as they orbited the Moon.

The stamp featured a detail of Anders' famous photograph Earthrise of the Earth "rising" over the Moon (NASA image AS8-14-2383HR), taken on Christmas Eve, and the words, "In the beginning God. Following the Parliamentarian victory over Charles I during the English Civil War, England's Puritan rulers banned Christmas in 1647. Over the past few centuries, Christmas has had a steadily growing economic effect in many regions of the world. The table is spread with a white cloth symbolic of the swaddling clothes the Child Jesus was wrapped in, and a large white candle stands in the center of the table symbolizing Christ the Light of the World.The early Christian community distinguished between the identification of the date of Jesus’ birth and the liturgical celebration of that event. The Saturday and Sunday following 25 December have special Epistle and Gospel readings assigned to them. Puritans such as Cotton Mather condemned Christmas both because scripture did not mention its observance and because Christmas celebrations of the day often involved boisterous behavior.

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. in Germany it is acknowledged with social gatherings and enjoyable activities for at least 3 days: Christmas eve (24th), First Christmas day (25th) and second christmas day (26th December).As such, in Scotland, the Presbyterian Church of Scotland discouraged the observance of Christmas, and though James VI commanded its celebration in 1618, attendance at church was scant. The Church of Scotland no longer holds Hogmanay services on New Year's Eve, but the Christmas Eve services are still very popular. During the Reformation in 16th- and 17th-century Europe, many Protestants changed the gift bringer to the Christ Child or Christkindl, and the date of giving gifts changed from 6 December to Christmas Eve. This also means that the page is only as correct as the time setting on the computer used to view the page (so in case of connection problems, you may check your computer's calendar instead).