The Big Christmas Quiz
1. When is the latest possible date for the first Sunday of Advent?
a) December 1 b) December 3 c) December 5
2. Which Christmas carol includes the lines, “Glories stream from heaven afar, Heavenly hosts sing Alleluia”?
a) Hark! The Herald Angels Sing b) O Holy Nightc) Silent Night
3. Between 1996 and 2013, where did South Africa play its Boxing Day cricket tests?
a) Cape Town b) Durban c) Port Elizabeth
4. In which Gospel is there no room in the inn for Mary and Joseph?
a) Matthew c) Mark c) Luke
5. For which US holiday was “Jingle Bells” originally written?
a) Independence Day b) Labour Day c) Thanksgiving
6. Bethlehem was the city of which king?
a) David b) Saul c) Solomon
7. Where do people use the seasonal greeting, “My Christmas on you”?
a) Gabon b) Kenya c) Liberia
8. Which seasonal greeting was popularised by Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol?
a) Compliments of the Season b) Happy Holidays c) Merry Christmas
9. What colour vestments do Catholic priests wear for Christmas Eve Mass?
a) White b) Gold c) Purple
10. In which ocean are the Christmas Islands?
a) Atlantic b) Indian c) Pacific
11. According to St Matthew, who was St Joseph’s grandfather?
a) Levi b) Mathat c) Nahum
12. In which movie did Bing Crosby first sing “White Christmas”?
a) Holiday Inn b) The Bells of St Mary’s c) White Christmas
13. Where is Father Christmas known as “Julemanden”?
a) Bulgaria b) Denmark c) Switzerland
14. In which language would one say “Jabulela Ukhisimusi” to wish you a Merry Christmas?
a) isiNdebele b) SeSotho c) isiZulu
15. Which popular hymn was long wrongly attributed to Protestant leader Martin Luther?
a) Away In A Manger b) Ding Dong Merrily On High c) O Little Town of Bethlehem
16. Where would you eat a traditional Christmas food called “kawali”?
a) Panama b) Papua New Guinea c) Philippines
17. What did my true love give to me on the tenth day of Christmas?
a) Lords a-leaping b) Maids a-milking c) Swans a-swimming
18. Which current head of government was born on Christmas Day?
a) Jacinda Ahern b) Emmanuel Macronc) Justin Trudeau
19. Who had a big hit in 1974 with the medieval carol “In Dulci Jubilo”?
a) Emerson, Lake & Palmer b) Mike Oldfield c) Procol Harum
20. In which year did Fr Ralph de Hahn write his first Christmas short story to be published in The Southern Cross?
a) 1952 b) 1962 c) 1972
21. In which classic novel does a character complain: “Christmas won’t be Christmas without any presents”?
a) Little Women b) Sense & Sensibility c) Vanity Fair
22. In which year was the first Christmas card sent?
a) 1818 b) 1843 c) 1868
23. Where were the writers of “While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks” born?
a) Great Britain b) Ireland c) USA
24. Whose feast is on December 26?
a) St Simeon b) St Stephen c) St Sylvester
25. The first-ever English Football League match to be played on Boxing Day was in 1889, between Preston North End and which other team?
a) Accrington Stanley b) Aldershot Town c) Aston Villa
Christmas Quiz Answers: 1. b) December 3, 2. c) Silent
Night, 3. b) Durban (PE was the venue on six other
occasions since readmission in 1992), 4. c) Luke (2:7),
5. c) Thanksgiving, 6. a) David, 7. c) Liberia, 8. c) Merry
Christmas, 9. c) Purple, 10. b) Indian, 11. b) Mathat,
12. a) Holiday Inn, 13. b) Denmark, 14. c) isiZulu,
15. a) Away In A Manger, 16. c) Philippines (a crusty,
spicy pork dish), 17. a) Lords a-Leaping, 18. c) Justin
Trudeau, 19. b) Mike Oldfield, 20. a) 1952, 21. a) Little
Women (uttered by Jo March), 22. b) 1843, 23. b)
Ireland, 24. b) St Stephen, 25. c) Aston Villa
Published in the December 2022 issue of The Southern Cross magazine
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