Christmas

Hello, I propose a new subject about Christmas. I want to know, how you celebrate Christmas in your country.

In France, we celebrate Christmas with our family, the 24th december on the evening. We prépare a gift for each member of our family, and we eat a good meal. We can listen Christmas' songs or sing. It's a good moment.

But, the most important for me, it's that to read a passage of the Bible.The history of Christmas. Christmas has an important significance. It's dommage that Noël is actually a commerciale celebrate.

Yes, beside the fact I try to consider each day as Christmas, the 25th's eve is special.
First of all in remembrance of the significance.
After I love to eat from 8 to 10 PM, being with my family, and talk, and eat, and talk... Then come gift time for children, as they keep quiet and stop asking and screaming .
When everybody got eat well and the children are satisfied, we sing songs, play music, and share the Christmas story.

The important is to feel the real meaning of Christmas, that's our real joyce

So Sam, how do they celebrate Christmas in Hungary (Hongrie)?

I was sad to check on internet about "The Christmas story", and realized that only a few tell what is it really. So I found out that one:
http://www.geocities.com/~perkinshome/story.html

You also can read Luke 2.1-20; and Mt 1.18-25

Mt 1.23

Bonne idée Sam bien qu'il soirt encore un peu tôt pour noël...

Au Liban c'est un peu la même chose qu'en France. Je pense que c'est partout pareil d'ailleurs. On se réunis en famille autour d'un bon repas.

Et après vient le temps des cadeaux, pas seulement aux petits, bien qu'ils soient les plus excités à les recevoir, mais au jeunes et adultes aussi !

Le tout est de partager sa joie et son amour avec d'autres personnes. Noël est sans doute une fête de joies : Un sauveur nous est né (Luc 2:11).
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Good idea Sam also it's alittle bit early for chrstmas...

At Lebanon it's almost the same as in France. I think besides that it's similar everywhere. We join our family around a good meal.

And then come the time of gifts, not only for childrens, although they're the most excited to get them but also to young and adult people too !

The all thing is to share one's joy and love with other people. Christmas is with no doubt a joy's feast : A savior are born for us (Luke 2:11)

I heard that in Hungary, the custom is to eat fish.

In Hungary they celebrate Christmas how we do in France

The same way as France you mean, ok. But I asked Christophe and he said that the custom is to eat fish each Christmas. Now I have to ask to know if it's a family thing or national.
I would like to know more about it, likehow do you say Christmas in Hungary?

Hello,

It's a good topic but because every body who spoke in this topic are almost all french i ask people who are not french to come and participate to this question. I would like to know how do you do in your country.
I do have double nationality ( french and swiss ) so i will explain how do we do in switzerland.( Noemie help me ) I think it's mostly the same but the differents is that once month before we start to make littles Christmas cookies. There is a lot of different kind but i don't know all the name. That is something important for christmas, i think...
If any people from switzerland have some thing more to say your are very welcome to help me.
See you

We celebrate Christmas, also on the 24th of December.My family goes to church in the evening.Afterwards we usually have a nice dinner together,sometimes we end up eating potatoe salad and sausages but we always have cake or ice-cream.
After the meal we read the Christmas story out of the Bible and have a short silent reflection.After that we might sing and make our dog go crazy with that or my Dad turns on some classic Christmas music.
Then we open up the presents that we started storing underneath the Christmas tree.
The 25th is a holiday in Germany, almost nobody goes to work, so most people use it to spend some time with their families.
Pretty similar to the way u do it in France, I guess.

Well, I'm Noémie (Hi Noël) and I'm Swiss.

About christmas in Hungary I don't know, but here in Switzerland, lot of people eat smoked salmon. (and salmon is a fish lol).

In Switzerland, Christmas is a big commercial thing, and lot of people don't even know what it is exactly. "Oh yes, the ledgend says that baby Jesus was born on Christmas but we don't really think so". And the man in red cape and white beard (?) is more popular and more known than Jesus.

At home, we have our family Christmas time. A supper, not to big, simple. Songs, poems that the kids learned at school (and my daddy says every years the same), time together, reading of the christmas passage in the Bible, talking about what is Christmas for us and sharing joy.
Normally, we have more than one christmas "party". One the 24th with the family, the 25th with great uncle and great aunt etc. The presents are allways there, but more for the children. Sometimes adultes too, but more in the closer family. When we do have a larger family Christmas reunion, only the kids recieve presents.

Thank you my dear little ...

in Canada Christmas is a huge overblown event that no one wants to know the real meaning of because it will wreck their fun. My family gets together on Christmas eve at my grandparents house and we have a huge meal, then we sleep over and in the morning we read the Christmas story and open gifts.

Just a note on the Christmas Advent.

Everyone notices that "marketingly" (I mean in a money way), Christmas starts about fifteen days before December, and sometimes takes even place right after Hallowen. This is in order for the businesses to create an event to attract people.

But Christmas starts in the beginning of December for us also, with the Advent period.

In fact, the custom is to have a wreath (make with firtree branches, because it's the only tree you can use the green color in winter ). On this wreath will be held four candles, each ones represanting of a Sunday of December.
Thus, each Sunday we burn a candle. This year we burned one last Sunday, and the 10 we are going to burn two, then 3 candles will shine at the same time, and the Sunday 24, at Christmas Eve, the four candles will enlight the room, or the porch of the house.

This tradition have several explications, it's a Catholic tradition, which takes roots in the pre-Christian Germanic beleifs.

As Christian we just want mark each December Sunday as the coming soon of or Lord, as John 3:19-21 says: “the Light that came into the world" to dispel the darkness of sin and to radiate the truth and love of God".



I know some people do this in North America, and in Canada too. I'm very curious to learn if you use to the advent tradition in your family or country, what do you do in your house?

yah my family doesn't do the whole Advent wreath thing in our house but we do it at church. pretty much the exact same thing. I don't know how common it is but my friends church's do it to. Not many people do it in their homes though.

Oui c'est la même chose au liban : peu de gens font la période de l'Avent mais il le font à l'église en lisant la naissance de Jésus dans chacun des évangiles en d'allumant chaque bougie.
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Yes it's the same thing in lebanon : very few people do the Chrismas Advent but they do at the church and they read the Jesus born in each gospel with the lightning of each candle.