Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1885-12-20
1plIeeIin9 Register
4 CHRISTMAS COLUMN.
e,us Short Sketches That Serve
=. FOrsrunnsrs tOths Holidays.
w.s the 25th Of December Chosen fol
w." -. c,sat Festival Ofthe iear2- Light
d, Articles and Notes AprOprOs
ofChHstmas Decorations
and Shopping,
49,, n,,ssi... lor p.s.ns.r.

VIA, rssson could be given ter choos'
ssy rather than another for the
.,,r,s tsstiyal2 The gospels, always
in dates, were quite silent hire.
~. cave no hint of the day or month Of
|Ns,ivity. Oral tradition, we may be
.,,s Was equally r~erieeuE CT indifferent,
we're, indeed, a few scattered sugges-
q, the date Of Cbrist's birth floating
and there among the writings Of the
s,,b.,,. bat these we're all Of late origin,
-.D,ss.tly historical, and above sll, quite
,~,,,rsd,ory. Clement, Of Alexandra, said
~, many Christians regarded the :s2Oth
..p ~ "a the day of the Nativity, others
"E,,-8 the 10Th Of April, but be favored
sIo,b Of November. In the Eastern
Ss.,.b the 5th or 9Th Of January was
,,Is,rstsd as the date Of Christs baptism,
~ ,Es Nativity wss joined with this on
., bsrer ground than a forced l~nterPrets-
~ n Ezekiel J. l 3, as a prophecy OF the
N-s-,sriou Others again fixed the 2lst
= Mach a. the day OF Christs birth. Be
80 snch varying and slightly supported
.~,,,mpnous there was httls TO choose. A
S;.,c-,c,l date was clearly out OF question.
To,5;py WAS left for the Church 70 do bat
:, 49,, some day on grounds of CON
".,;sncs and symbolic significance,
I'd celebrate it b. common
.,,sspt as Christmas Day
/, would take too long for ne 10 trace
,,s mauy reasons which led 10 the choice
- ,bs 25th OF December. Il was doubt
Ia. connected by q process OF deduction
NH the Gay which had already been gen
s,aly accepted 10 the common date OF the
a,p1pclsnon aud OF the creation OF the
rorId Assumiug tha' the world was
rsIs in the Spring because Il Was CON.
landed 70 briny forth yrasS and herbs,
"A that II VA made ah-n hight and dark
,sss we're ~e0uslly divided, because The
.,splng snd The maruing we're the brst
3sy !, was natural, though someRhat
osiys 10 6x uDOn the vernal eqOlnox
According - the Julian calender, March
*. ., the exaC; date OF the creation. He
,bo could question the value OF such
straightforward and scr,pEural srgu-
nan, as this must have had more
I9gls snd less piety ,bau belonged to the
ssfly Christians And u.Cs having dis
,57sred by this eSsy m-Ihod The very day
IN which the weird came into being and
,Ag glorious light spGaug out Of darkness,
-ssf mora SIMPLE than u assume that II
as or The same day on which the power
,,,5eAlnighrY ogershadoWed Mary, and the
ps7spring from on high began bis entrance
MO The world? Nothing could De palmer.
Even the least imaginative Of chrome
rsphers could reckon forward from this
liked point OF the Assumption nlne months,
s1d arrive at December p as the day OF
The Nativity. And here another wonder
tl coincidence meets him. This Is the
isV OF tue Winter s~ols,ice, the day when
,hs worlds darkness 5-gIIs 10 lesson, and
the worl1s Ugh! 20 grow; the day which
the ancient world hal long celebrated as
The birthday of the sur.
Inc earliest mention OF the 25;h Of De
csn5er as Christmas day is found in an
ancient catalogue Of church festivals ABOUT
3j4A D. And it is surprising to see with
shat ~slacrity the date wa received and tbs
Nativity celebrated throughout Christen-
aon. Il seems as if the world had been
Esiiug for this festival of divine and hu-
nan childhood and was ready to welcome
it 81 orce with songs OF icy Ia the year
$50 it was already celebrated IN Rome by
vas, mullitudes ~thronging the churches.
TEenty years later Antioch had taken It up
Nth great popular enthusiasm and In ht-
tie more than 6fy years from its earliest
suggestion, the observance Of Deeember25
as The day of the Nativity had become the
universal practice Of Christians. st.
ChysOstom, in g Christmas sermon
preached at Antioch, called it the funda-
mental feast, or the REQ; from which all
CHER Christian festivals grow.