Omaha daily bee., 1908-12-13
LINKED WITH MISTY PAST
Tracing Christmas Customs Back to
Ancient Times.
ORIGIN OF, SOME VERY HAzY
Pagan ReveIers start n Few Down
the slide of Time-Date of the
Nativity IL Open to
Question.

not always celebrated on December %. II
has been celebrated in March and April,
and even now Russia observes the Julian
date OF January G. Most authorities agree
that the actual date Of the nativity has
persisted beyond hope OF recovery. In an
effort to end the controversy as to the
date, Pope Julius in the Fourth century
caused an investigation to be made by st.
Cyril, resulting in both being satisfied that,
as nearly as could be ascertained, December
% was the correct date. Locally the dictum
Of Pope Julius was accepted.
1t was not until the Sixth century that
most of Christendom united in keeping
Christmas on the same day. The reasons
for this delay in instituting the feast are
summed up by an authority who explains
that, in the first place, no corresponding
festival was presented by the Old Tesla
ment, as in the case of Easter and Pente-
cost; second, the day and month of the
birth of Christ are nowhere stated in gos-
pei history, and cannot certainly be de-
termined; third, that the church fingered
at first about the death and resurrection
Of Christ, the completed fact of redemp-
ton, and made this the center OF the weekly
worship and the church year; and fourth,
that the earlier feast Of Epiphany afforded
a substitute for the festival of the Nativity.
other Days Observed.
The Christians of Armenia have stead
lastly declined to nave anything to do
with December 20, and have for many CEN
turtles kept Christmas day at Epiphany, on
January 6. In the cars vast empire some
people observe December Is and others
keep to January 6, but both these Christ
masses fall on different days from ours.
This is explained by the proceedings of
julius Caesar and Pope Gregory XIII.
When the great Roman conqueror became
the master of the world he found the
calendar in a frightful state of confusion.
Caesar devised a reformed calendar of
his own, but, though 1t worked we'll for a
long time, 1t was not perfect. 1t gained a
fraction of time each year. This did not
amount to much in itself, but as the CEN
turtles rolled on 1t mounted up, and after
nearly 1000 years the world was ten days
in advance Of actual dates. That is, what
was called January l was really jan
uary 10,
People were celebrating Christmas day on
January 4, while all the time they bliss
fully imagined it was December IS. In 1852
Pope Gregory reformed the calendar by
the extremely simply cxpedient of ordering
that October 5 Of that year should be
called October Is.
The intermediate ten days we're simply
knocked off.
Most countries in Europe promptly
adopted this change, but some of them at
first declined to do so. and England was
among these. All through the seventeenth
century, therefore, England was ten days
behind the greater part of the rest of the
world as regards date.
II the eighteenth century, on account of
the Julian calendar having by then gained
another day, Englishmen were eleven days
behind. Finally the confusion arising from
the use of two calendars became such a
as to seriously interfere with
trade. So, in 1852, after a vast amount of
debate-for many good folk thought It was
irreligious to tamper with such things-an
act of Parliament ordained that September
2 Of that year should be reckoned as Sep
TENDER II.
The Russians, however, from start to
finish have absolutely refused to have any
thing to do with the Gregorian calendar,
and their Christmas takes place on what is
our January 8.
Origin of Some Customs.
Comparatively few Of the millions Of per-
sons who annually enter so heartily into
the festivities of Christmas give a thought
to the origin of the customs they observe.
Young people, middle-aged people and old
people who take indescrlbable pleasure in
decorating their homes with holly, mistletoe
and other evergreens in anticipation of a
reign OF fun and frivolity, do not, as a rule,
give much thought to the nativity, and
never for a moment does any idea con-
corning the origin Of such decorations enter
their heads.
How many good souls there are who de-
light in the old-fashioned Christmas GUS
toms, and who once a year, at least, let
themselves out TO enjoy the revels OF st.
Nicholas feast in the good old style, who
would hold up their hands in horror were
1t even suggested that they were simply
the wicked old pagans." AL
most all our popular practices in honor of
the birth of Christ have their origin in
ante Christian ones.
About 800 A. d. a boy was born in Lycia.
His parents called him Nichols. but ESQ
the chronicles tell us), though that was a
mans name, he preserved the nature of a
child, for he chose ito kepe v~ertues, mex
mes and slmpleness, and therefore children
doe him worship before all other saints"
The modern child's Santa Claus is a
Dutch contraction OF "Sankt Nikolaus,"
'Sank'ni klaus and the saints custom of
giving presents secretly and in the dead Of
night as the development Of a deed of
charity he performed when he assisted by
tossing three well-filled purses into their
bedroom long after they had retired.
Thus Santa Claus comes about when the
children are asleep and gives them their
hearts desire. st. Nicholas day was origi-
naIy early in December, but later it was
confounded with Christmas.
There is an old ballad describing the
saint and his customs, thus:
St. Nicholas money used to give to may
dens secretlie,
Who, that he still may use his wonted lib
eraltties,
The mothers all their children on the eve
do cause to fast.
And when they every one at night in sense
less sleepe are cast,
Both apples, nuttes and peares they bring
and other things besides,
AS caps and shooes and petticoats, which
secretly they hide,
this st. Nicholas brought.
St. and Father Time.
The idea that st. Nicholas WAS an old