圣诞节(Christmas)又称耶诞节，译名为“基督弥撒”，西方传统节日，在每年12月25日。弥撒是教会的一种礼拜仪式。圣诞节是一个宗教节，因为把它当作耶稣的诞辰来庆祝，故名“耶诞节”。
【圣诞节的由来英文版】
Christmas is a Christian holiday that celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. No one knows the exact date of Christ's birth, but most Christians observe Christmas on December 25. On this day, many go to church, where they take part in special religious services. During the Christmas season, they also exchange gifts and decorate their homes with holly, mistletoe, and Christmas trees. The word Christmas comes from Cristes maesse, an early English phrase that means Mass of Christ. The story of Christmas comes chiefly from the Gospels of Saint Luke and Saint Matthew in the New Testament.
The history of Christmas dates back over 4000 years. Many of our Christmas traditions were celebrated centuries before the Christ child was born. The 12 days of Christmas, the bright fires, the yule log, the giving of gifts, carnivals(parades) with floats, carolers who sing while going from house to house, the holiday feasts, and the church processions can all be traced back to the early Mesopotamians.
Many of these traditions began with the Mesopotamian celebration of New Years. The Mesopotamians believed in many gods, and as their chief god-Marduk. Each year as winter arrived it was believed that Marduk would do battle with the monsters of chaos. To assist Marduk in his struggle the Mesopotamians held a festival for the New Year. This was Zagmuk, the New Year's festival that lasted for 12 days.
The Persians and the Babylonians celebrated a similar festival called the Sacaea. Part of that celebration included the exchanging of places, the slaves would become the masters and the masters were to obey. The ancient Greeks held a festival similar to that of the Zagmuk/Sacaea festivals to assist their god Kronos who would battle the god Zeus and his Titans.
The Roman's celebrated their god Saturn. Their festival was called Saturnalia which began the middle of December and ended January 1st. With cries of "Jo Saturnalia!" the celebration would include masquerades in the streets, big festive meals, visiting friends, and the exchange of good-luck gifts called Strenae (lucky fruits). The Romans decked their halls with garlands of laurel and green trees lit with candles. Again the masters and slaves would exchange places.
"Jo Saturnalia!" was a fun and festive time for the Romans, but the Christians thought it an abomination to honor the pagan god. The early Christians wanted to keep the birthday of their Christ child a solemn and religious holiday, not one of cheer and merriment as was the pagan Saturnalia.
Some legends claim that the Christian "Christmas" celebration was invented to compete against the pagan celebrations of December. The 25th was not only sacred to the Romans but also the Persians whose religion Mithraism was one of Christianity's main rivals at that time. The Church eventually was successful in taking the merriment, lights, and gifts from the Saturanilia festival and bringing them to the celebration of Christmas.
The exact day of the Christ child's birth has never been pinpointed. Traditions say that it has been celebrated since the year 98 AD. In 137 AD the Bishop of Rome ordered the birthday of the Christ Child celebrated as a solemn feast. In 350 AD another Bishop of Rome, Julius I, choose December 25th as the observance of Christmas.
The birth of Jesus had a story: In Nazareth, a city of Galilee. The virgin's name was Mary was betrothed to Joseph. Before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. Joseph her husband was minded to put her away secretly. While he thought about these things, Gabriel, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and told him did not be afraid to take Mary as wife. And Mary will bring forth a Son, and he shall call his name, Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.
Before Jesus births, Joseph and Mary came to Quirnius was governing Syria. So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city. Joseph also went up out of Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and of the lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child. So it was that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped him in swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
And that, Christmas is the feast of the nativity of Jesus, is on 25th, December every year. But nobody knows the actual birthday of Jesus. And the Christmas has become popular when Christmas cards appeared in 1846 and the concept of a jolly Santa Claus was first made popular in nineteenth Century.
The custom of giving gifts to relatives and friends on a special day in winter probably began in ancient Rome and northern Europe. In these regions, people gave each other small presents as part of their year-end celebrations.
In the 1800's, two more Christmas customs became popular--decorating Christmas trees and sending Christmas cards to relatives and friends. Many well-known Christmas carols, including Silent Night" and Hark! The Herald Angels Sing," were composed during this period. In the United States and other countries, Santa Claus replaced Saint Nicholas as the symbol of gift giving.
