A Christmas Full of Love and Peace
Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year!!!
*****
Christmas is celebrated every December 25 in commemoration of the birth of the Prince of Peace, Jesus of Nazareth.
Throughout the world, Filipinos are proud to proclaim their Christmas celebration to be the longest and merriest, beginning on December 16 with the so-called “Simbang Gabi” or dawn masses until the first Sunday of January, Feast of the Epiphany or Three Kings.
Among the widespread features of the long Christmas season in the Philippines are the following: family reunions and the exchange of gifts, church services, displays of various decorations, including Christmas trees, and Santa Claus (associated with the bringing of gifts for children).
Accordingly, the word Christmas originated as a compound word meaning “Christ’s Mass.” It is derived from the Middle English “Christemasse” and Old English “Cristes maesse,” a phrase first recorded in 1038. “Cristes” is from Greek “Christos” and “maesse” is from Latin “missa” (the holy mass).
While in Greek, the letter X (chi) is the first letter of Christ, and it, or the similar Roman X letter, has been used as an abbreviation for Christ since the mid-16th century. Hence, Xmas is often used as an abbreviation for Christmas.
The true meaning of Christmas, the “reason for the season,” is found in the message of the Gospel. Here it is, so beautifully encapsulated in John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” (PNA)
