Meredith

Have you ever heard of the Egyptian Christmas or better known as the Festival of Lights? If so, you have probably heard what a miraculous and beautiful event it is. As the title of the festival states, this is a Christmas holiday so it belonging to the Christian culture, but more specifically is big among the Coptic Orthodox churches in Egypt. The festival is annually held in early January and lasts two days, the sixth and the seventh.

During the festival, all the churches are decorated with special lamps and candles of many colors, which are supposed to symbolize the candles Joseph used to protect Mary when Jesus was born. The main event that happens during this holiday is on January sixth or Christmas Eve when the Coptic churches hold mass. After mass they celebrate with a big feast held at many of the churches. These feasts include many meats of all kind; this is a traditional meal used to celebrate the end of a forty day fasting period. I think everyone should try to celebrate another country's way of celebrating holidays. It is not only fun to experience other culture's holidays but it would also help people understand parts of other cultures.

So why not celebrate this Christmas as the Egyptians would?