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a wlc ll Bocage O %n oye A8. OBSERVER NORNEIRQRLUNTINGTON:TWP., ta., .N.-Y. C22 ney »» EMBER 13.1962 ..., A Cmpindiam Of Compiled by the Editors of St, Anthony Guide published in East Northport, Reprinted by permission, The streets are crowded with Christmas shoppers, all victims of the Christmas fever, all thinking of Gifts, Decorations, Christmas trees, Santa Claus, all preparing for the merry-making, all keeping the Christmas traditions. YOU will be keeping these Christmas traditions. . Do you know why? WHEN WAS CHRISTMAS FIRST CELEBRATED SOLEMNLY? The earliest reference to the Feast of the Nativity was attributed to St. Clement I, (Pope 88-97 A.D.) An- other tradition has Christmas first celebrated in 98 A.D. St. Telesphorus, Pope 124-136 A.D., is said to have or- dered Christmas to be observed as a solemn feast in 129 A.D. St. Julins I. Pope 337-352 AD., de- creed December 25 as the most correct date of Chnst's birth. This is referred to in Roman doe» uments as Christmas Day for the first time. 354 A D. Christmas has been observed on Dec. 25th by most of the Christian world since about 400 AD. (The Greek churches con- tinued to celebrate Christmas 13 days later because they retained the old Julian calendar reformed by Pope Gregory XII in 1582.) Christmas was perhaps. first ob- served in the Amermas by Norse- men in _| Vinland.\ Christopher Columbus expedition members spent Christmas 1492. at La Naw:- dad. the new fortress he named for -the season. ithe Nattuty) French scttlers observed Chest mas in New England in Mune. 1604. 16 years before | the Pul- grim. landed from the Mayflow- er oat Plymouth Rock. The Pari- taus (Comwell) forbade Chnst- mas observance in 1643. The ban was not repealed in New England uatul 1679. WHY DO THE CHILDREN IN SOME COUNTRIES HANG UP STOCKINGS Because Santa Claus is coming, of course. There is more to him than you think perhaps, He star- ted out as a real man,. a good generous Christian man. a salnt'fy priest and bishop. It is only in moders times. since he was taken over by the big stores, as a mon- ey-spinner, _ that he has been changed - info a stupid pagan hoax. Your friend Santa Nich olas' (say 'Santa Nicholas quick- ty and you get Santa Claus) new- er wanted to be known to those who received qifts from him. so he travelled at night. One night be clhmbed on to a roof and dropped a purse of money down the chimney. The purse fell, not \'on to the hearth. but into a stock- ing that was hangmg up to dry. That is what started the Christ- mas custom, of hanging up stock» ings. | ~~ ~ 220% 3 DID IT REALLY SNOW WHEN CHRIST WAS BORN:? It is. of course to the credit of the artists who first dépicted the scene of the Nativity that the poverty of Bethlehem,. and | the coldness with whch mankind re- ceived the Infant Redeemer, should have - been _- represented through the - metaphor of the snow. Nevertheless. it is probatio that neither frost nor saow char- acterized the woather conditions of the first Christmas Duv. Snow, os a matter of facto rarely falls in Bethlohsm. and even during the course of nineteen centuries the chmate of the Holy Land has not been - appreciably - different. Certainly. there is nothing in the Gospels, or other recorded ac- counts, to encourage the belief that snow fell around the Stable in which Christ was born. ...-$‘..__ WHY SEND CHRISTMAS GIFTS AND CARDS? The custom of giving presents at Christmas is said to have ori- ginated in «the offering of _ the Wise Men of the East, when they came to Bethlchem that first Christmas with their gifts, Chris- tians also adapted to Christmas the old pagan custom of giving gifts at th@WNew Year. Gifts give happiness. God gave us the giff of His Son on the first Christ- mas. - Christmas symbolise the happiness that Christ gives to Christians; so should Christmas cards. __ Your Chrstmas cards should be Christian cards. Gifts and cards should - carry - Christ- joy to your friends. WHY THE CHRISTMAS Even the Christmas tree seems to have pagan roots! It is gener- ally beheved that the first Christ- mas tree is of German origin. The missionary monk St. Boniface re- placed the pagan worship of Odin's Sacred oak by a fir tree adorned in tribute to the Christ- Child. Its Christian | significance has been lost because modern pagans have cashed in on it too. What a pity! To the Christian mind the Christmas tree is the Tree of Life transplanted into this poor world at the Hopeful dawn of Redemption ~ the dawn that broke over this world on the first Christmas night. The magnificent decorations on the Christmas tree symbolise the magnificent graces which are God's free gifts to us with Christ. Beside the tree St. Boniface lit the large. colorful candle to represent the Christ Child, the Light of the World. Do you know that spangled fairy that stands on top of the Christ- mas tree? That is a pagan sub- stitute for the Christian tradition of placing. on the tree-top the An- gel of Christmas. - The Angel who announced the good news to the shepherds: \Behold I bring you good news of a great rejoi¢ - ing for the whole people. This day in the City of David. a Save four bas been born for you, the 57d Christ himself\ (Lk. 2. 