Eve means "before" and naturally Christmas Eve is the day before Christmas.
Advent (which means arrival) is the term given to the season before Christmas, and it always begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas Day.
Second Sunday of the 4 weeks before Christmas day
Christmas Day will be on a Sunday in 2011.
In 1921 Christmas Day was on a Sunday.
Sunday
Sunday
Sunday
Christmas was on a Sunday in 2011.
The first day of the Season of Advent is the fourth Sunday before Christmas, and the last day is Christmas Eve. Since Christmas Eve can fall on any day of the week, the length of the Advent Season can vary from a minimum of 22 days, when Christmas falls on a Monday, to a maximum of 28 days, when Christmas falls on a Sunday.
The next year in which Christmas day will fall on a Sunday will be in 2016.
Christmas this year will be on a Sunday
Christmas 2011 was on a Sunday.