of the earthly birth of Christ. Hence the ancient festival hymn for the day of St. Stephen, the leader of the noble army of martyrs : " Yes- terday was Christ born upon earth, that to-day Stephen might be born in heaven." ' The close connection of the feast of John the Evangelist with that of the birth of Christ arises from the confidential relation of the beloved disciple to the Lord, and from the fundamental thought of his Gospel : " The Word was made flesh." The innocent infant-martyrs of Bethlehem, " the blossoms of martyrdom, the rosebuds torn off by the hur- ricane of persecution, the offering of first-fruits to Christ, the tender flock of sacrificial lambs," are at the same time the rep- resentatives of the innumerable host of children in heaven.' More than half of the human race are said to die in infancy, and yet to children the word emphatically applies : " Theirs is the kingdom of heaven." The mystery of infant martyrdom * " Heri natus est Christus in terns, ut hodie Stephanus nasceretur in cceHs." The connection is, however, a purely ideal one ; for at first the death-day of Stephen was in August ; afterward, on account of the discovery of his relics, it was trans- ferred to January. ■^ Comp. the beautiful hymn of the Spanish poet Prudentius, of the fifth century : " Salvete flores martyrum." German versions by Nickel, Konigsfeld, Bassler, Hagen- bach, &c. A good English version in " The Words of the Hymnal Noted," Lond p. 45: " All hail ! ye Infant-Martyr flowers. Cut off in life's first dawning hours : As rosebuds, snapt in tempest strife. When Herod sought your Saviour's life," &c. § T7. THE CimiSTMAS CYCLE. 399 is constantly repeated. How many cliildren are apparently only born to sufi'er, and to die ; but in truth the pains of their earthly birth are soon absorbed by the joys of their heavenly birth, and their temporary cross is rewarded by an eternal crown. Eight days after Christmas the church celebrated, though not till after the sixth or seventh century, the Circumcision and the Naming of Jesus. Of still later origin is the Christian New Year's festival, which falls on the same day as the Cir- cumcision. The pagan Romans solemnized the turn of the year, like the Saturnalia, with revels. The church teachers, in reaction, made the New Year a day of penance and prayer. Thus Augustine, in a sermon : " Separate yourselves from the heathen, and at the change of the year do the opposite of what they do. They give each other gifts ; give ye alms instead. They smg worldly songs; read ye the word of God. They throng the theatre ; come ye to the church. They drink them- selves drunken ; do ye fast." The feast of Epiphany,' on the contrary, on the sixth of January, is older, as we have already observed, than Christmas itself, and