A Christmas tree is a decorated tree, usually an evergreen conifer, such as a spruce, pine or fir, or an artificial tree of similar appearance, associated with the celebration of Christmas.
Advent is a season observed in most Christian denominations as a time of expectant waiting and preparation for both the celebration of the Nativity of Christ at Christmas and the return of Christ at the Second Coming. Advent is the beginning of the liturgical year in Western Christianity. The name was adopted from Latin adventus "coming; arrival", translating Greek parousia from the New Testament, originally referring to the Second Coming.
The Twelve Days of Christmas, also known as the Twelve Days of Christmastide, are the festive Christian season celebrating the Nativity.
The Advent wreath, or Advent crown, is a Christian tradition that symbolizes the passage of the four weeks of Advent in the liturgical calendar of the Western church. It is traditionally a Lutheran practice, although it has spread to many other Christian denominations.
Christmastide, also known as Christide, is a season of the liturgical year in most Christian churches.
Epiphany, or Eid al-Ghitas, also known as "Theophany" in Eastern Christian tradition, is a Christian feast day commemorating the visit of the Magi, the baptism of Jesus, and the wedding at Cana.
Herrnhut is an Upper Lusatian town in the Görlitz district in Saxony, Germany, known for the community of the Moravian Church established by Nicolas Ludwig, Count von Zinzendorf, in 1722.
The Moravian Church, or the Moravian Brethren, formally the Unitas Fratrum, is one of the oldest Protestant denominations in Christianity, dating back to the Bohemian Reformation of the 15th century and the Unity of the Brethren founded in the Kingdom of Bohemia, sixty years before Luther's Reformation.
A Christingle is a symbolic object used in the Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany services of many Christian denominations. It symbolises the birth of Christ, the Light of the World. A modern Christingle is made from a candle in an orange which is typically decorated with a red ribbon and sweets or dried fruit. It has been a feature in Moravian churches across the United Kingdom since before the World Wars. As members of Moravian churches moved away from their home congregations, they took the custom of Christingles with them and introduced it to other denominations. In the 1960s John Pensom adopted it as a fundraising tool for The Children's Society of the Church of England.
A Christmas decoration is any of several types of ornamentation used at Christmastide and the greater holiday season. The traditional colors of Christmas are pine green (evergreen), snow white, and heart red. Gold and silver are also prevalent, as are other metallic colours. Typical images on Christmas decorations include Baby Jesus, Mother Mary, angels, Father Christmas, Santa Claus, and the star of Bethlehem. Advent wreaths, nativity scenes, illuminations, and Moravian stars are popular Christmas decorations.
God's Acre is a churchyard, specifically the burial ground. The word comes from the German word Gottesacker, an ancient designation for a burial ground. The use of "Acre" is related to, but not derived from the unit of measurement and can be of any size. In the early 17th century the term was used as a translation of the German, but by the end of the century, it was accepted as an English term.
Nazareth Hall (1752–1929) was a school in Nazareth, Pennsylvania. It was built, by master mason Melchior Rasp, in 1754 in hopes that Count Nikolaus Ludwig Zinzendorf would return from Europe and settle permanently in the community; he never came back to America. It is located in the Nazareth Hall Tract, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
Christmas Star or Christmas star may refer to:
The Moravian Church of the British Province is part of the worldwide Moravian Church Unity. The Moravian Church in Britain has bishops in apostolic succession.
Jeremiah Dencke was born October 2, 1725, in Langenbielau, Silesia and died May 28, 1795, in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. He joined the Moravian Congregation at Gnadenfrei and was called to Moravian center in Herrnhut in 1748, where he became an organist. He emigrated to the American colonies in 1761 on the same ship with the father of Johann and Simon Peter. year. The oldest existing American Moravian art music is a set of seven solos and three duets Dencke composed for the Single Brethren's observance in 1765. It was performed in both Nazareth and Bethlehem, whose diaries use the term Vest Psalm when referring to it.
John Christian Bechler was a Moravian bishop, composer, and organist.
Moravian is the adjective form of the Czech Republic region of Moravia, and refers to people of ancestry from Moravia.
A Froebel star is a Christmas decoration made of paper, common in Germany. In English it does not have a commonly recognised name; it can be referred to as an Advent star, Danish star, German star, Nordic star, Pennsylvanian star, Polish star, Swedish star, Christmas star, or Froebel star. It is also sometimes called a Moravian star, though the Moravian star is a general category of geometrical shapes and the sixteen tipped piece of origami is specifically called the Froebel star.
The hanging of the greens is a Western Christian ceremony in which many congregations and people adorn their churches, as well as other buildings, with Advent and Christmas decorations. This is done on or directly before the start of the Advent season, in preparation for Christmastide. The service involves the placement of evergreen vegetation in the parish. Items such as the evergreen wreath, in Christianity, carry the religious symbolism of everlasting life, a theological concept within that faith. As such, during the liturgy, "Biblical passages and other readings help explain the significance of the holly, the cedar, the Advent wreath, the Chrismon tree, and any other special decorations". Christmas trees are frequently erected during the hanging of the greens, although they are sometimes left bare until Christmas Eve.
Gottfried Aust was a German master potter. He was the first master potter in the Moravian community in today's Old Salem, North Carolina.
