Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1872-01-11
The Christina. Festival,
AN INTERESTING HISTORICAL sKEToE

AN INTERESTING HISTORICAL SKETCH.
The institution of the Christmas fes-
tival is attributed by the spurious De-
cretals to Telesphorus, who fourished
in the reign of ANONYMOUS Plus 1885,
161 A. D), but the first certain traces
of it are found about the time of the En-
poror Commodus Q94-305 A.D.). While
that ruler was keeping court at income
dia, he learned that a multitude of
Christians were assembled in the city to
celebrate the birthday of Jesus, and
having ordered the church doors to be
closed, lie set fire to the building, and
all the worshippers persisted in the
flames.
1t does not appear, however, that
there was any uniformity in the period
of observing the nativity among the
early churches ; some held the festival
in the month Of April or May, Others in
January, 1t is, nevertheless, almost GER
cain that the 25th of December cmnot
be the nativity of the Saviour, for it is
then the height of the rainy season in
Judea, and shepherds could hardly be
watching their focks by night in the
plains.
Christmas not only became the pa
rent of many later festivals, such as those
of the Virgin, but especially from the
9TH to the 9Th century, gathered round
it, rs it were, several other festivals,
partly old and partly new, so that what
may be termed a Christmas Cycle sprang
up which surpassed all other groups Of
Christian holidays in the manifold rich
ness of its fcstal usages, and furthered,
more than any other, the completion of
the orderly and systematic distribution
of church festivals over the whole year.
Not casually or arbitrarily was the fasti-
val Of the Nativity celebrated on the
25th of December. Among the causes
that co-operated in fixing this period as
the proper one, perhaps the most power
full one was, that almost all the heather
nations regarded the winter-solstice as
n most important point of the year, as
the beginning of the new life and activi-
ty of the powers of nature, and of the
gods, who were originally merely the
symbolical personifcations Of these. In
more northerly countries this fact must
have made itself peculiarly palpable-
hence the Celts and Germans, from the
oldest times, celebrated the season with
the greatest festivities. At the winter.
solstice, the Germans held their great
Yule-feast, in conmemoration of the
fiery sun.wheel and believed that dur
ing the twelve nights reaching from the
25th of December to the 9th of January,
they could trace the personal movements
and interferencos on earth of their great
deities. Odin, Berchta, &c. Many of
the beliefs and usuages of the Old Ger
mans, and also of the Romans, relating
to this matter, passed over from heathen-
ism to Christianity, and have partly
survived to the present day. But the
church also sought to combat and ban
ish-and it was to large extent success
ful-the deep-rooted heather feeling, by
adding, for the publication of the hea-
then customs and feasts which it retain
ed, its liturgy, besides dramatic repre-
sensations of the birth of Christ, and
the first events of his life. Hence
sprang the so-called Manager songs"
and multitude of Christmas carols, as
well as Christmas dramas, which, at GER
tain times and places, degenerated into
farces or fools festivals. Hence also
originated, at later period, the Christ
trees, or Christmas trees, adorned with
lights or gifts, the custom of reciprocal
presents, and of special Christmas meats
and dishes, such as Christmas rolls
cakes, curant-leaves, dumplings, &c.
Thus, Christmas became universal
social festival for young and old, high
and low, as no other Christian festival
could have become.
In the Bomau Catholic Church, three
masses are performed at Christmas
one at midnight, one at daybreak, and
one in the morning. The day is also
celebrated by the Episcopal Church
special psalms are sung; special pre-
face is made in the Communion service,
and in England the Athanasian Greed is
said and sung. The Lutheran Church
also observes Christmas but most other
denominations reject it, in its religious
aspect, us "human invention" and as
" savoring of Papistical will worship"
although every body keeps it as social
holiday, on which there is a complete
cessation from all business. But within
the last hundred years, the festivities
once appropriate to Christmas have
much fallen off. In England these last
ed with more or less brilliancy till Can
dlemas, and with great spirit till Twelfth
day but now, a meeting in the evening
composed, when possible, of the various
branches and members of q family, is
all that distinguishes the day above
others.