One reason celebrations occur on Christmas Eve is that the traditional Christian liturgical day starts at sunset, a heritage from Jewish custom. This task is followed on the Creation in the Book of Genesis: “And there was evening, and there was morning – the first day.” This structure for the liturgical day is followed for all fete days throughout the year in the Eastern ritual and is continued for Christmas (as well as for Sundays and other major festivals) in the Western countries. where the liturgical day ordinarily begins at midnight. Many churches still ring their church bells and hold prayers in the evening before holidays; for example, the Nordic Lutheran churches. In some languages, such as the Scandinavian, Christmas Eve is simply referred to as “Christmas Evening”.
Since Christian tradition holds that Jesus was born at night (based in Luke), and therefore Midnight Mass is celebrated on Christmas Eve. Christmas Eve is celebrated at midnight in commemoration of Jesus’s birth. It is celebrated and observed in different ways like Christmas Eve is celebrated in German as “Heilige Nacht” (“Holy Night”). “Nochebuena” (“the Good Night”) in Spanish and similarly in other expressions of Christmas spirituality, such as the song “Silent Night, Holy Night”.
Here We are sharing the latest Christmas EVE Wallpapers 2013, have a look of these beautiful wallpapers.