Party
Christmas Eve
At Christmas, Christians around the world celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. The Nativity of Jesus Christ took place more than 2000 years ago in Bethlehem.
The Roman Catholic Church, Protestant Churches and Evangelical Christian Churches celebrate Christmas on December 25 of the Gregorian calendar, current civil calendar. This date marks the entry into the liturgical year. Orthodox Churches and some Eastern Rite Catholic Churches celebrate it on January 7.
If Christmas celebrations are also secular cultural festivities, particularly in the West, which bring families together around a tree, Christians represent the birth of the Savior in a nativity scene with figurines. They celebrate the birth of Jesus by going to mass.
No Christian text specifies the exact day of the birth of Jesus Christ. It was Pope Liberius who Christianized in 354 the date of December 25 which corresponded, in the Roman Empire, to the celebration of the winter solstice (during Saturnalia and the feast of Sol Invictus). At that time, the Church sought to Christianize a certain number of pagan rites. From the Latin natalis, "day of birth", the Christmas celebration thus commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ.
Christmas Eve is made up of the evening of December 24 which precedes Christmas. Midnight mass was usually preceded by a light meal, the big supper; then it was followed by a fatty meal which we agreed to call New Year's Eve. This meal had its reason for being following the fast of the day before, the deprivation of sleep, the length of the night services, which often lasted several hours, and also the fatigue of the road traveled to come to the church. Today, a festive meal is traditionally organized within families. In France, the Christmas menu often consists of a succession of cold and hot dishes. First of all, hot starters are served such as snails, blood sausage, lobster bisque, frog legs, scallops... Then come the cold starters, which traditionally include oysters, foie gras, smoked salmon.. . . Then comes the traditional turkey with chestnuts. Then come the cheese and the famous Yule log. There is also the Provençal tradition known as the Thirteen Desserts, in memory of Jesus and his twelve Apostles. In Europe, traditions are quite varied. In England, Christmas pudding has a large place in the meal. In Italy, no Christmas meal without the traditional Panettone cake. In Portugal, the traditional feast menu is cod cooked with potatoes and cabbage, all drizzled with olive oil. In Spain, the Christmas meal menu is almost always the same: roast lamb, turkey and seafood. In Poland, the traditional feast menu is stuffed turkey. In addition to the traditional Christmas meal menu of each country, there is a difference in the Christmas meal customs between Scandinavian countries and Latin countries; in the north, there are many more symbolic rites surrounding dinner than in Latin countries. In Scandinavian countries, they often leave an empty place at the table for the souls of deceased family members and, at the end of the dinner, dance and sing around the tree. There are other customs in Poland and Lithuania: on December 24, all the children look up to the sky while waiting for the first star to appear before sitting down to eat. In the past, when preparing the table, we slipped straw under the tablecloth to remind us that Jesus was born in a stable. Before starting dinner, we shared matzo bread, decorated with nativity scenes. It's also time to prepare the stockings to put near the fireplace or under the Christmas tree to allow Santa to deliver the presents. Finally, for Catholics, Christmas Eve is followed by midnight mass which still remains very popular in the collective mind in the 21st century, even if, for practical reasons, it is often said in the early evening rather than at midnight. When returning from mass or at midnight, it is traditional for a child to add the figure of the Child Jesus in the nativity scene to signify his birth. At midnight, it is common to wish each other a "Merry Christmas". In some families, it's time to open gifts, others wait until the next morning.
Diana BOUAYAD AMINE
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