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Show I I WA JKlIKN Christmas balls nro 1 Myiv r'nBlns morrtly on Christ- Jj 1 wTaVW "lns ovo 11 Peasant to I i 3Qfiel th,nk tlmt 1,10 who, world 1 Vv 18 cloratlng, and that as I long ns tho human family has boon on earth 0lt has mado merry at a midwinter feaBL Tho Utile Ut-ile children In your houso or mlno, nd tho llttlo chlldron across tho , j streot, are just llko other llttlo chll- - dro 'n Hussla. In Norwny, In Franco and In Italy, or tho German Fathor- Jy; ,nnd w'io havo mado ready for their rf Christmas troes when tho winter's sun K h,as Be' nd tho Christmas stars aro Jl. " L shining over head. W i . tn: tllIo ihaj, the Holy Dabo lay m i , rn ",0 mWor In Bethlehem to bo tho WI, Christmas Dabo for tho Christian m'lL world tho Homans woro celebrating 'jHfV tholr Saturnalia and trimming willow 'illSMI wands, as wo trim Christmas treos. of mBmB courso with a difference. Dut JubI tho ffSftll Bamo thoy wero celebrating tho mid- II 3intor festival. They danced and ? sang, gnvo gifts, and hung wreaths ? while across tho Alps to tho north tho ?' Wild. Huntsman wbb chasing through tho woods to bo tho terror of all ; naughty children. Tlio, Christmas tree honored bo-cause.- It was evergreen gained fresh honors when adorned with tapers. .Tho. evergreen was eternal, and tho lights, shod glory around. How Jolly Is tho raising of tho Christmas treol How tho chlldron loyo to talk about : It before hand and to trim It, or to got tho gifts from Its overladen boughs. In Germany tho wholo household goes to church. In many villages tho i church Is loft In darkness, and tho ' worshlpors carry lighted cnndlos, com ing In ono by ono, uatll It is a brilliant bril-liant sight Whon tho season is over tho old hymns aro sung. "Es 1st dor Tag des Horrn," and Christmas greetings greet-ings aro heard on every Bldo. Tho Julafred. or po.v.o of Christmas, Is publicly proclaimed In Sweden and i Norway. Tho churches aro decorated, and tho children are tho first to enter In tho gray of tho early morning. No otxj Is forgotten. Tho poor nro ro-membored ro-membored with food and clothing, and best of all tho llttlo brothors of tho nlr, tho birds, have a troo hung with a Bhenf of wheat for Christmas cheer. In Servla and In Bulgaria no ono crosses a strange threshold If it enn bo avoided. Friends rejoice togethor, tho llttlo children danco nnd sing and gifts aro exchanged. An ancient ceremony cere-mony has to bo performed by tho hond of every household. Deforo a mouthful of food is eaten early in tho morning, corn is placed In a stocking nnd tho chlof of tho family sprinkles n llttlo beforo the householder, saying "Christ is born;" to which one of the family replies: "Ho Is born Indeed." Then the house-father hns to "wish" nnd, ndvanclng to the burnlDg logs on tho hearth, he strikes theu until the sparks lly upward, with r, good wish for tho horBos, another for the catties, cat-ties, tho calves, and tho goats, and so on through the entire band of stock on tho fnrm, concluding with a special prayer and nn extra blow upon tho embers of tho logs for a plentiful harvest. har-vest. In this manner tho gods of na-turo na-turo nro appeased. Then tho ashes containing "tho wish" aro collected and buried secretly. As for the Yulo logs, thoy aro not permitted to burn entirely away, but tho flro being extinguished ex-tinguished tho burnt ends ore placed In the clefts of fruit trees so as to onsuro a bountiful crop, Tho more playrul customs of putting put-ting hats about for presents ns French chlldron do, of baskets which Italian children make, of girt boxos and tho tour of St. Nick prevail everywhere. Even In tho tropics Christmas Is observed, ob-served, as If tho cold snow lay round about Mexico has many beautiful customs, and Catholic countries never nev-er forget the feast of tho Babe in the Manger in church. |