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During the Christmas season, various festivities are traditionally enjoyed and buildings are adorned with [[Christmas decorations]], which are often set up during [[Advent]].<ref name="Michelin2012">{{cite book|last=Michelin|title=Germany Green Guide Michelin 2012–2013|quote=Advent – The four weeks before Christmas are celebrated by counting down the days with an advent calendar, hanging up Christmas decorations and lightning an additional candle every Sunday on the four-candle advent wreath.|date=10 October 2012|publisher=Michelin |isbn=9782067182110|page=73}}<!--|access-date=9 April 2014--></ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.graphicgarden.com/files17/eng/sweden/xmas2e.php|title=Modern Christmas|last=Normark|first=Helena|year=1997|publisher=Graphic Garden|access-date=9 April 2014|quote=Christmas in Sweden starts with Advent, which is the await for the arrival of Jesus... Most people start putting up the Christmas decorations on the first of Advent.}}</ref> These Christmas decorations include the [[Nativity Scene]], [[Christmas tree]], and various [[Christmas ornament]]s. In the Western Christian world, the two traditional days on which Christmas decorations are removed are [[Twelfth Night (holiday)|Twelfth Night]], [[Baptism of Jesus]] and [[Candlemas]]. Any not removed on the first occasion should be left undisturbed until the second.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/holydays/candlemas.shtml|title=Candlemas|publisher=British Broadcasting Corporation |date=16 September 2009 |access-date=9 April 2014|quote=Any Christmas decorations not taken down by Twelfth Night (January 5th) should be left up until Candlemas Day and then taken down.}}</ref> Leaving the decorations up beyond Candlemas is considered to be inauspicious.<ref name="Raedisch2013">{{cite book|last=Raedisch|first=Linda|title=The Old Magic of Christmas: Yuletide Traditions for the Darkest Days of the Year|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kcirAAAAQBAJ&pg=PT161|access-date=9 April 2014|date=1 October 2013|publisher=Llewellyn Publications|isbn=9780738734507|page=161}}</ref> ''The Saint Andrew Daily Missal'' (1945), authored by [[Gaspar Lefebvre|Dom Gaspar Lefebvre]], stipulates:<ref name="Lefebvre1999"/>
{{quotation|Every Christian home should have its own little crib round which, on these days, morning and evening prayers should be said. At this season, consecrated to childlike joys, children will understand that they must join with the shepherds and the wise men together with Mary and Joseph in worshipping the Child Jesus, the Babe who lying on His bed of straw is God and beseech Him that through His grace they may become ever increasingly children of God together with Him. The greetings of "Happy Christmas" which remind us of the artless mirth of the shepherds on that holy night; the Christmas tree, often with a source of joy to the poor, representatives of Christ in the property of His manger bed; Christmas gifts recalling God's great gift of His Son to us on the first Christmas night; the Twelfth-Night cake; all these are Christian customs which ought to be preserved. —The Saint Andrew Daily Missal<ref name="Lefebvre1999"/>}}
On [[Christmas Eve]] or [[Christmas Day]] (the first day of Christmastide), it is customary for most households in [[Christendom]] to attend a [[service of worship]] or [[Mass (liturgy)|Mass]].<ref name="Aloian2008">{{cite book|last=Aloian|first=Molly|title=Christmas|url=https://archive.org/details/christmas0000aloi|url-access=registration|date=30 September 2008|publisher=Crabtree Publishing Company|isbn=9780778742876|page=[https://archive.org/details/christmas0000aloi/page/17 17]|quote=Going to Church Christmas Eve is a special time for many people...Churches usually have candlelight services or midnight masses.}}<!--|access-date=28 March 2015--></ref><ref name="Altar1885">{{cite book|last=Altar|title=Before The Altar|url=https://archive.org/details/beforealtardevo00altagoog|access-date=28 March 2015|year=1885|page=[https://archive.org/details/beforealtardevo00altagoog/page/n33 25]|quote=The Church orders you to receive at least three times a year, of which one time is to be Easter, the other two presumably Christmas and Whitsuntide.}}</ref> During the season of Christmastide, in many Christian households, a
In several parts of the world, it is common to have a large family feast on Christmas Day, preceded by saying [[Grace (prayer)|grace]]. Desserts such as [[Christmas cake]] are unique to Christmastide; in India and Pakistan, a version known as [[Allahabadi cake]] is popular.<ref name=Nair2013>{{cite web|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/sunday-times/deep-focus/Cakewalk-in-Allahabad/articleshow/27391297.cms|title=Cakewalk in Allahabad|last=Nair|first=Malini|date=15 December 2013|work=The Times of India|access-date=28 March 2015|quote=Around early December, an unusual kind of pilgrim starts to take the Prayag Raj from Delhi to Allahabad: the devout worshipper of the Allahabadi Christmas cake. This is no elegant western pudding — it is redolent with desi ghee, petha, ginger, nutmeg, javitri, saunf, cinnamon, something called cake ka jeera and marmalades from Loknath ki Galli. All this is browned to perfection at a bakery that has acquired cult status — Bushy's on Kanpur Road.}}</ref> During the Christmas season, it is also very common for [[Christmas carol]]s to be sung at Christian churches, as well as in front of houses—in the latter scenario, groups of Christians go from one house to another to sing Christmas carols.<ref name="GeddesGriffiths2002">{{cite book|last1=Geddes|first1=Gordon|last2=Griffiths|first2=Jane|title=Christian Belief and Practice|year=2002|publisher=Heinemann|isbn=9780435306915|page=102|quote=Carol singing is a common custom during the Christmas season. Many Christians form groups and go from house to house singing carols.}}<!--|access-date=28 March 2015--></ref> Popular Christmas carols include "[[Silent Night]]", "[[Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus]]", "[[We Three Kings]]", "[[Down in Yon Forest]]", "[[Away in a Manger]]", "[[I Wonder as I Wander]]", "[[God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen]]", "[[There's a Song in the Air]]", and "[[Let all mortal flesh keep silence]]".<ref name="Parker2005">{{cite book|last=Parker|first=David|title=Christmas and Charles Dickens|year=2005|publisher=AMS Press|isbn=9780404644642}}<!--|access-date=28 March 2015--></ref> In the Christmas season, it is very common for television stations to air feature films relating to Christmas and Christianity in general, such as ''[[The Greatest Story Ever Told]]'' and ''[[Scrooge (1951 film)|Scrooge]]''.<ref name="Newman1996">{{cite book|last=Newman|first=Jay|title=Religion Vs. Television: Competitors in Cultural Context|date=1 January 1996|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=9780275956400|page=101|quote=Then, of course, television regularly presents motion pictures (including made-for-television movies) and dramatic specials whose religious subjects or themes are so pronounced that they clearly qualify as religious television programs. One may immediately call to mind the Biblical epics of Cecil B. Demille, more sophisticated if somewhat ponderous films like ''The Song of Bernadette'', ''The Robe'', ''The Inn of the Sixth Happiness'', and ''The Greatest Story Ever Told'', and lighter but in some ways more moving films like ''Green Pastures'', ''Here Comes Mr. Jordan'', and ''Going My Way''. These are but a few of the dramatic shows built around religious subjects and themes that commercial and public television stations in North America regularly deliver to their audiences. Although television news coverage of religion is essentially news programming and is not primarily inspired by religious motives, some of its offerings do represent a kind of religious television programming, such as the outwardly pious features presented during the Christmas and Easter seasons...}}<!--|access-date=28 March 2015--></ref>
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