Christmas celebrations
How do children around the world celebrate Christmas? In the articles below from the SOS Children's Village Bulawayo, Zimbabwe and Addis Abeba, Ethiopia we find out more about the festivities in those countries.
Within SOS Children's Villages in Zimbabwe, Christianity is the most widely practiced religion. At Christmas time, the children express their thoughts on the religious significance of the festivities.
Oncemore, age 16
"Christmas is the day when we celebrate the birthday of Jesus Christ. It is a day of joy and of coming together as one and a time of giving each other presents. We give thanks to our Lord."
Arnold, age 15
"Many people say 'Christmas, Christmas', but they don't know what it means. Today, I want to tell you what Christmas means to me.
Christmas is not just a day of rejoicing and eating rice and chicken and drinking all types of drinks and wearing new shoes, dresses and T-shirts. To me, these are not too special or meaningful.
Christmas means a lot to me. I think of the birth of Christ who is Jesus, the son of God, who came to earth and died for our sins. Christmas means to love one another as brothers and sisters.
That's all I have to say about the meaning of Christmas."
Vusumuzi, age 17
"Christmas is a word which simply means the birth of Christ. Christmas is also a word which explains that Jesus was born to make people happy and to enjoy their lives in peace and happiness."
Maria, age 14
"Christmas is when people share and give to each other. Christmas is when we enjoy the birth of Jesus. We rejoice and praise the almighty lord. Faith in him is the best way to love him. Keeping in touch with the King will help you to attain perfection in both soul and spirit. His grace is sufficient for all people. That is why Christmas is joyful."
Celebrating Christmas in Ethiopia
If you are planning to spend Christmas in Ethiopia don't book your tickets too soon - you just might miss it, because unlike the rest of the world, Ethiopia celebrates Christmas, not on 25 December, but two weeks later on 7 January.
Ethiopia is a country made up of thousands years of history and culture, much of it linked to Christianity. Christians make up almost 40% of Ethiopia's population and most belong to the Ethiopian Orthodox Church (which has links to the Coptic Church in Egypt, Greece and Russia). Like Christians the world over, Ethiopians love to celebrate feast days, but if you plan to visit Ethiopia over Christmas make sure you are still there on 7 January, the official Christmas Day of the Coptic Orthodox Church.
Unlike most of the world's nations, Ethiopia officially follows the Julian Calendar, as opposed to the Gregorian one. The Julian Calendar, originally dating from 44 B.C.is seven years behind the Gregorian, so that at the moment, Ethiopia is still in 1998. To make matters even more confusing for outsiders, Ethiopia has 13 months in every year, and the New Year itself begins with the month of Meskerem, which in the Western calendar is 11 September. Christmas is actually in the fifth month of the Ethiopian calendar and according to the Julian calendar is celebrated on 7 January, 13 days after 25 December. The anomaly is due to the fact that although Pope Gregory 'refined' the original Julian Calendar in 1582 to reduce a time error, the Orthodox Church did not adopt it, instead retaining the former style.
Christmas in Ethiopia (at least in the 20th century) falls on 7 January, Epiphany on 20 January, the Annunciation on 7 April and the feast of St Nicholas on 19 December. If you are in Ethiopia over Christmas you will find most Christians will spend all night in church, returning home in the morning to share food and gifts. Christmas Day is a public holiday.
Timqat - one of the greatest of the Church festivals
The Epiphany on 20 January (Western calendar) is known as Timqat. Timqat is one of the greatest of Ethiopia's Christian festivals and celebrations traditionally last three days, starting on the eve of Timqat, known as Ketera. This is when everyone wears their best white traditional Ethiopian clothes, apart from the priests who dress in bright colours and carry colourful embroidered and sequined umbrellas.
On Ketera, the consecrated Tabot (symbolizing the Ark of the Covenant) and without which no Church is sacred, is taken ceremonially by priests to a nearby stream or natural pool. The priests and the congregation spend the night here in prayer and after a 2.00 am mass, partake of an injera feast (injera is traditional Ethiopian pancake like bread). Just before dawn the priests bless the water and sprinkle it over the people. Such is the faith that the congregation has in the power of this holy water that many jump in fully clothed.
Once the crowd has been blessed the Tabot is returned to the Church, accompanied by the priests and dancing parishioners and the celebrations continue until the following day, which is devoted to St Michael the Archangel, Ethiopia's favourite saint.
According to Ethiopian history the true Ark of the Covenant is kept in the Church of St Mary of Zion in Axum, a town in northern Ethiopia. It is said that it was brought there by Menelik the First, the son of King Solomon and Queen Makeda. He was said to be the first Ethiopian king of the Solomic dynasty.
Holidays are not just Christian
Ethiopia has several other feast days of importance including The Finding of the True Cross on 28 September (when remnants of Jesus' cross were supposed to have been found). Easter is also an important date in the Christian calendar and the date varies but is rarely the same date as Easter in the West. Other important non-Christian holidays include Id Al Fatir, Id Al Adha and Maulidi, significant dates for the Moslems, and political celebrations such as International Labour Day, Ethiopian Patriots Day and The Downfall of the Dergue (the last three all celebrated in May).
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