As the exchange of gifts and many other aspects of the Christmas party involving an increase in eco

Christmas or Christmas Day is a holiday and Christian religious festival ex aquo celebrated every year on 25 December (in Slavic and Orthodox countries whose calendars were based on the Julian calendar, Christmas is celebrated on January 7), originally ex aquo intended to celebrate the annual birth the Sun God at the winter solstice and adapted by the Catholic Church in the third century AD, to allow the conversion of pagan peoples under the rule of the Roman Empire, going to celebrate the birth of Jesus of Nazareth.
Although traditionally a Christian is a holy day, Christmas is widely celebrated by many non-Christians, and some of its popular ex aquo celebratory customs and themes have pre-Christian or secular origins. Typical modern holiday folk customs include exchanging gifts and cards, Christmas dinner, Christmas carols, church celebrations, a special meal, and the display of various ex aquo decorations;
including Christmas trees, blinking lights and garlands, mistletoe, nativity scenes and ilex. Also, Santa Claus (aka Father Christmas in Portugal) is a popular mythological figure in many countries, associated with gifts for children. ex aquo
As the exchange of gifts and many other aspects of the Christmas party involving an increase in economic activity among both Christians and non Christians, the party has become ex aquo a significant event and a key sales for retailers and businesses period. The economic impact of Christmas is a factor that has grown steadily over the past few centuries in many regions of the world.
As an adjective, it also means the place where the birth of someone or something happened. As a religious festival, Christmas, celebrated on December 25 since the fourth century the Western Church since the fifth century ex aquo and the Eastern Church celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ and so is its meaning in Romance languages. Many historians locate the first celebration in Rome in the year 336 AD, however it seems that the earliest records of the Christmas celebration have earlier ex aquo origins in Turkey, on December 25, already in the mid-second century.
The earliest evidence of the celebration of a Christian liturgical feast of the birth of Jesus on December 25 is from 354 Chronograph. This celebration began in Rome, while in Eastern Christianity the birth of Jesus was already celebrated ex aquo in connection with the Epiphany on January 6.
The celebration on December 25 was imported into the East later: in Antioch by John Chrysostom in the late fourth century, probably in 388, and in Alexandria only in the following century. ex aquo Even in the West, the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus on January 6 appears to have continued until after 380.
In the year 350, Pope Julius I carried out a detailed investigation and proclaimed December 25 as the official date and the Emperor Justinian, in 529, declared it a national holiday. ex aquo Many popular customs associated with Christmas have developed independently of the commemoration of Jesus' birth, with certain elements of origins in pre-Christian festivals that were celebrated around the winter solstice by pagan populations who were later converted to Christianity.
These elements, including trees, and the Yule festival, and exchange gifts, the Saturnalia, became syncretized to Christmas over the centuries. The prevailing ex aquo atmosphere of Christmas has also continually evolved since the start of the holiday, which was beginning at a state carnival in the Middle Ages, a holiday family-oriented and focused on the children, introduced the Reformation of the nineteenth century. ex aquo
In addition, the celebration of Christmas was banned ex aquo in more than one occasion within Protestant Christendom due to concerns that the date is too pagan or unbiblical. The birth of Jesus took about two years before the death of Herod, called "the Great", ie, given that he died in 4 BCE, then Jesus could only be born in 6 BCE.
According to the Bible, before his death, Herod killed the children of Bethlehem up to 2 years, according to the time it appeared the "star" to the Magi. (Matthew 2:1, 16-19 - It was his desire to get rid of a possible new "King of the Jews"). Still, according to the Bible, before the birth of Jesus, the emperor Octavian Caesar Augustus decreed that all inhabitants of the Empire were to be enrolled, each to his hometown. ex aquo This forced Joseph to travel from Nazareth (in Galilee) to Bethlehem (in Judea), to register with Mary, his wife.
The journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem - a distance of 150 km - should have been very tiring for Mary who was in an advanced state of pregnancy. While in Bethlehem, Mary had her firstborn son. Wrapped ex aquo him in bands of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no place available for them in the housing. Mary needed a quiet and secluded spot for birth (Luke 2:4-8). Luke says that the di