The Roswell daily record. [volume] (Roswell, N.M.) 1903-current, 1908-12-22

As q rule we celebrate festivities
without stopping to think or inquire
what their e significance is; we
observe the customs landed down to
us from our parents, and AXE them as
a matter Of course. It is always inter-
esting, however. to Investigate the
causes that lie underneath establish
ed Institutions, for we can take much
more satisfaction in something we I'M
, derstand than in something we do not.
! Now, what is Christmas? The birth
day of Jesus Christ, you will reply.
Not strictly, however, for the actual
date. of his birth is unknown. 1t could
scarcely have been December rs, for
at that season it is rainy in the Holy
Land, and the shepherds would hardly
have been out at night with their
focks, as the Bible says they were
at the time of the nativity. The early
to the date, and some of them OBJ
served Christ's birthday in April, 9TH
ers in May, and others in January. 1t
toe some centuries for Christians
to settle on December 25 as Christmas.
But what do you mean when you
decorate your homes n churches
with holly, pine, hemlock,. and other
green things? What do you mean by
your present-giving at this season, and
what have st. Nicholas or Santa Claus
b yule log, the Christmas turkey,
etc., to do with observing the birthday
of the Saviour?
We must answer that a large part
tiles and rites are of pagan origin. De-
cember 81 is the winter solstice, when
the sun turns back toward the north
and b astronomical new year begins.
The ancients celebrated this season as
the beginning of another year and
adopted sacred customs in .recogni-
ton of h reawakening powers of ma.
ture; or in other words, the annual re-
birth of life. Sprigs of evergreen,
symbolic of everlasting life, were
placed in the temples and around the
home affairs; feasts were held as tri-
butes to the gods; gifts were laid on
the affairs, and later exchanged with
friends; in the far north of Europe
the big yule-log, which would burn
a week, was set afire with great cere-
mony, and as the period was one in
which little work could be done out
side. it became one for family reun-
ions and general festivity and rejoic-
ing.
What nor natural than that this
most fffin0 focfiyo1 chor1d hovya oroa |
ually come to be accepted by the
Christians and merged with their
Christ's nativity repres-
ented in a new and broader sense the
of life everlasting, and the
green decorations and g~ift-giving, and
rejoicing all fell in appropriately with
the idea. The holly was regarded as
it vas a species of holly-called to
day in some parts of Europe the
"Christ's thorn"-which was used to
make the row of thorns which was
pressed down on the brow of Jesus.
The red berries which appeared on
the holly at this season typiied
Christ's blood.
But all this does not explain how
Nicholas and Santa Claus and the
hanging up of stockings on Christ
mas eve are connected with Christmas.
engrafted onto the Christmas festival,
without having originally had any
thing to dc with it. st. Nicholas was
child1 ems patron saint, and his
day was December 6. On the eve of
his day it was the custom for parents
to place little presents in the shoes
and stockings of good children. Some
a boy dressed up Enthusiastically
went about on the eve of st. Nicholas
to see which of the children were de-
serving of gifts-and this custom is
still observed on the continent of Eu-
The German form of name for
St. Nicholas is Sankt Nikolaus, which