Christmas, Christian festival celebrating the birth of Jesus. Since the early 20th century, Christmas has also been a secular family holiday, observed by Christians and non-Christians alike, devoid of Christian elements, and marked by an increasingly elaborate exchange of gifts. In this secular Christmas celebration, a mythical figure named Santa Claus plays the pivotal role. Christmastime, running from Advent (or earlier) through Epiphany, is a season rich with countless religious and secular traditions that bring together family, faith, and culture while emphasizing themes of hope, joy, generosity, and goodwill. The Nativity: Biblical accounts and significance James Tissot: The Adoration of the Shepherds James Tissot: The Adoration of the ShepherdsThe Adoration of the Shepherds, opaque watercolor on gray wove paper by James Tissot, 1886–94; in the Brooklyn Museum. The only two scriptural accounts of Christ’s birth are found in the New Testament: one in the Gospel According to Matthew and the other in the Gospel According to Luke. (The Gospel According to Mark begins with Jesus as an adult, and the Gospel According to John starts with his prehistorical existence.) Luke’s Gospel shares details of the Annunciation (1:26–38), in which the angel Gabriel announces to Mary that she will conceive a son by the power of the Holy Spirit, to be called Jesus, and Mary consents (“Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word”). Pregnant Mary then visits her relative Elizabeth, who is pregnant with John the Baptist, in the Visitation (1:39–45), which is followed by Mary’s moving hymn of praise, the Magnificat (1:46–55). The next chapter gives clues about the timing of Jesus’ birth (during a census “taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria” [2:2]) and notes that he was laid in a manger because there were no other accommodations in Bethlehem. It is here that the story of the angels visiting the shepherds in the fields, announcing the birth of the Messiah, is recorded, with the awestruck shepherds visiting the baby that night (2:8–20). The account of Jesus’ infancy is concluded with his circumcision and naming, followed by his presentation at the Temple of Jerusalem, where he encounters the aged Simeon and the prophet Anna (2:21–38). Magi MagiThe three Magi (wise men) presenting their gifts to the infant Jesus; ancient mosaic located in the Basilica of Sant’Apollinare Nuovo in Ravenna, Italy. The Gospel According to Matthew begins with a genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, tracing his lineage from Abraham to King David to Joseph, Mary’s husband (1:1–17). The gospel then describes how Joseph, betrothed to Mary, was told by an angel in a dream that Mary’s pregnancy was conceived by the Holy Spirit in accordance with prophecy and that Jesus “will save his people from their sins” (1:18–25). Christ’s birth is noted with little other detail. The following chapter describes the famous visit of the Magi, guided by the Star of Bethlehem (2:1–12), and the Holy Family’s escape to Egypt as Herod brutally massacres innocent children in search of the Christ child