"I will honor Christmas in my
heart,
and try to keep it all the year". Ñharles Dickens
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Christmas comes around only once
a year. It's a time for us to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ,
to fellowship with friends and family,
and a time of giving and receiving gifts.
Christmas… A day that's forever brand new. A moment of magic in
all our lives when the wonder of love rules the Earth. It's a special
time when we wish each other health, happiness and love. And lasting
peace throughout the world.
Christmas is the happiest and busiest time of the year for millions
of Christians throughout the world. People of different countries
celebrate the holiday in various ways, depending on national and
local customs.
Would you like to know about Christmas traditions of other people?
Then, exactly for you books of series "Christmas Around the
World.
From World Book".
I would like to introduce you to these books.
Christmas
in the Philippines. - Chicago: World Book, Inc., 1998. -
80 p.: illustrations. - (Christmas Around the World. From World
Book").
Christmas in the Philippines. Far across the ocean in this
tropical island Asian nation, this very special occasion in
more than a holiday. It is truly a national fiesta. Filipinos
are proud to proclaim their Christmas celebration to be the
longest and merriest in the world. It begins formally on December
16 with attendance at the first of nine predawn Masses and
continues nonstop until January 6, Three Kings Day, the official
end of the season.
The Philippines, a land of ancient history, is the only Asian
country where Christians predominate; the majority of its
people are Roman Catholic.
Christmas, therefore, is an extremely important and revered
holiday for almost all Filipinos. As a people, they are very
religious, and Christmas is especially meaningful for them.
It is a time for family, for sharing, for giving, a time for
food, fun, and friendship. In the
Philippines,
Christmas is celebrated, as best as can be, in the true spirit
of the season.Christmas in the Philippines is certainly a mixture
of Western and native Filipino tradition. Santa Claus, the Christmas
tree, sending Christmas cards, and singing Christmas carols
have all been inherited from the cultures of the West. They
have, however, been well adapted to fit the nature and personality
of the people.
So, about all Christmas traditions in the Philippines you can
read in these chapters:
1. A Fitting Season
2. The Season Begins
3. The Long Night Before Christmas
4. Light the Lantern
5. The Twelve Days of Christmas
6. Make a Star Lantern
7. Create a Holiday Feast
8. Rejoice with Music
Christmas
in Colonial and Early America. - Chicago: World Book, Inc.,
1998. - 80 p.: illustrations. - (Christmas Around the World.
From World Book").
Christmas is a time of spirit. The men and women of Colonial
and early America kept the Christmas spirit alive, often under
the most difficult circumstances. The desperate soldiers of
the Continental Army under General George Washington spent
their Christmas Eve of 1776 preparing a blow for liberty that
saved a young nation. On the trail, as pioneers opened up
a vast new continent, they would keep a simple Christmas with
whatever they could find. Perhaps it would be just a lonely
miner rapping on a tin plate with a spoon to make a little
holiday noise or a young child from a sodbuster community
on the prairie getting a single sack of candy. But it was
Christmas and they celebrated as best they could. The religious
services and holiday customs came from every country in Europe
as streams of immigrants landed in a new land, bringing their
hopes with them.
There are many
illustrations in this volume. Editors have used photographs
of historic sites, paintings, lithographs, and drawing.
So, about the first Christmas in the New World, about Christmas
toys, about a typical Christmas dinner and Christmas decorations
in Early America, about immigrant Santa Claus and history of
Christmas cards, even about recipe of favorite George Washington's
holiday drink you can read in these chapters:
1. Christmas in the Colonies
2. A Christmas Collection of Toys
3. Carrying Christmas Throughout the Land
4. Early American Decorations
5. Christmas with the First Family
6. The Evolution of Santa Claus
7. A Victorian Christmas
8. Season's Greetings
9. A Christmas Sampler
Christmas
in Washington. - Chicago: World Book, Inc., 1998. - 80 p.:
illustrations. - (Christmas Around the World. From World Book").
The ancient Romans had a minor god of gates and doors named
Janus. His head featured two faces. One looked backward, and
one looked forward. Washington is a Janus-faced kind of place.
As the capital of the nation, it is immersed in history and
tradition. And as the capital of the nation, it seethes with
politics and the brokering of power. Traditions resists change;
power thrives on it - one city, two faces. One looks backward,
and one looks forward. But, if it is true that one needs to
know the past to understand the future, then a nation's capital
should have two faces.
Christmas in Washington is a sacred celebration of the birth
of Jesus; it is an affirmation of the family and home; but,
above all, it is the story of a national celebration. A Christmas
in Chicago is not very different from a Christmas in Atlanta
or Boston or Sacramento. Christmas in Washington, however,
is unique.
Officially, the government of the United
States does not celebrate religious holidays.
Unofficially, of course, it does. There is a national Christmas
tree; there is a capitol Christmas tree; there is White House
decked out for the holidays; there is Christmas on the National
Mall, a holiday celebration not quite like any other in the
world.
Officially, the churches of Washington are exactly like churches
in Chicago or Atlanta or Sacramento. Unofficially, certain
churches in Washington are viewed as national institutions.
And the celebration of the anniversary of the birth of Jesus
in such a church is not quite like a Christmas service anywhere
else.
Washingtonians would agree that they share their city with
the nation and the rest of the world. Thus, Christmas in their
city is shared with the nation and the world. The National
Christmas Tree is the nation's tree. Christmas at the White
House is a symbol of Christmas at every American house. And
the Washington, or National, Cathedral, while an Episcopal
church, is indeed a "house of prayer for all people".
About all of this you can read in these chapters:
1. A capital Christmas
2. Christmas in Washington
3. Home for Christmas
4. Crafts
5. Recipes
6. Carol
