The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1872-12-27
CHRISTMAS.
BY PROF. ROBERT HAY.

In staid New England and Pres
byterian Scotland the keeping of
Christmas is very small affair.
But here in the west where there is
q large admixture of various nation
alties and diverse forms of faith,
the festival of Christmas assumes
moro the propo rtions that it has in
such European countries as France,
Germany, and England, and the
readers of the EMPoRIA News will
probably be interested in a few de-
tails of the keeping of Christmas
otherWhere and in other times. The
word Christmas carries in itself its
meaning and explains its origin. 1t
il the mass, or Roman Catholic SER
vice, established specially to cele-
brate that glorious event, the birth
of Christ-Christ's mass. Other fes-
rivals OF the Romish church are des-
ignated in the same way. Thus the
festival of st. Michael is Michael
mas, and a service celebrated in Feb
ruary with large number of lights,
is known as Candlemas.
The orikin of the festival of
Christmas 10 remote and uncertain.
The celebrated Decretals contain a
statement to the effect that one of
the early bishops of Rome ordered
that an "angelical hymn" should be
sung at the celebration of the nativ-
ity of Christ. But as none of these
Decretals are of older date than the
eighth century, they are not of much
authority "a to events in the second
century, and the whole of the De-
cretsls are of no more value than
forged documents. There 10 one sad
memento, however, on record OF the
keeping of Christmas before ths end
of the third century. While the
tenth persecution was raging under
the orders of the Emperor Diocle-
tian, that monarch kept his court at
Nicomedia, in Bithynia, and being
informed that some christians were
celebrating the fesst of the nativity,
he sent and had the doors of the
building secured, and the house set
on fire SO that the inmates all mis-
erably persisted. The church had
hen begun to depart from the sim
plicity of apostolic times, and to
observe times and seasons other
than the Lords day, and when,
shortly after, the christian religion
was established by law, festivals
were borrowed from Babylonian,
Egyptian and Teutonic mythology.
The names were changed, though
not always, and the old heather
rites and customs were largely re-
tanned. Tho burning OF the yule
log on Christmas eve, and the deco
ration of the evergreen tree on
Christmas day are relics OF customs
that long antedate the christian era.
Through out the middle ages, when
superstition was at its height, mauy
strange notions and observances
gathered round the festivals of the
church. Christmas became emphat-
cally . feast, but with il there was
associated . notion of a special
{ the time. Shakespeare, in Ham
let. gives us the superstition as it
survived in his time, thus:
SIt faded at the growing OF the cock.
Some say, that ever 'gaiaSt that season
comes,
wherein our Savior's birth is celebrated.
This bird Of dawninS singeth all night
long:
And then they say no spirit dares stir
abroad;
The nights are wholesome; thea no plan
cts strike,
No fairy takes, noT witch hath power TO
charm.
So haliowed and so gracious is the time"
One custom that grew on of this
idea of the holiness of the time was
that of doing good deedS, and as
some people never did good except
At that Tina, this was q decided adj
vantage. Longfellow's poem of the
Norman Baron illustrates this, and
also refers 10 another custom, when
he says that
Saxon Sieemeu
sang to slaves the songs OF frocusH."
This custom of singing Christmas
carols has its origin in the fact that
st the birth of Christ angels sang to
the shepherds near Bethlehem, aud
they sang OF good tidings of news, |
aud many old English carols have |
LLc word noel, or novel, ss their |
burden, this being The Norman
French p2me for Christmas, and al !
10 meaning peTe, from qhe Latin
l0Rum