Violet Teague (1872-1951), Adoration of Shepherds, 1931, oil on canvas. Photograph by Colin Holden. Image courtesy of Anglican Church of Australia Archive. Christmas is celebrated in many parts of the world on 25 December. Protestant and Roman Catholic churches hold Christmas Day services on 25 December. The Eastern churches - the Ethiopian Orthodox church, Russian Orthodox church and the Armenian church - celebrate Christmas on 6 or 7 January. There have been rituals, parties and celebrations at this time of year for thousands of years. Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. Christians believe that Jesus is 'the son of God', the Messiah sent from Heaven to save the world. The 'Christmas story' tells of the birth of Jesus in a stable in Bethlehem, the angels announcing the birth to the shepherds in the fields, and the Magi (wise men from the East) visiting the stable and offering gifts to the newborn child. A Roman almanac confirms that 25 December was used to celebrate Christmas in 336 AD, although it was nearly 600 years later that the churches created a liturgy - a service for public worship - for the occasion. The choice of date is believed ... 

You still have the simplicity and timelessness you have come to expect with traditional Christmas cards when you send Christmas ecards this Christmas season. Christmas is the one time of the year when you try to send a greeting card to everyone you know and choosing traditional greeting cards can be very time consuming if you don't want to buy packages of cards that have the same design and message. When you search the numerous designs of ecards (http://www.care2.com/ecards/) with a Christmas theme, you will easily see how you can create a unique card for everyone on your list. Some of the sites offering free ecards also give you the option of sending the same card to multiple recipients at once. The personalized feature of Christmas ecards allows you to include a message just for the recipient. You can choose the Christmas carol and the animation for each card, which can be inspirational, funny, romantic or simply a cute ecard that catched your attention. There are also sites that let you upload your own photos for a very inexpensive price. When you do pay the small fee for sending the Christmas ecards, you also have a wider option of choices in the cards ... 

With the Christmas holiday season fast approaching it's time to start thinking about decorating your home for Christmas. While there are many areas of the home that can be decorated most of us focus our attention on the Christmas Tree. Here are some things to think about when decorating your Christmas Tree to ensure it makes a beautiful festive focal point in your home during the holiday season. The most common Christmas decoration found on a Christmas tree is usually the lights. Christmas lights (or fairy lights) are small lights that tend to be multicolored or white. These days Christmas lights are fairly inexpensive and come in many shapes and sizes, from different colored bulbs to different shapes and lighting effects. A large number of Christmas tree owners use Christmas lights to decorate their Christmas trees. Depending on the type of Christmas lights you use, if you choose to use them at all, you may be able to set your lights to play a Christmas tune or flash in a certain pattern. Aside from Christmas lights, Christmas ornaments are another one of the most commonly used Christmas decorations, for Christmas trees. Traditional Christmas ornaments are ball-shaped and are typically colored ...