Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1890-12-25
THE SLAV CHRISTMAS.
HOW THE HOLIDAY IS KEPT IN
SOUTHERN AUSTRIA.

to Account for the Phenomenon.
Carniola had no Christmas, and this is
1 true in the sense in which we understand
the word. OF course there, as in all
Catholic countries, Dec. 25 is a church
festival, and the oath fast, the only
joyous fast of the year. The supper is
unusually good and plentiful, but no
meat is served at it unless it be wild duck
or otter, both of which are regarded by
the ecclesiastical authorities as fish The
foreign visitor will probably receive half
a dozen invitations; the proper thing to
do is to accept the one that comes from
the landlord, in whose house one usually
dimes, and the fnlfillment of this social
duty is generally its own reward The
dishes are strange but agreeable, and
after the Christmas tree in Carinthia,
which is chiefly German, has been prop
| erly admired, and in all cases the neces-
sary presents have been given to the
children, and they have gone to bed, a
tone Of quiet satisfaction becomes the
leading note of the evening. Every sub
ject that could lead to contention is
avoided, and SO one sits together till the
time for the first mass. which is read at
or shortly after midnight and which one
may attend or not, just as one likes.
IMPRESSIVE SERVICES.
The three morning masses when heard
4 in a village church in Austria are among
the most impressive services of the
/ church, though they are, of course, en-
tirely wanting in pomp. The choir sing
songs about the nativity in the national
language and in such a way that both
4 the words and the music correspond to
K the service at the altar The stranger
who has learned to look upon the mass,
in spite Of its entirely classical Latin, as
one of the greatest poems of the Chris
4 tan period is at first inclined to resent
! the introduction Of modern hymns and
4 languages, but the fervor of the singers
and the way in which they are joined
by the congregation, similar to that
which many readers may have remarked
/ in the churches of Scotland, clearly show
that the usage is dear to the heart Of the
4 people, though to us it may seem almost
as offensive as if the divine comedy
were publicly read with the accompani-
ment of music selected from Offenbach.
/ Popular verse and music are always in
I teresting and sometimes extremely good;
but they cannot quite supply the place
of the Gloria and Agnus Del, especially
for foreign admirers Of the churcl Who
do not belong to its communion. Still
the midnight mass in an Alpine village
is a thing to see. The long walk through
the snow and darkness: the friendly light
from the windows of most houses; the
groups Of furcoated worshipers whom
one overtakes or who overtake one, with
their hearty Christmas greetings; the
blaze of light on the altar, which con-
trasts equally with the night outside and
The other unlighted parts of the church
within, are all impressive.
AN INTERESTING PROCESSION.
This Christmas in Slav village has a
/ purely religious character, though, as it
obliges one to sit up late OF to rise early,
it may serve as an excuse for a longer
chat than usual and an extra glass. But
Advent is not, as in German or Protes-
tant countries, concentrated into the
single festival. In many villages ON the
first evening a kind Of homely procession
is formed, and the images of the Holy
I Virgin and st. Joseph are carried to the
first house in the place, the inhabitants
OF which know exactly what is going to
happen; then, where they sing, as they
generally do in Carniola, a duet or
\ double chorus follows. The attendants
of the saints ask for a nights lodging,
those within ask who the travellers are,
and so gradually the whole history Of
the nativity is told in Old World verse
and music. Then the doors are thrown
wide open; all who are within kneel, the
images are borne to the altar that has
been prepared for them, the two choruses
join in hymn Of praise, and evening
prayer begins in their presence. On the
following afternoon the two saints are
is repeated. 1t may seem to the reader
that the whole ceremony must be child
ishly grotesque; this is not the impress
sion it makes on the non-Catholic but
unprejudiced stranger. These peasants
are evidently sincerely worshiping the
true God after their own fashion In
converts where children are educated
the same usage is practiced, but there
the sacred guests are carried from cell
to cell instead of from house to house.
DEVOTION OF THE KINGS.
This custom is purely Christian, an at
tempt to bring the sacred story home to
the imagination Of the people; the cere-
monies performed on the day set apart
for devotion to the three holy kings
the wise men of the east (our twelfth
night)-are slightly different. They bear
the trace. not of heathenism so much as
Of struggle against heathenism. The
three appear in full costume-the one
with his face conscientiously BACKED
with holy water and censers filled with
burning incense. They bless every room
in the house, and still more carefully
the stalls and stables, and upon every
door they make three crosses, in order
to keep out Fra Perchta, who is the un-
hallowed and unhonored shade of the
great goddess whom heroes once wor-
SHIPPED as Freya That twelfth night,
the last Of the twelve days of the great
winter festival, which was celebrated
alike by the Slavs and the Germans,
should be chosen for these strange cere-
monies is noteworthy; though one can
not help feeling certain sympathy for
the goddess who is thus shut out of hui
man habitations on the very day when
her presence was formerly invoked. 1t
may be added that the crosses are treated
with the greatest respect; what would
happen to any one who willfully rubbed
them out no one knows. A COW maid
who by chance obliterated two had to
dance for a whole night over rough
stones with young man, whom she
supposed to be the devil, and fell into q
fever afterward. Particularly devoui
persons often endeavr 70 connect the
crosses SO that they forln one of the
names or symbols of our Saviour. L
they succeed it is favorable omen.
BELIEFS OF THE SEASON.
The stories that are told about Christ
mas, particularly in the Gail Thai, i
valley in Carinthia inhabited almost ex
clusively by Slavs, are most remarkable
and seem to have been hardly even coloret
by Christianity. The belief that horses
and cattle talk in human language witt
each other ON the night between the 24tf
and 25th of December is universal there