Page 18 - 200712 - The 'X' Chronicles Newspaper - December 2007

18 Christmas Facts 18 Christmas Facts CHRISTMAS Merry Christmas From Everyone at CHRISTMAS Merry Christmas From Everyone at ACTS REL-MAR McConnell Media F FACTS REL-MAR McConnell Media Company with wishes for Love, Company with wishes for Love, Continued From Page 17 Peace, Health, Happiness, Joy and Continued From Page 17 Peace, Health, Happiness, Joy and Light Light - In 1834, Queen Victoria's husband, Prince in 2008. in 2008. Albert brought the first Christmas tree to Windsor Castle for the Royal family. - 6 December is St Nicholas's Day - the first of the gift giving days, especially in Holland and Belgium. - Some priests in Australia advise you to say "Happy Christmas", not "Merry Christmas", because Merry has connotations of getting drunk - which brings its own problems. One should say "Happy" instead. - The actual gift givers are different in various countries: * Spain and South America: The Three Kings * Italy: La Befana (a kindly old witch) * England: Father Christmas * France: Pere Noel (Father Christmas) * Russia: In some parts - Babouschka (a grandmotherly figure)Other parts it is was left to do everything working so hard and park of the Westfield Shopping Town in Grandfather Frost. * Germany: Christkind (angelic she was determined to make a happy time for Chatswood, Sydney, Australia on 9 November 1991. them at Christmas. She prepared a Christmas messenger from Jesus) She is a beautiful fair haired girl with a shining crown of Tree to surprise them on Christmas Day. - A goose was customary Christmas fare until Unfortunately spiders visited the tree, and Henry VIII took it upon himself to tuck into a candles. * Scandinavia: a variety of Christmas gnomes. crawled from branch to branch, making webs all turkey. Mince pies were once shaped like mangers and are thought to date back to the over it. The Christ Child saw the tree and knew One is called Julenisse * Holland: St Nicholas. she would be devastated to find this on sweetmeats formerly presented to the Vatican - Every year since 1947 the people in Oslo have Christmas morning. He changed the spiders' on Christmas Eve. webs to shining silver. - The freedom-fighter and religious activist given a Christmas tree to the city of - The first church the Dutch built in New York thought to have been born between 6 BC and 30 Westminster. The gift is an expression of City was named in St Nicholas' honour -St AD, by the name of Jesus Christ from the Greek goodwill and gratitude for Britain's help to Norway in the 1939-1945 war. Nicholas Church. christos, "the anointed one". He was born in a stable in Bethlehem. He started out as a - Many Christmas customs are carryovers from - The first American Christmas carol was pre-Christian celebrations. Hanging gifts on carpenter, but became a missionary following written in 1649 by a minister named John de trees is supposed to stem from tree worship of his baptism by a cousin, John. After proclaiming Brebeur and is called "Jesus is Born". - Mexicans call the poinsettia "Flower of the the Druids, and the belief that the tree was the himself the Messiah, Jesus was betrayed by a Holy Night" - the Holy Night is the Mexican giver of all good things. The Druids are also disciple and crucified. He is later said to have risen from the dead. partly responsible for the use of mistletoe at way of saying "Christmas Eve". Christmastime. They regarded the mistletoe as - If you're wondering why men may have not - Tom Smith who owned a sweet shop in sacred, made certain that it never touched the flocked to kiss you under the mistletoe, the London was the originator of the cracker. In the 1840s Tom found that people like sugar ground, and dedicated it to the Goddess of answer may be that it was said that it will only work if the person you are kissing is a virgin. Love, which explains the kissing that goes on almonds, but while he was in France he under it. Originally, when a boy kissed a girl, he On the sixth day of the new moon, a Druid discovered a variety of sweets wrapped up in a plucked a berry from the cluster and presented it priest used to cut mistletoe from an oak tree twist of paper. These bonbons were popular, so Tom decided to copy them. When Tom noticed to her. When the berries were gone, so were the with a sacred sickle. A passing virgin was called that young men were buying them to give to kisses. upon to catch the falling plant, which was not - In Christmas tree decorations, angels are allowed to touch the ground. their sweethearts he began to place "love usually portrayed as wimpy blondes in girl's - The first commercial Christmas card, mottoes" on small slips of paper inside the blouses and sandals. In the Bible, however, produced in 1846, featured a drawing of family sweet wrapping. - In 1846 Tom's thoughts turned towards angels are muscular bullies who frequently goad members happily toasting each other with humans into fistfights. Life isn't all harps and glasses of wine - a shockingly decadent portrait Christmas - instead of sweets he thought he heavenly choirs for angels; there's a strict career that was immediately condemned by would place toys and novelties inside the structure. The only angels mentioned by name temperance advocates. In New South Wales, twisted wrapping. He experimented with this and the idea of producing a wrapping that could in the Bible are archangels, the eighth-ranking Australia, the average daily mailbag of six to be pulled apart - just like the cracker as we order of angels. seven million items of mail can triple over Christmas. The heaviest day ever was on 23 - Visitors to Bethlehem rarely exceed a few know it today. thousand at Christmas. In 1995, there were December 1997, when a record 23 million items - The word carol is derived from the old French rowdy celebrations of the first Christmas in a were delivered in this state in Australia word caroller which derives from the Latin choraula. This itself was derived from the Greek Palestinian-controlled Bethlehem. The - Santa's Reindeers are Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Christmas Eve service televised on 25 Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner and Blitzen. choraules. December is celebrated not in the Church of the Continued on Page 19 - The biggest selling Christmas single of all Nativity, which stands over the place where Continued on Page 19 time is Bing Crosby's White Christmas. - In Switzerland during the Reformation, al Jesus was said to have been born, but in the “Let There Be Peace instrumental and choral music was banned from nearby Franciscan Church of St. Catherine. - The largest functional Christmas cracker was churches. In Germany, disapproval of carols 45.72 metres long and 3.04 metres in diameter. On Earth, And Let It resulted in some being converted into hymns. It was made by Australian international rugby - Tinsel on the Christmas Tree is attributed to a woman whose husband died. She was left to player Ray Price in Markson Sparks of New Begin With Me.” South Wales, Australia and was pulled in the car bring up a large family of children herself. She