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Show look up, ami sec (to Light of Hi world Lights and candles have always been associated with Christmas Day. They were used both on the tree, and lighted in the windows of the houses. This is in keeping with the celebration of Christ's birthday; "Christmas" means "mass of Christ," the word derives from the church celebration of the day, which formed a very important part of the holi-. holi-. day observance in early medieval days. It is not the actual birthday birth-day of Christ we observe, for that date is lost in legend. le-gend. There was no celebration celebra-tion for over 200 years after His death! The Romans had a great feast in honor of Saturn, the Sun god. This Saturnalia was held in December at the turn of the winter sol--stice. The northern races celebrated the Yuletide. (heathen winter feast) at the same time, decorating trees with lights. These lighted trees were called sun trees. About 400 A.D. the Pope, Julius I, fixed December 25 as the date on which Christmas Christ-mas was to be observed, and ordered masses to be held to replace the pagan rites, The Middle Ages were a period of light in many ways. There was light for ' the higher spirit of man, reflected in the resurgence of creative arts. And the ' rites of Christmas were at a zenith. Carols and hymns were written and sung by the monks. So hauntingly beautiful, so timeless, these hymns are still very much part of the beauty of the Season in our own time. Originally designed to honor the Christ, the vestments vest-ments and accoutrements of the Church ceremonies wAa cnlonHui. irviwl Eventually this deteriorated dete-riorated to mere show and self-aggrandizement, and even to debauchery. In England Eng-land a Lord of Misrule di-rected di-rected the festivities, which became so rude and profane that the Puritans would lave nothing to do with ihem. The Pilgrims made a "bad name" for them-telves, them-telves, down through the :enturies, when they outlawed out-lawed Christmas in Plymouth Ply-mouth Colony, but history tells us that the good peo-le, peo-le, with sincere, devout intentions in-tentions of celebrating in lie sacred traditions, prob-ibly prob-ibly had due cause. Regardless of the origins tl the ban, the Light of Christmas Day did not lawn again in New England intil comparatively lately. There are some who would say that today the so-called so-called Christian world is undergoing another period of darkness, that there can be no Christmas in reality as long as the world suffers from so much widespread brutality and greed. These harbingers of evil greatly underestimate the nature of man to overcome the evils which beset him, many of which he created, himself. Every one of us has the power to overcome whatever what-ever evils "possess" us. Every one of us, through the power of a Heavenly Father, can reject the forces that degrade him, and torn toward the Light. |