Christians
celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ every December 25th, also known as
Christmas Day. Although the exact date of his birth is not known, it was placed
between 7 and 2 BC based on the two canonical gospels of the New Testament.
Christmas is a time for remembering, a time to share the goodness of your heart
with others, and for expressing with words and gifts what someone means to you.
It is a chance to make wishes come true and to give something from your heart.
Myth: “Xmas” is a
non-religious name / spelling for “Christmas”.
It turns out,
“Xmas” is not a non-religious version of “Christmas”. The “X” is actually
indicating the Greek letter “Chi”, which is short for the Greek, meaning
“Christ”. So “Xmas” and “Christmas” are equivalent in every way except their
lettering.
Even though there
is much debate as to the exact date of His birth, Christians generally accept
December 25th as the day of Jesus’ birth. The word “Christmas” comes from the
Old English word “Cristes maesse” or “Christ’s mass” which was written to form
one word starting in the 14th century. It was derived from the Greek word
“Christos” (Christ) and the Latin word “missa” (mass).
The word “Xmas,”
on the other hand, is used as an abbreviation of the word “Christmas.” The
letter “X” comes from the Greek letter “chi,” the first letter in the Greek
word for “Christ,” and “maesse” from the Old English word for “mass.” The word
is considered as an informal form of the word “Christmas” and, as such, should
not be used in formal writing. It has been in use since the year 1100 written
as “Xpes maesse.” It evolved into the word “Xmas” during the middle of the 18th
century.
The date was
chosen as December 25th to coincide with the Roman winter solstice and nine
months since the conception of Jesus. It is a Christian holiday marked by
festivities and family get-togethers where people give gifts to each other
especially to children.
Christmas or
Christmas Day is the holiday which is celebrated by Christians as the birth of
Jesus Christ while Xmas is the abbreviation of the word.
The word
“Christmas” came from the Greek word “Christos” and the Latin word “missa”
while the word “Xmas” came from the first letter of the Greek word for “Christ”
and the word “mass.”
The word
“Christmas” is the spelling most preferred by most Christians while businesses
and advertisements prefer to use the word “Xmas” because it is more concise.
