关于圣诞节的资料(用英语写的,后面有翻译的)
Christmas (Traditional Western Festival)
Christmas, also known as Christmas and the birth of Jesus, is translated as "Christ Mass", a traditional western festival, which originates from Christianity and is on December 25 of the Gregorian calendar. Mass is a kind of church service.
Christmas is a religious holiday, because it is celebrated as the birthday of Jesus, so it is called "Christmas".
Most Catholic Churches celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve on December 24, or midnight Mass in the early morning of December 25, while some Christian Churches celebrate Christmas on December 25.
Another major branch of Christianity, the Orthodox Church, celebrates Christmas on January 7 each year.
Christmas is also a public holiday in the western world and many other areas, such as Hong Kong and Macao, Malaysia and Singapore in Asia.
During the Constantine period (313 AD), the Roman Church became accustomed to celebrating the birth of the Lord on December 25.
圣诞节（西方传统节日）
圣诞节（Christmas）又称耶诞节、耶稣诞辰，译名为“基督弥撒”，是西方传统节日，起源于基督教，在每年公历12月25日。弥撒是教会的一种礼拜仪式。圣诞节是一个宗教节，因为把它当作耶稣的诞辰来庆祝，故名“耶诞节”。
大部分的天主教教堂都会先在12月24日的平安夜，亦即12月25日凌晨举行子夜弥撒，而一些基督教会则会举行报佳音，然后在12月25日庆祝圣诞节；基督教的另一大分支——东正教的圣诞节庆则在每年的1月7日。
圣诞节也是西方世界以及其他很多地区的公共假日，例如：在亚洲的中国香港和澳门地区、马来西亚、新加坡。 古罗马教会在君士坦丁时代（公元313年），就逐渐习惯在十二月二十五日庆祝主的诞生。
The Origin of Christmas
Dec 25 is the day that most Christianities celebrate the birth of Jesus.
There was no Christmas at first. It is said that the first Christmas was in 138, the first in record was in 336. But the bible doesn’t indicate on what day was Jesus born, so different Christmas days were celebrated in different places. Until 440, Roman church court fixed Dec 25 as the Christmas day.
In 1607, religious leaders all over the world met in Bethlehem and reached an agreement that Dec 25 would be the Christmas day. Since then, most Christians began to celebrate Dec 25, no matter where they are.
From the 19th century, with the popularizing of Christmas and Santa Claus, most people, no matter they believe in Christian or not began to celebrate Christmas.In the bible, Jesus was born at night, so the night of Dec 24 is known as the Christmas night.
“圣诞节”这个名称是“基督弥撒”的缩写。弥撒是教会的一种礼拜仪式。耶诞节是一个宗节我们把它当作耶苏的诞辰来庆祝，因而又名耶诞节。这一天，世界所有的基督教会都举行特别的礼拜仪式。但是有很多圣诞节的欢庆活动和宗教并无半点关联。交换礼物，寄圣诞卡，这都使圣诞节成为一个普天同庆的日子。
圣诞节是基督教世界最大的节日。4世纪初，1月6日是罗马帝国东部各教会纪念那稣降生和受洗的双重节日、称为“主显节”Epiphany，亦称“显现节”即上帝通过那稣向世人显示自己。当时只有那路拉冷的教会例外，那里只纪念耶稣的诞生而不纪念那稣的受洗。后来历史学家们在罗马基督徒习用的日历中发现公元354年12月25日页内记录着：“基督降生在犹大的伯利恒。”经过研究，一
般认为12月25日伴为圣诞节可能开始于公元336年的罗马教会）约在公元375年传到小亚细亚的安提阿，公元430年传到埃及的亚历山大里亚，那路撒冷的教会接受得最晚，而亚美尼亚的教会则仍然坚持1月6日主显节是那稣的诞辰。
