Christian Community Celebrates Christmas with Enthusiasm

The Christian community is celebrating Christmas with full enthusiasm today( Dec 25). People all round the world have decorated their homes, buildings and streets with different ornaments and almost all the churches are illuminated with colorful lights this occasion. Different educational institutions run by churches have arranged various programmes like tableau and carols to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.

In Pakistan the members of the Christian community are participating in the preparations of the grand festival with great enthusiasm and the chiming of church bells can be heard to announce the day of birth of Jesus Christ. The cheerful occasion of Christmas has filled the atmosphere with Christmas tree, Santa Claus, Christmas gifts and carols.

“Christmas is an occasion for us to enjoy and celebrate. We decorate Christmas trees with ornaments and visit family and friends to exchange gifts and greeting cards,” said a group of young girls shopping for bells to ornament a Christmas tree. “We have almost completed our preparations and now we are preparing to decorate the Christmas trees in our homes,” they said.

Christmas is the annual Christian festival celebrating Christ’s birth, held on December 25 in the Western Church. The traditional date of December 25 goes back as far as A.D. 273. Since the early 20th century, Christmas has also been a secular holiday, observed by Christians and non-Christians alike. People exchange elaborate gifts on the day, and a mythical figure, named Santa Claus, plays the pivotal role.

One m ore interesting character of chrismats, Santa Claus is thought of mainly as the jolly man in red, but his story dates back to the 3rd century. The legend can be traced back to a monk named St. Nicholas. It is believed that Nicholas was born sometime around 280 A.D. in Patara, near Myra in modern-day Turkey. Admired for his piety and kindness, the monk became the subject of many legends. It is said that he gave away all of his inherited wealth and traveled the countryside helping the poor and sick.