大家期待的圣诞节就要来啦!大家兴不兴奋呢?在圣诞节到来之前，不妨跟着小编来了解一下圣诞节吧，下面是小编准备的英语版的圣诞节的来历介绍，希望大家喜欢哦!
【圣诞节的来历】
Origin of Christmas
The name Christmas is short for 'Christ's Mass'. A Mass is a kind of Church service. Christmas is a religious festival. It is the day we celebrate as the birthday of Jesus.
There are special Christmas services in Christian churches all over the world. But many of the festivities of Christmas do not have anything to do with religion. Exchanging gifts and sending Christmas cards are the modern ways of celebrating the Christmas in the orld.
The birth of Jesus had a story: In Nazareth, a city of Galilee. The virgin's name was Mary was betrothed to Joseph. Before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. Joseph her husband was minded to put her away secretly. While he thought about these things, Gabriel, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and told him did not be afraid to take Mary as wife. And Mary will bring forth a Son, and he shall call his name, Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.
Before Jesus births, Joseph and Mary came to Quintus was governing Syria. So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city. Joseph also went up out of Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and of the lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who
was with child. So it was that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped him in swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
And that, Christmas is the feast of the nativity of Jesus, is on 25th, December every year. But nobody know the actual birthday of Jesus. And the Christmas has become popular when Christmas cards appeared in 1846 and the concept of a jolly Santa Claus was first made popular in nineteenth Century.
【节礼日-圣诞节后的第二天】
Boxing Day - the Day after Christmas!
Boxing Day takes place on December 26th and is only celebrated in a few countries. It was started in the UK about 800 years ago, during the Middle Ages.
It was the day when the alms box, collection boxes for the poor often kept in churches, were traditionally opened so that the contents could be distributed to poor people.
Some churches still open these boxes on Boxing Day.
It might have been the Romans that first brought this type of collecting box to the UK, but they used them to collect money for the betting games which they played during their winter celebrations!
In Holland, some collection boxes were made out of a rough pottery called 'earthenware' and were shaped like pigs. Perhaps this is where we get the term 'Piggy Bank'!
The Christmas Carol, Good King Wenceslas, is set on Boxing Day and is about a King in the Middle Ages who brings food to a poor family.
It was also traditional that servants got the day off to celebrate Christmas with their families on Boxing Day.
Before World War II, it was common for working people (such as milkmen and butchers) to travel round their delivery places and collect their Christmas box or tip.
This tradition has now mostly stopped and any Christmas tips, given to people such as postal workers and newspaper delivery children, are not normally given or collected on Boxing Day.
Boxing Day has now become another public holiday in countries such as the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. It is also the traditional day that Pantomimes started to play.
There are also often sports played on Boxing Day in the UK, especially horse racing and football matches!
The 26th December is also St. Stephen's Day. Just to confuse things, there are two St. Stephens in history!
The first St. Stephen was a very early follower of Jesus and was the first Christian Martyr (a person who dies for their religious beliefs). He was stoned to death by Jews who didn't believe in Jesus.
The second St. Stephen was a Missionary, in Sweden, in the 800s. He loved all animals but particularly horses (perhaps why there is traditionally horse racing on boxing day).
He was also a martyr and was killed by pagans in Sweden. In Germany there was a tradition that horses would be ridden around the inside of the church during the St. Stephen's Day service!