The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1897-12-24
Eve bracht unS Zwis ken rot,
Der eine jenOch richsenOt.
Du bist daZ ander with
Diu unS brachte den lib.'

Eve bracht uns zwis ken.Ot,
Der eine jenOch richsenOt.
Du biSt daZ ander Wih
Diu uns brachte den lib
The idea is the same, you sec.'
THAT is new to me; but know how
general it was to have these plays about
Christmas, representing the fall of man,
and ending, of course, with the birth
of the Messiah. | remember how
shocked my grandmother of blessed
memory, the most orthodox and pious
of Israeltes--a woman who never baked
loaf of Sabbath bread without first
placing a portion on the Goals and wait
ing with words Of prayer until it was
consumed-by having one of the print
ed plays in my possession.
did it never occur to you how
strongly the cid Temple service par
took of the character of a drama?'
"Well, yes; they were more or less
theatrical representations, and even the
destruction of the Temple and the long
exile did little to change their charac-
ter. The feasts of the Passover and of
Tabernacles were really dramatic
renderings of the story of the miracu-
lous dealings of Jehovah with His
chosen. After the first exile, fresh
ceremonies were engrafted OH the Mo-
saic For instance, it was only pre-
scrbed in the Book of Esther that Pu-
rim should be kept by fasting, followed
by family rejoicings. But by degrees
this developed into public reading OF
Megilla, when noisy demonstrations
would burst forth from young and old
at the name of Haman. Then, in car
rying out the play, for it was nothing
more or less, Haman was hung on a
cross, which the Christians came in
course of time to regard As 4 travesty
upon th, suti, rings of their hero, s.
that in 40S one OF the Roman emperOrs
forbade the use of the cross. Never
theless, similar customs have been in
vogue in many synagogues until COM
paratively lately"
"The nativity plays date back to
very early days. The manger, the
shepherds, the Holy Family. the watch
ing animals, were inseperably associ-
ated with Christmas. In some places
they used to rock cradle containing
an image of the Child at the midnight
service, while the organ was played,
and the Gloria in ENcelsis' was sung
by the congregation. One preacher of
the thirteenth century said, AS you
place flowers in the cradle wherein the
Infant reposes, so should You strew
flowers of virtue in the bed of your
hearts, that the Holy Babe may rest
there the more sweetly.
"My mother has told me of having
once seen, some place in Saxony, a boy,
clad as an angel and carrying cross,
let down by a rope from the roof of the
church, while he sung Won Himmel
hoch.' The practice was continued un-
til, on one occasion, the rope broke and
the play became Il tragedy. Until as
late as 1920 it was customary to rock
cradle for an hour at midnight on the
tower Of the parish church of fubingen.
1t contained doll, and was surrounded
by lights, while the trumpets blared
and the people sang the choral, GLORY
be to God on High These customs
; are mirrors of the spiritual life and
thought # the time, just as fairy tales
are of the naive long ings of the natural
, heart: but how childishy realistic they
r were at times! The OK and ass played
+ important roles, and at one time it be-
5 came a matter for serious theological
: dispute as to the ownership of the crea-
f lures. | came across a poem not long
e ago, most quaint and curious, where
: the cow is depicted rs calling in the
5 night: 'Pner nufn<. AS no one gave
| credcncc to the words, the OK added
f his testimony: 'M. Then the cock
e inquired, 'ULi?' And the sheep ba-c-d
/ 'M Brtlrm; IN BrtIrm The poem con
e cludes 10y saying, Happy the animals
! and happy the keepers Of Il flock, who
. are ever ready to praise the Lord.
J. 1T is not unlike Noltare' statement
: regarding the keeping of Christmas in
e some French cities: First a young man
4 appears with wings on his shoulders
e and rccites the Hail Mary!' to which a
girl responds, 'Eh,' after which the
! mlkc-bplieve angel kisses her on the
: mouth. Then Il boy inside paste
l. board cock shrirkS, .IMer nntns est; 4
n fat OK -rowls, 'ILI?' lamb beats
'B~hhhcm'; an ass brays, 'Uinnn as in
+ stead of ElmuS-and then the affair is
n fully under way.
h "Iou know the superstition whicl
0 claims that cattle have the gift o
J. specc.i at midnight Christmas eve. 4
} Schleswig story warns us to take sucl
X assertions by faith rather than crave
s for knowledge by sight. An unbeliev
J. inc farmer once hid himself in his barn
(. and heard one of his horses say to The
J. other, Dit Jaer waet wy noch unsel
d Bucr los (We shall be rid of our mas
ter this year,. The prophecy so fright
h ened the man that he fell i'll and died