The word Xmas is sometimes used instead of Christmas. This tradition began in the early Christian church. In Greek, X is the first letter of Christ's name. It was frequently used as a holy symbol.
【翻译】
圣诞节是基督教的节日，庆祝耶稣基督的诞生。没有人知道基督诞生的确切日期，但大多数的基督徒在12月25日的圣诞节。在这一天，许多去教堂，在那里他们参加特别的宗教服务。圣诞节期间，他们还交换礼物和装饰冬青，槲寄生的家园，和圣诞树。圣诞节一词来自Cristes maesse，早期的英语词组这意味着质量的基督。圣诞节的故事，主要是从新约圣徒路加和马太福音。
圣诞节的历史可追溯到4000年以上。许多我们的圣诞节传统在基督诞生前几个世纪都在庆祝。圣诞节的12天，明亮的火焰，尤尔日志，提供礼品，嘉年华会(游行)的花车，carolers谁唱的同时，挨家挨户，节日假期，和教会游行都可以追溯到早期。
许多这些传统开始于美索不达米亚的新年庆祝活动。美索不达米亚人信奉多神，并作为他们的主要神Marduk。每年冬天到来的时候，人们认为马杜克就会怪物战斗。为了帮助马尔杜克Mesopotamians举行了新年的节日。这是Zagmuk，新年的节日持续12天。
巴比伦人和波斯人有一个类似的节日，称为Sacaea.。这一庆典的一部分包括交换场所，奴隶们将成为主人，而大师们则要服从。古希腊人举行了节日类似的Zagmuk / Sacaea节日，以协助其神克罗诺斯谁将战斗神宙斯和他的巨人。
罗马的庆祝他们的神土星。他们被称为农神节始于十二月中旬和1月1日结束。随着“赵撒特那利亚哭!”庆祝活动将包括伪装在街头，大型宴会，拜访朋友，交流的好运气的礼物所谓strenae(幸运水果)。罗马人的大厅装饰花环的桂树和绿色的树木点燃的蜡烛。又一次，主人和奴隶会交换位置。
“赵撒特那利亚!”是一种乐趣和节日的时候，罗马人，但基督徒认为这纪念异教神所憎恶的。早期的基督徒要保持他们的基督孩子一个庄严的宗教节日的生日，而不是欢呼和欢乐的是异教徒农神节。
有些传说宣称基督教的“圣诞节”的庆祝活动是为了与十二月的异教徒庆祝活动的。第二十五不仅是神圣的罗马人，而且波斯人的宗教Mithraism是一个基督教的主要竞争对手，当时。以欢乐，灯光教会的最终成功，从Saturanilia节日礼物，给他们带来的圣诞庆祝活动。
基督出生的确切日期从来没有确定。传统说，自公元98年以来，罗马的主教下令将基督儿童的生日作为一个庄严的节日来庆祝。在公元350年，另一位主教罗马，尤利乌斯，我选择12月25日作为庆祝圣诞节。
耶稣诞生的故事：在拿撒勒，就是加利利的一座城。童女的名字叫玛丽的未婚夫约瑟夫。在他们走到一起，她被发现与圣灵的孩子。她丈夫的丈夫很想把她带走。当他想起这些事的时候，加布里埃尔，一个天使的天使出现在他梦中，并告诉他不要害怕把玛丽当妻子。玛丽必生出一个儿子，他就要叫他的名字，因为他要救他的百姓从他们的罪。
耶稣出生之前，约瑟和玛丽来到Quirnius是叙利亚执政。所以所有的人都去了他自己的城市。约瑟也从加利利去，出了拿撒勒城，到朱迪亚，到戴维的城市，这是所谓的伯利恒，因为他的房子和戴维的后裔，被登记的玛丽，他的未婚妻妻子，谁是儿童。他们在那里的时候，天已完成，为她交付。就生了头胎的儿子，和他在swaddling包布，放在马槽里，因为客店里没有地方。
而且，圣诞节是纪念耶稣诞生的节日，是每年的12月25日。但没有人知道基督的实际生日。圣诞卡出现在1846和一个欢乐的圣诞老人克劳斯是第一个在第十九世纪流行的圣诞节已经成为流行。
一个特殊的日子，在一个特殊的日子里给亲戚和朋友送礼物的习俗大概在古罗马和北欧开始了。在这些地区，人们给了彼此小礼物作为他们的年底的一部分。