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.
    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.
    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.
Christmas Eve is also commonly says Christmas Eve ,and the family reunion in the sitting room, will be around the tree to sing Christmas carols and exchange gifts, and share the joys and sorrows of a life, express the wish and love.   
The red and white sceneries is Santa Claus, He is the most popular pepole. Western children on Christmas Eve will put a sock near the fireplace or  a pillow before going to sleep,  They thought Santa Claus will fill it with gifts in the sleep.
    It si said that Santa Claus would drive reindeer sleigh full guild to send gifts for the children on Christmas Eve, he would enter into the house  quietly by the chimney, put present in stocking.which hangs on the head of a bed .So the children always strips of colour profusion stockings at the head of a bed, and hope that Santa Claus would send a gift for himself. The next day , every child can't wait to open the ritual, want to know what his reward.
    Christmas tree really appear in Germany, after the first introduced to Europe and America, and become the indispensable Christmas decorations. They usually use colourf
ul lights, wax, gifts or angels, for Christmas . Every tree must have a big star at the top of the tree, symbolized star that guide the magi found Jesus.   
A traditional Christmas dinner in America includes stuffed turkey  , mashed potatoes, , and a variety of other dishes. Roast turkey is the most popular main course not only in the United States, Favorite desserts include mince pie or pumpkin pie, and fruitcake. Eggnog is a popular Christmas beverage （饮料） in many homes. In Britain, Christmas dinner is eaten at noon, and the dinner usually includes roast turkey or goose, Christmas pudding with mince pies, and accompanied by wine.
“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。圣诞节是一个宗教节日我们把它当作耶稣的诞辰来庆祝，因而又名耶诞节。
耶稣的出生是有一段故事的，耶稣是因着圣灵成孕，由童女马利亚所生的。神更派遣使者加伯列在梦中晓谕约瑟，叫他不要因为马利亚未婚怀孕而不要她，反而要与她成亲，把那孩子起名为“耶稣”，意思是要他把百姓从罪恶中救出来。
圣诞老人的由来
圣诞节便始于十二月二十五日纪念耶苏的诞生，但真实的诞生日就没有人知道了。十九世纪，圣诞卡的流行、圣诞老人的出现，圣诞节也开始流行起来了。
圣诞节前夕也就是俗说的平安夜，当晚，全家人会团聚在客厅中，围绕在圣诞树旁唱圣诞歌曲，互相交换礼物，彼此分享一年来生活中的喜怒哀乐，表达内心的祝福及爱。
    红与白相映成趣的是圣诞老人，他是圣诞节活动中最受欢迎的人物。西方儿童在圣诞夜临睡之前，要在壁炉前或枕头旁放上一只袜子，等候圣诞老人在他们入睡后把礼物放在袜子内。
据说平安夜的晚上，圣诞节老公公会驾着驯鹿雪橇满载着礼物准备送点这一年来表现很好的小朋友，他会悄悄地从烟囱爬进屋内，礼物塞在挂在床头的袜子里。所以孩子总会把一条条彩缤纷的袜子挂在床头，希望送份大礼给自己。 隔天每个小朋友都迫不及待地打开礼，想知道自己得到什么奖励。
然而圣诞树真正出现在圣诞节，首先见于德国，之后又传入欧洲和美国，成为圣诞节不可或缺的装饰物。每棵树的顶端必定有一棵特大的星星，像征着那颗引导东方三博士到耶稣的星星。
在美国，圣诞节宴席上的传统食物有填馅的火鸡、土豆泥等。烤火鸡不但在美国，在加拿大、澳大利亚和新西兰也是圣诞宴席上最普遍的主菜。人们最喜欢的饭后甜点包括甜馅饼或南瓜馅饼、李子布丁和水果蛋糕。蛋奶酒是许多家庭喜欢的饮料。在英国，圣诞宴在中午举行，传统食品有烤火鸡或烤鹅、圣诞布丁、甜馅饼和葡萄酒。