Christmas Around the World

Christmas is kept all over the world, and no two places keep it quite the same way. In Mexico, neighbors walk in Las Posadas for nine nights before Christmas; in the Philippines, the dawn Masses of Simbang Gabi run from December 16 to 24; in Sweden, Saint Lucia’s Day comes on December 13; and in Ethiopia, Christmas, Genna, is kept on January 7.

Visit Mexico, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Poland, the Philippines, Japan, Ethiopia, Australia and the United States. Each page teaches the words people say there; the greetings from most of them are gathered in Christmas words, and the world’s gift-bringers are in who brings the presents around the world.