10, The earlrest - reference to a Christmas tree is found in a let- ter hy a traxelor in Alsace. if 1605 'At Christmas, they set up t= trees in the parlours at Stras- burg and hang thereon roses cut out of muny-coloured paper. ap- ples. wafers. - gold-foil. _ sweets. etc.? The birst Chnstmas trees in America were introduced about 1710, by Moravian settlers in Pennsylvania. WHY HANG UP MISiLETOE! Oh, of course you kuow that one! But why do you do it under mistletoe? In pagan times the juice of the mistletoe was believed to be a cure for poison. 'The druids held it to be sacred and had commanded that if enemies happened to meet in the forest under mistletoe, they should lay aside their arms, embrace and maintain a truce until the follow- ing day; from that grew the cus- tom of hanging mistletoe over a doorway so that entering under it implied a pledge of peace and friendship. The Christian mind immediately associated this sym- bol of peace with the Prince of Peace Who was born on the first Christmas night, when the angels proclaimed peace on carth to men of good will Kissing under the mistletoe, then, is a sign of peace. of Christ-given peace; It is a sign of friendship, of Christgiven friendship;, it is «a sign of love, of Chifsfegivenp, love; it must nev- er be ca sgn for sin. wort; The fistfetoe | is a - strange plant. No wonder that the Dru- ids. long ago. imagined it to be very important, Its seeds cannot grow in soil Its roots have not the ability to take food out of the soil direct. _ The - mistletoe grows parasitically on the bran- chos of trees as oak. apple or chostraut. Its seeds are carried by birds -the sticky seeds adhere T- rrr Gres y x t « £0} * we Cs ud hes c#, ee \ £3 20s F Fon gos A#y ov do wis eal Q Fag ernmenc ad's-w a fowwn ee 0 F. s awers “3. (lah Bice Reif t whs wit ane _ * a¥a~ - minim; @S » MMSEQORLS ..o (scc ngs vil 0, ql1ok ce y ec ci f a'. 1% . a- y. * a + to the bird's beak and get rubbed off on another branch. At Christ- mas fime you may get: some of the berries Squeeze out a few seeds, - and stick them in the branch ~ make a nick with a penknife in an old apple tree - and bind it up. You might have lots of mistletoe for the follow- ing Christmas, HOW DID THE PHRASE \MERRY CHRISTMAS® ORIGINATE]? The first to couple \merry\ with Christmas sees to have been George Wither, a 16th cen- tury English poet. ° WHAT WAS THE FIRST CHRISTMAS CAROL ~ WRITTEN IN AMERICA: The earliest known carol writ- ten in North America. was \Jesus is Born,\ by Father John de Brebeuf, S.J., about 1650 in the Huron language. HOW DID CHRISTMAS CARDS BEGIN? The oldest known holiday greeting card is a woodcut dated from 15th century Germany. The first Christmas cards are said to have been produced for sale in England. in 1843, The first re- ligious Christmas cards were pub- lished in Belfast, Ireland in 1875. Religious designs started appear- ing on American Christmas cards in the 1890's. The first commer- cially produced American Chnst mas cards wore created by Louis Prung. a Boston fithographer ia 1875. WHY IS BETHLEHEM __ PENNSYLVANIA SO NAMLD: Bethlichem. - PennsyIlvama | was named on Christmas Eve. 1741. when Count Nicholas von Zin- zendorf led his fellow Moravians in a candle-ighting - and | caro'- singing Christmas observance. HOW DID POINSETTIAS GET THEIR STRANGE NAME? The flower called by Central Americans Flor de 1a Noche Buena (Flower of the Holy Night, or Christmas Eve} was given the name - Poinsettia in the United States when introduced in 1828 by Joel R, Poinsett, Mmister to Mexico,. . HOW DID CHRISTMAS CAROLS ORIGINATE? A carol was originally a dance accompanied by singing. In the Middle Ages in England the name was applied to sacred songs used at festivals, especially Christmas. Because they were sung around the Crib many are of the Iullabye type. The French \Nocl!s\ date back to the 11th century, other carols to the 13th. The Christmas hymn \Adeste is ascribed to St. Boni» venture (1221-1 274.) ~ HOW SHOULD CHILDREN CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS! If children have been taught to see Christ in our Christmas traditions, it is more than likely . that they will never have to put Him back into Christmas. They will always have celebrated Christmas as the Birthday of their own Saviour, the Lord Christ Himself. \Let them celebrate in Christ» mas a religious feast, let them worship Christ in their feasting. so that still keeping outward pleasure, -they may more readily receive spiritual joy.\ (Pope St. Gregory 7th Century). \Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice.\ (St, Paul.) ©
