The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1903-12-25

by the Western church, the early sub
sequent adherence Of the Eastern
chuTch, the unanimous acceptance
or the whole and undivided church
make us as certain as anything can,
snort OF mathematical demonstration,
OF the correctness of Dec. 25 as the
true date Of the Nativity.
But l presume the most convincing
OF all arguments will be allowed to
be this: On the Cross Our Lord COM
mltted the care of His blessed Mother
to His beloved disciple, st. John. She
spent the closing years of her life at
st. Johns home. The Nativity was
celebrated many times during her life
time. 1t is absolutely i~ncOnceivable
that the birth of her son could be cele-
trated with her knowledge and con-
sent on a wrong date. If never before.
b must have spoken to st. John
after the ascension of the night and
incidents of the birth of Him they
both loved so well. 1t is inconCeiv-
able that St. John could have cele-
bratod the Nativity on any other than
the day Of birth. st. John had q dis
ciple well known in history, Polycarp.
bishop Of Smyrna. He celebrated the
Nativity, and it is incOnceivable that
he. whose boast it was that what he
delivered he received from st. John.
could observe the Nativity on any
other than the correct date. Now,
POlycarp had a disciple named ~Ireneus,
and Iv,~-Ar,- 1I,iv,- fL,J h. la1SrrNroI
the doctrines and customs as he re-
ceived them from st. Polycarp and
others. This Ireneus was made bishop
Of Lyons, and delivered to the Chris
tians there the customs he had re-
Ceived from st. Johns disciple. He
was martyred 202. Belonging to the
same local church, the Gallican, was
st. Martin, born 316, and made bishop
of Tours in 81. He of cource re-
! ceived the customs as Ireneus deliv-
cred them. His sister was the mother
of St. Patrick, apostle of Ireland. The
Irish church converted northwestern
Europe. The day observed by all
these as the natal day of Christ Is
Dec. %.
Who were the shepherds to whom
the angel Of the Lord appeared? They
were not ordinary shepherds. You re-
member two lambs were offered daily
in The continual burnt offering on the
altar in the temple. In addition there
were special offerings. These sacrifices
required large iocks. Shepherds were
needed to tend these lambs, types OF
the Lamb of God" now born. The
~pasturage where these lambs were fed
was the field Of Bethlehem. The
shepherds were a quasi sacred order
inferior to the Levites. Their occu-
patton was similar to Abel's. 1t was.
to these shepherds, lowly but God~
fearing men, that the angel appeared,
and the glory of the Lord shone rounG
about. They were engaged in dis
charging their duty, and to all doing
their duty to God and man will come
the glory of the Lord and the message
Of peace, good will to men.
The events of Christ's sinless life
have not been recorded in the annals
of earthly history, nor emblazoned on
the rolls of earthly fame, nor heralde@
in pomp and state by earthly trum-
nets: for He loved to manifest His
spOtless life among the nameless ones
Of the tOiling and busy throng; yet
there is a record kept Of that stainless
life in the pages Of the Book of
Space, with a precision passing earth
ly effort and an eXactitude which the
spheres alone could give.