The many holidays and traditions of December

Dec. 5—People all around the world of various cultures, traditions, and religions celebrate and observe important religious and cultural holidays and feasts during the month of December. Check out the different days holidays are celebrated.

Dec. 6

Saint Nicholas Day

Western Christians will celebrate Saint Nicholas Day or the Feast of Saint Nicholas. Children all across the United States will leave their shoes in the foyer in hopes of Saint Nicholas leaving coins in their shoes for them to find the next morning.

Saint Nicholas Day is not widely celebrated in the United States (at least not to the degree it is in German custom) except for cities strongly influenced my Germany.

Dec. 8

Rohatsu (Bodhi Day)

Bodhi Day is the day Gautama Buddha is said to have attained enlightenment.

Mainstream Mahayana traditions such as the Zen and Pure Land schools of the Philippines, China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam celebrate Bodhi Day.

Buddhist sects hold various types of services to commemorate the Buddha's achievement of Nirvana and what that means for Buddhists today.

Feast of the Immaculate Conception

Immaculate Conception Day is celebrated by Catholics and it recognizes the sinless life and immaculate conception of the Virgin Mary. It is celebrated 9 months prior to the feast of the Nativity of Mary.

Immaculate Conception Day is among the most important Marian feasts on the liturgical calendar.

Dec. 12

Feast Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe

The Feast Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe is celebrated by Catholics in the United States and Mexico.

Every year, thousands of people make a pilgrimage to the Basilica in Mexico City. The day commemorates her apparition to Saint Juan Diego in the hills of Tepeyac in 1531.

As a sign of devotion to Mary, many people make the pilgrimage on their knees each year.

Dec. 16-24

Posadas Navidenas

Las Posadas is a novenario celebrated Dec. 16 through Dec. 24 by Hispanic people in the United States as well as in Latin America, Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Cuba.

The nine day interval represents the pregnancy term of the Virgin Mary.

Actors dressed as Mary and Joseph travel to certain houses designated to be "inns" and the head of the procession carries a candle inside a paper shade. The actors travel to one house each night for nine nights.

Dec. 18-26

Hanukkah

The Festival of Lights is celebrated by Jewish people from Dec. 18 to Dec. 26. and commemorates the recovery of Jerusalem and subsequent rededication of the Second Temple at the beginning of the Maccabean revolt against the Seleucid Empire in the 2nd century BCE.

The eight candles symbolize the number of days that the Temple lantern blazed with the ninth candle being used to light the others.

Dec. 21

Solstice

The Solstice occurs on Dec. 21 and has numerous traditions, holidays, and celebrations surrounding it in different religions and cultures.

Specifically, Wiccans and Pagans celebrate Yule where they honor "the winter-born king symbolized by the rebirth of the sun."

Dec. 25

Christmas

Christmas is a Christian festival that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ. It is primarily observed on Dec. 25. It is central to the liturgical calendar and is preceded by the Season of Advent or the Nativity Fast.

Christmas begins the 12 days of Christmastide.

Dec. 26

Zarathosht Diso (Death of Prophet Zarathustra)

A commemoration of the death of Zoroaster, the prophet of Zoroastrianism. Zartosht no-diso is observed on the 11th day of the 10th month of the Shenshai calendar. In the Gregorian calendar, Zarthost No-Diso falls on December 26. It is celebrated by attending lectures and discussions about the life of the prophet as well as his achievements. Mourning does not exist in Zoroastrianism, it is meant to be a happy holiday rather than one filled with grief, despite the grim origins.

Dec. 28

Holy Innocents Day

Holy Innocents Day is celebrated each year to commemorate King Herod's execution of the innocent male children in Bethlehem mentioned in Matthew 2:16. It is also sometimes referred to as the Feast of the Holy Innocents or Childermas. The children are considered Saints of God, or Martyrs, by the Christian church. To celebrate, a family typically allows the youngest child in the household to rule the day, deciding what the family will eat, what to do, and where they will go. The child is in charge!

Dec. 31

Watch Night

Also known as Freedom's Eve, Watch Night is a Christian service held on New Year's eve. The holiday is predominantly celebrated by African American churches, celebrating the enactment of the Emancipation Proclamation (January 1, 1863). Watch Night is typically celebrated late in the evening, with the service sometimes not beginning until 10pm. Afterwards, attendees will sometimes go to New Year's eve parties. The holiday's origin links back to the stories of enslaved peoples in Confederate states gathering in homes and churches to await the enactment of the Emancipation Proclamation, pending President Lincoln's signature.

Dec. 30

Feast of the Holy Family

A Roman Catholic holiday celebrated on the first Sunday after Christmas. Since Christmas is on a Sunday this year, it falls on the Friday after according to the liturgical calendar. The feast celebrates the holy family and their life together, as well as religious family life as a whole. Eastern Christianity has celebrated since early times. However, within Western Christianity, the holiday was formally instituted under Pope Benedict in 1921, but was not moved to be part of the Christmas season until 1969. Separate feasts exist for each member of the holy family, but the Feast of the Holy Family serves to create a holiday for the family unit.