How Christmas Is Celebrated Around the World
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A common part of Christmas celebrations involves setting up a nativity scene in your home or garden. Seeing Christmas decorations going up all around is very exciting and helps get the holiday season in full swing.
It’s easy to get so caught up in the advertising and media frenzy around Christmas that you forget the actual point of Christmas. A nativity scene can serve as a welcome reminder of what’s really important.
Amidst all the stuffed turkey and Christmas stockings, a nativity scene reminds us of the real significance of this holiday: a certain baby was born in a certain stable — and changed the world forever.
Even those who are not Christians are likely to have been affected by the birth of this baby, because more than 30 percent of the world’s population have Christian beliefs and customs.
Outdoor Nativity Sets
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The nativity scenes people typically set up range from simple, with just Mary and her baby lying in his manger, to highly extravagant. On the simple end of the spectrum, you could make a few of your own nativity figures at very little cost. At the extravagant end, you could buy a nine-piece nativity set featuring life-sized characters for as much as $2,000.
Outdooractivitysets.com for example, has a really good offer this year, not too big and not too small, called the Holy Night Complete Nativity Scene. For $499.99, you get an eight-piece ensemble with angels, wise men, a shepherd, a sheep, a donkey, a calf, and a camel, as well as the main Nativity Stable piece. Or you can browse nativity sets offer pages individually for more great deals.
All the figures in the nativity sets from outdooractivitysets.com are designed to last. They are made out of the same plastic that is used for shipping infrastructure, which has to be very tough. This plastic is designed to withstand prolonged exposure to seawater, and being buffeted by strong waves, so you can be pretty sure it’ll survive in your garden.
National Christmas Traditions
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Christmas is a Christian religious holiday, but it’s celebrated by Christians of many different nationalities in many different ways.
Many of the celebrations involve special Christmas dishes and sweets, Christmas gifts, and Christmas decorations.
Italy
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Vatican City, the home of the Roman Catholic Church, unsurprisingly overflows with Christian imagery of all kinds.
As many as 12 nativity scenes, each more than 200 years old, were displayed in the Vatican Audience Hall in 2006.
More modern Christmas traditions, like Father Christmas and his reindeer are not tolerated in this orthodox stronghold.
Czech Republic and France
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In 1782, Emperor Joseph II banned nativity displays in churches and other institutions, but Czech citizens merely moved their nativity displays into the privacy of their homes.
Around the same time, during the French Revolution, churches were closed down, and nativity scenes were banned.
Like the Czechs, the French responded by crafting their own small nativity figurines that were easy to keep private.
Hungary and Poland
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Starting from the 19th century, Christmas nativity scenes called Szopka have been displayed in Poland every year. Street performers put on a reenactment of the nativity story, and afterward, go from door to door, carrying the nativity figures.
In Hungary, there’s a similar tradition where people go on a procession around the neighborhood with nativity figures. The only difference from Poland is that in Hungary, the ones carrying the nativity figures around are schoolchildren.
United States
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The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City displays the famous Neapolitan Baroque Crèche every year at Christmas. The backdrop for the scene is a choir screen from a famous Spanish cathedral.
Traditional nativity figures, nestled against a giant spruce tree, make up the foreground of the scene. Several other cities in America have traditional nativity displays, but none of them are as magnificent as this one.
Philippines
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Like Italy, the Philippines has a primarily Catholic population.
Since the 16th century, when the Spanish invaded the Philippines, nativity tableaux have been displayed at Christmas every year.
They are illuminated by special Christmas lanterns called parol to represent the Star of Bethlehem.
Australia
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Dec. 25 falls in the middle of summer in Australia (and Australian summers are veryhot), so many of their Christmas festivities take place outdoors.
There are lots of opportunities to create larger-than-life nativity displays and illuminate them during the mild evenings with beautiful colored lighting.
Bottom Line: Love, Laugh and Share the True Spirit of Christmas
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One of the best ways to strengthen the bonds of love between family members is with family activities that everybody enjoys. Christmas is the perfect occasion for doing just that.
As everybody cooperates in putting up the Christmas decorations and preparing the Christmas meal, you can focus on helping others and sharing the true spirit of Christmas.
Be sure to make your home a haven of love, laughter, and Christmas cheer as you put up a beautiful nativity scene.
This article is a partnership with Outdoor Nativity Sets.