The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1881-12-23
THE FEAST OF CHRISTMAS.

Festival days, OF holy days. on which re-
ligious services were held, have been COM
mon among Pagan, Jewish, Mohelnmedan
and Christian nation. The festival DAYS OBJ
served at present in all Christian countries
are of two kinds movable and fixed in 9th
er words, those which are always kept on a
certain day of the year. Among the former
is Easter, which regulates all the movable
holy days. This festival, which derives its
name from the Saxon goddess Eostre, to
whom homage was paid i'm the month Of
April, was first kept by some of the early
churches on the same day as The Jewish
Passover, by others on the first Sunday after
the first full moon in the year. Uniformity
was established in y. D. 325 by the Council
of Nice, which ordained that Easter should
be kept in all Christian churches on the same
day, which should always be Sunday.
When, as a festival, Christmas was first
kept in commemoration of the birth of our
Saviour is not known. There is, however. a
melancholy proof that it was observed in the
time of the Emperor Di0cletiau, who reicns
ed from a. d. 2sA TO 31A, for history records
that the tyrant, when at Nicomedia, finding
a number of Christians in the churches to
celebrate the Nativity, ordered the doors to
be suddenly closed, and the churches and
those within them to be burned But there
does not seem TO have been any uniformity
in the period of observing the day until Pope
Julius l., in the fourth century, ordered it to
be kept on the 25th of December It is. how
ever almost certain that the birth of Christ
did not occur in December, as That is the
rainy season ia Judea, when shepherds do
not watch their f0cks by night I'm the pas
lures. Perhaps the reason why this festival
was fixed near the winter solslice was that
almost all the ancient nations regarded that
period as an important one in the year This
probably arose from its beiug the time at
which the days begin to leugJhen and when
nature seems to renew her energies for the
production of the warmth and fruits of the
season.
Christmas (ChTi7t-Mass) is observed with
peculiar soIemnity by certain denominations
of Christians, while others reject its religious
aspect but keep 1t as "A social holiday. The
custom Of decking houses and churches at
Christmas with evergreens is derived from
the Druids-priests OF ministers of the an
cient Gauls, BIit0us and Germaus-vyho be-
Geyed that the sylvan deities-goddesses Of
the woOds--would come and dwell among
the trees which retained their leaves when
the other portions OF the forests were de-
priyed of their foliage. The planting II a
tree covered with presents for the little
ones, " the names of the person for whom the
gift is intended being given, but the name of
the donor concealed, has been customary in
many parts of Germany and i'm the northern
districts of Europe from time immemoriaI-
The Puritan Parliament of England abolish
ed Christmas, and it was for a long time re-
gardgd with but little favor BY their descend
ants in New England.
Christmas carols and music on that day
can be traced TO an early period in saxon
annals. Under the Tudors. in England,
singing merry carols on Christmas was com
mon. But they gradually became ri5aId and
pr0fane and the custom was 90 a great extent
abandoned. The oldest collection of Christ
mas carols in English bears the date OF 1921
Santa Claus st Nicholas), whose supposed
descent in the chimney on Christmas night
and whose ibeality las been for ages the
wonder and delight of many juvenile pos
SCISSORS Of toys, gingerbread and mint-sticks.
was first introduced under tie name of Kris
Kringle 10 the Inhabitants Of the Western
Continent by the Dutch residents of Eew
York State. Christmas has been made q Ie-
gal holiday in the greater part, II not in all
Of the States. and is generally observed eth
er by religious services, social gathering OF a
suspension OF business.
The custom of spending The last days Of
the year either in devotional exercises or in q
withdrawal from every day pursuits appears
to be of very high antiquity. The Romans
devoted the latter part Of Febr1ary.the the
last month Of the year, 70 the FebTuati1 OF
eNDiatOTy sacrifices which have given its
name to the month, and the Greeks employ
ed a portion of June, the end Of their year,
for a similar purpose. In almost all Chris
tan countries the interval between the ma
tivity and the first dav Of the year has 1een
set apart for social enjoyment, the inter-
change of acts of kindness, and the Uelaxa-
ton from the pursuits and empioyments
which have required attention during the
year. Is it any wOnder, then, that young
and old, the grave and the gay, hail Christ
mas, the first Of those holidays, with pleas
ure and gladness?