The Irish standard., 1894-12-22

-olEXaVLQd0 CpAAeU NAO OAOV f" WA s"~A~~
with it comes tho most joyous seaeon OF
the year. The day which celebrates an
event now nigh nineteen hundred years
old is becoming each year more popular
and widely observed. The luminosity
and hatred which exists in some quar-
ters toward the Catholic Church led to
an attempt to disregard Christmas be.
cause Christmas is above all Catholic
festival. But the attempt has failed and
people persist in celebrating the day
which commemorates the simple and
beautiful story of the birth Of the Savior.
Churches calling themselves liberal have
denied the divinity Of Christ, Protestants
in general have assailed the Virgin
Mary, scientists have laughed at the
story of the Virgin birth and character
lied it as mythical, but still the day lives
on commanding each year more atten-
ton. .,an..
Christmas is our festival of welcome to
the son of God, It is the festival of the
Incarnation, it commentaries tn" bring-
ing to earth Of the new dispensation."
It arrays the Church in her brightest
garments because the bringer of the new
dispensation is one whom we worship IS
divine To Catholics Christmas is more
than social holiday, more than a family
gathering, it is great religious festival
when we gather to our churches and
hear the propheey-'Th Lord Himself
shall give you sign: Bshold Virgin
shall conceive and bear a son and shall
call his name Emmanuel" Because
they believe in the recorded story Of the
birth OF Jesus Christ Catholics have been
called simple. Mathew Arnold in an at
tempt to discredit the doctrine of the
Immaculate Conception said: SIN times
and among minds where science is not a
power and where the preternatural is
daily and Familiarity admitted, the pure.
ness and elevation OF the great teacher
strikes powerfully the popular magma
ton, and the natural, simple, reverential
explanation Of His superiority is at once
that he was born Of Virgin. So the le-
gend OF the miraculous conception and
birth of Jesus like the legend Of the
conception and birth of Plato, is the
popular homage to q high ideal OF pure
ness" He calls the story of the birth Of
Christ legend invented as homage to
q high ideal. But for ourselves We pre-
fer to accept the simple unambiguous
record Of st. Luke to the higher criti
cism of Arnold. There is no necessity of
inventing the theory of legend, To those |
who brand as false whatever is contrary |
to the ordinary course of nature Christ
mas loses most of her beauty, but to
those who believe that to God all things
are possible, there can be no doubt as to
what Christmas commentaries.
But Christmas is not alone festival |
OF the Church, but 8 festival of the fam
lily, 1t 10 on this joyous occasion that
wanderers from home steal back to the
homo Of their childhood. Estrange-
ments that separate hearts are then for
gotten and the ties that unite them are
drawn closer and frmer. II is the day
Of all the year when children should for
get shortcomings OF parents, and parents
forgive children for undutiful acts; for
brothers and sisters to brush away all
resentnents which lessen their mutual
affection; for husbands and wives to re-
new the romance Of their oourtships.
There is too little in the average home to-
dayof the spirit which pervaded that first
Christian home. We should cease our
strife Tor wealth and advancement on
Christmas day and study the lesson it
presents. We should remember that
Christ 81 III not too great or too wise toll
|iye ii.. 4 hut il an olbecure town
I'D tthe hills IS (1slilee and follow the
y 1g 8 shouldIj
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