The roots of Christmas Zeezganov Ivan and Silakov Aleksey

Christmas is almost always the happiest day of the year. Children like to think of it as their own holiday. But for everyone it is a very special time.

At Christmas, we follow old customs. We feel the magic of the season. And we try to care more deeply for others

Little histories Christmas gets its name from a special service or mass held in churches on Christmas day. Christs Mass, or Christmas, celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ.

Long ago in the Holy Land, the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary. He told her that she would be the mother of Jesus. Then Mary and her husband Joseph went to Bethlehem. The cite was so crowded that they had to stay in a stable. There Mary gave birth to Jesus and laid him in a manger. A manger is a feedbox where farm animals eat their day

Before Jesus was born, most people were pagans. This means that they prayed to the sun, the moon, and many different gods of nature

Late December can be a cold, dark time of the year. December21 is the shortest day of the year. But by December25, the days get the longer again

No one knows the exact day when Jesus was born. Some early churches celebrated Jesus birth on different dates through the year- in March or May or December

Christmas stories

The gift of the Magic Jim and Della were poor, but they had two things of which they were proud: one was Dellas beautiful long hair, and the other was Jims fine pocket watch (which had belonged to his father before him)

When Jim came home on Christmas Eve, he couldnt believe his eyes. He had loved Dellas hair, and now it was so short she looked like a boy.

Now it was Dellas turn to give Jim his present, the gold watch chain to go with his fathers watch. Jim looked at the chain and smiled. Della well have to put our Christmas gifts away for a while. You see, I sold my watch to get the money to buy those combs for your hair. Lets just put our Christmas supper up, and enjoy what we do still have, which is- each other

The wrong Joy On Christmas morning Billy woke up and limped downstairs to see what Santa had brought him. There, sitting under the tree, was a brand-new red bicycle. You see ever since Billy had hurt his leg, He could barely walk. Now, he didnt really want to walk (he told himself), and riding a bike was out of the question!

He went outside and tried that coasting back and forth, up and down the block, pushing against the sidewalk, first with one foot, then with both.

Maybe I can just pedal to the school yard, Billy whispered to himself. Maybe this wasnt the wrong toy at all. Billy grinned By next Christmas, he said out loud, all Ill need is a bell!