圣诞节的起源 The origin of Christmas

[lwcool]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 world.

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 quirnius 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 bedelivered. 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 i（转载自第一范文网http://www.网址未加载，请保留此标记。）nn.

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.

“圣诞节”这个名称是“基督彌撒”的缩写。彌撒是教会的一种礼拜仪式。耶诞节是一个宗教节。我们把它当作耶苏的诞辰來庆祝，因而又名耶诞节。这一天，世界所有的基督教会都举行特別的礼拜仪式。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。