Show o. x JOLLY Y OLD ST ST. NICK v 1 tr Mir y li J 1 t. t f 5 c wg r i P h 7 ka rr r- r p r of N o mw Y T a f L yh h at ta 1 s v i ix ir x r 1974 Western Union t P 1 3 f I Celebrating Christmas Bg g gANNA ANNA DEMIN DEMING GRAD New paper Union E SHALL have to togo tri go farther back WE than the Christian V V era to find the source ot of ChrIstmas Christmas ChrIst ChrIst- mas celebration for we borrowed ite It e from the nations existing long before before be- be fore the coming ot of the ChrIst II d. d Christmas came came from ea early ly Egyptian civilization from the Teutonic barbarians barba- barba rians or the pagan Greek and Roman nations or perhaps from all of them I But ButIn In the days ot of the early Christians Chris Chris- Christmas ceased to be b observed merely as a day ot of merrymakIng and feasting They celebrated It as a day of good will and kIndliness the bestowIng bestowing be- be stowIng of gifts and a time ot of peace but they consIdered It a holy boly festival and too filled with solemnity and sacred sacred sa- sa cred jO joy to be made a time of hilarity and boisterous jollity That the very date Is uncertain makes little real difference In those s arly days duys of the the they thought It following the heathenish customs to observe birthdays We cannot wonder at this when we remember remember re- re member that every god and goddess every ery noted man and every anImal considered sacred must each have a specIal day ot of feasting and festivity It Ls is not strange that they should have como come to a time when they put the whole custom asIde and celebrated none at all not even the birthday ot of the Child ot of Bethlehem It was not until four hundred years later not untIl ChrIstianity had trIumphed trI trI- and become a recognized factor factor fac- fac tor In the world that they even began to the real date or of ChrIsts ChrIst's birth rue rhe Western empire had accepted December 25 as the date and the Eastern churches celebrated January 1 0 while other dates from September 2 20 to May 20 were observed and each of th these se with some good reason for tor Its selection It was Pope Julius who finally settled the controversy by accepting ac ac- the ruling or of the Western church and established December 25 and by the middle of the Fourth ecu ecu- tury this date was J generally In the pagan nations this hud had been the time when a festival ot of joy took place because It was then that the sun was supposed to begin to recede recede re- re cede from rom the equator They celebrated the the- of December December Decem- Decem ber by nIl all manner ot of licentious revels and heathen debauchery debaucher and even after atter the coming o of ChrIstianity It was centurIes before these pagan customs and practices were eliminated And It was not Dot until after time the Middle ages that the meaning and the sIgnificance significance sIg- sIg of the season began to dawn upon the minds and hearts ot of men In old England Christmas became a time ot of feasting drInking and hilarious hilarious hilari- hilari ous merr not merrymaking a very advanced advanced ad- ad conception but a step beyond the pagan Idea Later the spirit ot of PuritanIsm began to Influence English customs and public zeal ran so hIgh that all gayety and all festivity came cameto cameto to be considered sinful All ll observances ot of special days were declared designed by the deville S rf i iI I iI I t and the famous Roundhead parlia- parlia I meat ment set asIde the celebration of f I Christmas Easter and For twelve years no specIal days were observed In England and when they were once more taken back Into fa favor far r the result was what might have been expected for the ChrIstmas season season sea sea- son became a time ot of feasting drinking drink drink- Ing dancing and wIld revel lasting for twelve days and nIghts The lord of mIsrule came Into this existence was the chosen master ot of festivIties Into whose hands the keys ot of the house were given ghen and whose Word was waslaw waslaw law while the revel lasted The days and nights were full ot of all manner munner of hilarity and a most wIld and merrie time was had we are told At first only the royal households had these lords ot of misrule but the custom custom cus- cus tom spread until almost every household house house- hold had bad Its ruler ot of the seasons season's revels But gradually as time passed these wIld celebrations gave place to festivals none the less JOYous but butmore butmore more befitting the season The Tho ceremony of at bringing In the Yule log was observed of decorating the house with holly and mistletoe 1 i j I We tae lighted In the ilie window and the mIdnight singIng ot of carols StIll later Christmas became a day marked by bountiful dinners gIven to the poor by rich landowners rather than merely a time tImo of feasting and merrymaking And slowly the real ChrIstmas spirit Is coming more and more Into the hearts ot of humanity as we grow each ench year to better understand the song the angels sang that starlIt nIght on the Judean hills And on earth peace good will to men means more wIth each ench recurrIng year s 8 we open our hearts to the Child ChUd ot of Bethlehem |