Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1888-12-23
ON CHRISTMAS DAY.
Origin of Many of the Customs Con-
nected with the Feast of Christmas.
The Selection of December % as the Day for the
Celebration of the Decentralization
Rites adopted.

~ supposed, us celeDEdIllS posi-uitlllS
by more than 800 years the death
of the Savior. Also, contrary to the
general suppositlon, its celebration did
not originate with the church OF Rome,
but with that of Constantinople, where it
was introduced during the fourth centu-
~ of the Christian era. Previous to that
time it had been the custom to commem-
crate the anniversary of the death rather
than the birth of sacred personages, lis is
instanced in the feasts of st. Stephen
and st. John, which long ante-dated the
Christmas Observances. The heated dis
cussions between the orthodox Christians
and the Manichaeans which arose in the
course of the fourth century, and i'll
which different views of the immaculate
conception were taken by the contending
parties, led to the commemoration of the
birth of Christ by the former, as a
method of expressing their belief that
Christ, not only in his life, but in his
birth, occupied position distinctly diff
ferent from that of any of the saints
recognized by the church.
In the early part of the fifth century
Christmas was made one of the three
high feast days of the church of Rome,
the other two beng Easter and
Whit Sunday. Long and acrimoni-
Gus disputes arose rs to what day
of the year should be set aside as the day
of the Savior's birth. Records and ira
ditions were carefully scanned, but moth
ing in any degree Indicative of the date
of the birth of Christ could be discovered
and it was proposed that advantage
should be taken of the fact that the feast
of Sol was still very generally observed
among the nations but lately and imper-
fectly freed from the rule of Romish my
thOlogy, and the heather celebration
turned into Christian feast. This was
opposed on the ground that whatever
might have been the date of the birth of
Christ, it certainly did not take
place on the 18th of December, the
day of the feast in honor of the
sun. The reason given was that the
climate of Judea was such that at that
time, i'll the very height of the rainy sea-
son the shepherds who beheld the star of
Bethlehem would not have been watch
ing their tiocks in the open air The mid
die of October was advocated by the cler-
ical opponents of the 18th of December,
astronomical reasons being advanced
which were held TO indicate that the star
of Bethlehem had appeared during this
month. For a long time the point re-
manned undecided, but at length the party
advocating the 25th of December sue
ceeded i'll carrying their point, the
argument most strongly and sue
cessfully urged being the advan-
tages which had already been ex-
perienced i'll adopting the heather seasons
of festivity the half Christianized popu-
lations of the various countries into
which the new faith had but recently been
introduced accepting it more readily
when il il some measure cOniormed with
their previous habits. The feast of Sol,
and also the various Saturnalia, had for
years been held during the month Of
December, and it was urged that adj
vantage should be taken of the fact The
Eastern church celebrated the birth Of
Christ on the 9th of January, Il date still
adhered to in many communities where
the Greek church is accepted.
An unexpected and unlocked for auXil-
larry to the Introduction of Christianity
among the North German and Scandina-
Wan tribes, as well as among the Saxon
and Danish inhabitants of England, was
found in the selection of the 18th of De-
cember rs the great Christian feast.
From time immemorial the last two
weeks of January had been set apart as
the date when the gods of northern my
thology were most highly honored, and no
heather custom had so strong a hold
upon all classes of the community,
from the highest to the low
est, as the celebration of Yuletide.
For twelve days all work not of absolute
necessity was suspended, the kings and
eaTlS gathered their retainers about them,
every house was open to all Corners, and
meat and drink was provided in enormous
quantities for all who chose to assemble
around the board. 1t is a noticeable fact
that Christmas is still celebrated by high
feasting among the races of Scandinavian
and Germanic origin more generally than
by those of different blood, and in En-
gland and America can still be found
many traces of rites and obServauceS dat
ing back to the heather days of Den
mark and Norway. The first mission
aries sent to the ScandinayianS found it
TO be impossible to persuade the people to
give up their Yule, and with great skill
managed to change the heather feast into
Christian celebration.
Yuletide was changed TO the twelve
days during which the lord of misrule
held his sway, and it was not until the
lIlluult vi ilt lllttHlH century lllil illt
regular appointment of this officer was
abandoned i'll the English court The
old heather Observances We're generally
adopted, but one, the eating of horse
flesh, the horse being the animal sacred
to Odin, being strictly prohibited. The
mistletoe, plant sacred both i'll Druidic
and Scandinavian mythology, still hangs
from the ceiling of English and Ameri-
can homes, and i'll the former country
the ceremony of bringing home the Yule
log, one of the most solemn rites of the
heather season of feStivity. is still very
generally practiced. The holly, SO pro-
fusely used 10 decorate churches and
cathedrals, once hung III festoonS
from the walls of the temples sacred
to Odin and Thor, and the custom
of drinking healths at table is a relic
of one of the most prominent features of
the Scandinavian rites. In fact, nearly
all of the observances not strictly sacer-
dotal, peculiar 10 America, England and
Germany, may be traced to Scandinavian
origin.
The name of the presiding genius of the
day, Santa Claus, is also simply cor
ruption of the German appellation of
St. Nicholas-Saint Kicklaus. The sleigh
and reindeer popularity ascribed to him
by tradition betoken his northern origin