Today, Slovakia celebrates one of the most important Christian holidays: This is inextricably linked with it
The celebration of the Nativity of the Lord, which is Easter and Pentecost in addition to church holidays, is celebrated on Sunday by the majority of Christians in Slovakia and the world.
During the day, believers commemorate the events in Bethlehem (Hebrew: House of Bread), a city located about eight kilometers south of Jerusalem. Joseph from Nazareth and his fiancée Mary came here for the census. And here, in a cave outside the city, according to tradition, Jesus was born. On this holiday, believing Christians take part in solemn services, enjoy the joyful memory of the Redeemer’s arrival in the world, and pray for understanding and peace in the world.. In Catholic churches, in addition to solemn masses, nativity scenes for children or Nativity plays are held in many places in the churches.
A solemn holy liturgy is held in Greek Catholic churches during the holiday. The emphasis is on the fact that God became man, took on human nature, so that through his humiliation, death and resurrection, man could participate in God’s life.
Evangelicals gather in the morning or in the afternoon for solemn services of God with the Lord’s Supper.
Orthodox churches that follow the Julian calendar, including Orthodox believers in Slovakia and Bohemia, will not celebrate the Feast of the Nativity until January 6 and 7, 2023.
Initially, the birth did not have its own holiday, but was commemorated on the day of the Epiphany – Three Kings, that is, January 6. A special commemoration of the birth of God began to appear in the West around the middle of the 4th century. The first record comes from Rome in 336. According to these sources, the holiday was celebrated on December 25. Since March 25th is generally commemorated as the Feast of the Annunciation, when the Archangel Gabriel announced to Mary that she would be the mother of Christ, nine months later, according to this tradition, December 25th is the symbolic day of the Lord’s Nativity.
Another hypothesis talks about Christianization and a new Christian interpretation of the Roman festival of the birth of the Sun (Natalis Solis Invicti). Roman Christians began to celebrate this pagan holiday as their own holiday of the Nativity of Christ – as the Sun – based on biblical quotes, for example Christ as the Sun of Justice (Sol Iustitiae) or Christ – the Light of the World. This date – December 25 – as the feast of the Nativity of the Lord was universally accepted and quickly caught on.