Nativity
According to Christian believe, Jesus Christ was born in the city of Bethlehem in a stable, surrounded by shepherds and farm animals, and Jesus was born into a manger from the Virgin Mary assisted by her husband Joseph.
Remembering or re-creating the Nativity is one of the main elements of the Christians Christmas. For example, the Eastern Orthodox Churches practice the Nativity Fast in anticipation of the birth of Jesus Christ, while the Roman Catholic Church celebrates Advent. In many Christian communities, children as well as adults, perform plays re-creating the events of the Nativity, and sing Christmas carols that reference the event. Many Christians also display a small re-creation of the Nativity known as a Nativity scene in their homes, using small figurines in wood, plaster, resin or paper mache, to portray the key characters of the event. Live Nativity scenes are also re-enacted using Human actors and live animals to portray the event with more realism.
The apocryphal Protevangelium of James elaborates on the narration, and describes the time before Jesus' birth, providing the source for later Roman Catholic beliefs such as the Annunciation and Immaculate Conception, which are not present in the Holy Bible. Conversely, the very apocryphal Infancy Gospel of Thomas (which is not even remotely the same as the Gospel of Thomas) tells about the period after the birth, describing the youth of Jesus', and narrating several extremely miraculous events, providing the source for other traditional beliefs, depicted in art, that have since fallen out of favour in almost all Christian churches.