The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1894-12-24
MR.. WALLS XMAS.
The Great Christian Festival
a Relic of Roman
Paganism.
ORIGINS OF QUAINT CUSTOMS
Yule Logs Come From the Druids
and the Christmas Tree Is a
Norman Contribution.
ORIGINS OF QUAINT CUSTOMS

The Rev. Charles H. Vail at the First
Unlversalist Church, Ivy place, yesterday
morning preached on 1.-THE origin and
Meaning of the Christmas Festival" He
tried to show that is was not a Christian
festival at all. but an old heather GUS
tom remodelled to suit the Christian
ideas. He said
christmas with it's joys and festivities
will soon be in our midst. 1t may sur
prise many to learn that Christmas is
older thar the Christian Church, and is
not at bottom a Christian festival at all
1t really commemorate the new birth OF
the sun. Suppose the sun should go on
4 making it's path across the skies shorter
and shorter, that it should rise later and
set earlier, what would become Of our
earth? Where would the grass be and
the budding leaves, and the grain ana the
corn on which man and beast must live?
1t is the sun that gives us life. Not only
light and warmth, and radiance, but life
itself would sooner or later vanish from
the earth. if the sun ceased to shine,
or If he were only stripped of his power,
shorn of his locks all the year through
as he is in winter. What joy, then, when
we discover that there is ar end to the
diminishing of his strength; that at a
certain period he turns about n begins
to climb higher in the skies, makes longer
days, and promises spring and summer
in due time. Praise be to-the sun, we ex-
claim, and hope and courage again fill
the heart.
MIDWINTER FEAST.
There were few ancient peoples who
did not have a midwinter festival growing
onf Of c1ob ovpor:enoec PartjcularIV
was this true of the Celtic and Germanic
tribes. The Yule-tide of the Germans,
which lasted from December % to Janu-
airy 6, has perpetuated its name down to
the present time. The Yule log is still
thrown on the hearth at Christmas eve,
by the English people who keep up old
customs. From the Germans came the
Christmas tree, the mistletoe, the green
decorations, the festivities of eating and
drinking, the nirth and good cheer, which
are inseparable from our idea of Christ
mas. The truth is, the Christian Church
simply took the old holy-time and gave
to it, not an altogether new, but an ad-
ded significance. The Gaelic Church
baptized the old Yule festival, which its
converts no doubt persisted in celebrat-
ing, with the Christian spirit, and said
L 44OhAA oNoA1A nv Ob1Ag IVA 49,
birth of the sun. but for the birth of
that brighter light, the Son of Righte-
BUSINESS. There is no statement in the
Bible as to the day, month or year of
Jesus birth. AS a matter of fact, al
most every month has claims that honor
and has been observed by Christians as
Christmas. Some observed a day in April,
others the 18th of May. Lightfoot argues
i for Gaptnrnhar and an jOopnjOuS aroII-
ment has been made out in behalf of
October. But if we can infer anything
from the beautiful Scripture legends of
the Shepherds watching their fiocks in the
fields of Bethlehem, it is almost impossi-
BILE tina December should nave been the
month, since December is the height of
the rainy season in Judea, and neither
focks or shepherds could have been out
at night. But since nothing was known,
almost anything could be chosen; and
there were the best of reasons for sett-
ing upon the 25th of December, which was
already fixed in the affections of so
many as one of the days of their Yule-
tide. Many authorities in the Church
give prominence to this idea, and one
of the earliest Popes said of the day that
it commemorated rather the return of the
sun than the birth of Christ.
ROMAN RELIC.
"But Christmas is also a relic of the
| old Roman civilization. One of the most
popular festivals in Italy was in honor
! of Saturn, the God of sowing and agri-
culture. This festival lasted from the
II to the "a of December. This festival
| of Saturn or the S%aturnalia became, as it
were, a pictorial return to those happy
days of dim antiquity. All business
subsidized, the courts took a holiday, the
temples were beautifully decorated, and
presents were universally exchanged. 1t
is from old Rome that the custom of
making presents at this Christmas season
| has come down to us. This festival,
too, coming so near to the 18th of De-
cember, was rechristened by the church
and turned into a day of rejoicing over
the birth of Christ rather than over the
4 tabled reign of Saturn. The Bishop of
Turin even argues that there was a
special providence in appointing the birth
Of Christ to take place in the midst of
the Pagan f~estivals-so that men might
be led to be ashamed of Pagan supersti-
itions and excesses. The Church historian
Neander says the 25th of December was
chosen that the people might be drawn
away from the heather festivals. The
festival is a day of rejoicing, whether
in honor of the sun, of Saturn or Of
Christ, but before we can enter into it
completely we must eliminate from it
the commercial spirit. There is a dan
ger that Christmas shall become a bur-
den instead of a joy. The Christmas
dream is of the soul and of 1.-THE heart
and ought to be above the spirit of cal
eulaticn."
Here Mr.. Vail discussed the meaning
and essential essence of Christmas from
the Christian standpoint; he showed that
the exact time of Jesus birth was a mat
ter of indifference. as it was the event
and not the day we commemorate. 1T
is with the fact of Jesus birth that this
holiday has been connected" said he,
s.and SO has become to us a day of cele-
bration. Let US then enter into the heart
of Christmas, by calling into activity all
those faculties which relate us to our
fellow men. by catching the reflected joy
of other, faces and other eyes. by putting
into practice the principal of giving, the
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