Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-12-23
CHRIS 7 MAS FEASTS
Early Christians Adopted
Jewish Festival Days.
PASSOVER, PENTEC0ST
FERALIA AND SATURNALIA.
Nativity Traditions as Related by st.
Chrysostom, Epiphanius-St.
Augustine and the saxons.

1t was no strange circumstance that at the
dawn of Christianity every festival which
was observed by the Jews should be equally
solelmnized by the Christian converts OF the
first century. A great portion OF these con-
verts had gone over from the jewish 10 the
Christian faith; and this portion was, for a
long time unable wholly to emancipate
itself from early customs and habits. Even
the Apostles themselves were tenacious OF
the Jewish feasts, and retained among
others those of the Passover and Pentecost.
1t was but by slow degrees that the Chris
tians were able to estrange themselves from
the Jewish observances, and transform the
festivals which they had brought with them
on the day of conversion into Christian an
niversaries. By this Formulation the fesu-.
val of Easter was grated on the feast OF
the Passover; Pentecost was converted into
an annual commemoration of the descent OF
the Holy Ghost, and out of the Jewish Sab
bath arose our Sunday.
Among early Christians there were many,
too, who dwelt in heather countries; and
not a few of this class, having themselves
abandoned the superstitions of pagan1sm
for the simplicity of the Christian doctrine,
introduced heather festivals among their
brethren, and gave such an Interpretation
to their transmigration as was CONSISTENT
with the character of their new fa1tn.
While Easter has succeeded to the F'era1a
of the Romans, there can be little doubt
that Christmas has taken the place OF their
Saturnalia. This festival instituted IN
honor of Saturn, was celebrated by the
Romans with the greatest splendor de-
bauchery and extravaganza. 1t was, dur
ing its duration, an epoch of freedom ana
equality; the master ceased to be master
and the slave to be slave; the former waited
at his own board upon the latter. The
ceremonial of this festival was opened on
December 10 by the lighting of profusion
of waxen fiambeaus in the temple of Saturn,
as an expiatory offering to the relenting
god, who had in remoter times been wor-
SHIPPED with human sacrifices. At this fes-
tival season boughs and laurel were pro-
fusely suspended in every quarter, and
presents were interchanged on all sides.
In Honor of the Master.
The Christian Church was anxious to
abolish the celebration of these Saturnalia.
in which she blushed to see her own dis
ciples partaking, and therefore appointed
festival in honor Of her Divine Master to
supersede them. If. during the Roman
games, the order Of social affairs was in
verted and the mental was raised to be
master, it was not unnatural that they
should in their purer features be adopted
as the model of an anniversary In COM
memoration of Christ, who had appeared In
the garb of mental and had elevated those
who were the slaves of their sins. Though
Of heather origin. the festival of Christmas
no longer exhibited sacrifices of bulls or
goats; it was carefully pruned of those dis
gushing features and eXtravagances which
nourished and excited debasing passions.
and yet, In order that it might not prove re-
voting to the habits and feelings of the new
convert who was called upon to resign the
meretricious Establishments of the Satur-
MALTA, 1t was permitted to retain such Gus
toms from the pagan celebration as were
not wholly irreeoncilable with the spirit of
Christianity. The torches which. had shed
kIzlv, 49,, thrn ,rryh fln la Of Co
turn shone with undiminished splendor in
the temple of Christian worship. The Sat
urnalia custom of decking the streets and
houses with laurel and boughs and exchang-
ing presents was also preserved, and has
partially descended to our own times. The
interchange of presents was supposed to
typify the gift which Christ by His coming
had lavished upon mankind.
There is one custom in particular preva-
lent in some countries, and formerly COM
mon In England. which strikingly designates
the origin of our Christmas festivities. And
it is this: From among the domestics of a
family 1t was the practice to elect one as
the Christmas king, or lord of misrule, and
to assign him a species of sovereignty
both over the other servants as well as the
immediate members of the family. In this
way, Selden remarks, 1.-The master waited
on his servant as the lord of msrule." and
1.-The like" says Stow, had We in the house
of every nobleman Of honor or good wor-
ship, were he spiritual or temporal
Christmas Children.
In some Catholic countries there is a
custom of dressing up puppets called
Christmas children, hiding them on
Christmas eve, setting persons in quest
of them and giving a reward to the
finder; nor is 1t improbable that this Gus
tom was also derived from the heather
practice of sending puppets as presents
during the Saturnalia. "At Rome" says
an ancient calendar, sweetmeats We're
presented to the fathers in the Vatican,
as well as all kinds of little images; and
these last were found in abundance in
the confectioners' shops" In England the
bakers used formerly to bake a kind of
baby, or little image, of paste, which they
presented to their customers; in the same
way as chambers gave Christmas candles.
The following singular tradition, from
which some have been willing to derive
the name given to this festival In the
east, may prove of interest 1t is related
by some of the old fathers of the church
that on the night Of Christ's birth num-
Der of fountains and rivers were turned
into wine; and, they add. this miracle
took place on the very night and at the
very hour Of His nativity, in order that
the disbelievers in the truths of reveIa-
ton might be turned from their unbelief.
st. Chrysostom says in one of his homi-.
lies that the water drawn on that night
kept for some years without undergoing
any natural change; and he concludes
that from this circumstance arose the
TRADITION mentioned ABOVE. Ep1phanluS,
the first father of the church. places so
much credit In the tale that he ventures
to make use of 1t as one weapon for con-
founding the inffdels of his day. How
ever, the second father of that name, who
lived thirty years later, pronounces this
tradition to be a fable. though he still
believed 1t to be the distortion of some
different occurrence
When Pope Gregory sent st. Augustine
to make. converts of the Saxons he gave
him positive instructions to accommodate
the observance of Christian forms as
much as possible to the rites the people
were attached to. He was, in particular,
to allow Them on certain festival days,
to slaughter and eat great number Of
oxen ito the glory of God, as they had
formerly done to the honor of the devil"
Accordingly st. Augustine, on the Christ
mas of 500 after baptizing 10000 persons,
allowed them to erect booths and fill
these with food for themselves, instead
of filing the booths with offerings to
their idols, as they had been doing. He
forbade his newly made converts, how
ever, to take part in the Christmas dances
Of their still pagan neighbors.
First Christmas Observance.
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