Los Angeles herald., 1909-12-26
HOLY SPIRIT
OF CHRISTMAS
Is PRESERVED
SERVICES LARGELY ATTENDED
IN LOS ANGELES
BISHOP coNATY CELEBRATES
PoNTIFIcAL HIGH MASS
At Vespers Sermon Is Preached Deal
ing with the Fundamental Mys-
terry of the Christian
Faith

/ beginning before sunrise, the first SER
vices in the Catholic churches were
held at 8 o'clock, and in each parish
they were largely attended. Many SER
vices were held during the day. Low
masses were celebrated In many of the
catholic churches each half hour until
the middle of the forenoon, when SOL
emn high masses were the order of the
day.
The decorations in each church
were especially elaborate, small man
gers being arranged in many of the
churches, which attracted many wor-
shippers
At the Cathedral of st. Vibiana the
first service was n solemn high mass
at o'clock, at which Rt. Rev. Mgr.
Harnett preached the sermon, extend
Ing Christmas greetings. At 1O:3O
o'clock Bishop Conaty celebrated pom
tifical high mass.
Pontifical Vespers
The cathedral was one Of the most
elaborately decorated of the churches,
several hundred poinsettias having
been used about the white marble
altar.
Last evening the bishop celebrated
pontihcal vespers, at which he preached
an eloquent sermon, taking for his
text: And the shepherds said to one
another, Let us go over to Bethlehem
and see the word that has come to
pass. st. Luke ILLS. He said in part:
Our hearts are filled with Joy at the
birth of our divine Savior. whom we
acknowledge as the Son of God prom
ised to mankind as the Redeemer of
the world. The holy feast of Christ
mas brings us face to face with the
fundamental mystery of our Christian
faith. 1t brings US to Bethlehem, to
the rude hut in the field, there to adore
him for whom the world had been look
ing for four thousand years as the
fulfllment of the prophecy made by
God to our first parents after the great
sin by which they had forfeited their
right to the happiness for which they
had been created.
christmas brings us to Bethlehem.
there to recognize the great mystery
of love and condescension by which
the Eternal Son of God assumed our
human nature and became man.
Christmas brings us to Bethlehem
with the shephersds who while caring
for their flocks on the hills of Judea.
had heard tine message of the angel
telling them that Christ was born. The
angel had said to them: Behold
bring you tidings Of great joy that
shall be to all the people, for this day
is born to you in the city of David a
Savior who is Christ the Lord apd
they heard the angel choir singing,
Glory to God in the highest and on
earth peace to men of good will
Christmas brings us to Bethlehem and
has for us the same good tidings of
great joy in the birth of Christ our
Savior. We hear the same angelic an
them of glory to God and peace to men.
Joy Of Bethlehem
I'm the city of Bethlehem all was
festivity and joy, not because of the
birth of the Redeemer. but because of
worldly pleasures and material con-
ditions. But there was one in their
midst whom they knew not; he had
some unto his own and his own re-
ceived him not. He had come in pow
erty and want, but the world of that
day had no place for the poor, no use
or sympathy for suffering; it despised
weakness and never for a moment con-
sidered that the child of prophecy
would be born in.a stable. surrounded
by all the evidences of obscurity and
misery. Bethlehem had no thought of
Christ, nor were those in its crowded
inns i'm any manner Interested In him
or influenced by his coming.
But the mother of the child gives
him the mother love and adores him
and the aged patriarch who had been
the protector of her virtue and the
instrument in the providence of God
in the work of redemption pours forth
his tribute of love to the newly born
child concerning whom the angel had
spoken to him in the day of his doubt
and hesitation. Earth and it's rulers
make no journey to the manger to
adore their Lord and king, but the
angels of heaven recognize him and
chant their hymns of praise, rejoice
ing in the gift that had come to earth
70 oA 20
who brings glory to God and peace
to men.
"The purpose of the life of the babe
of Bethlehem is to blot out sin by the
divine sacrifice on the cross, to recon-
cile repentant man with his offended
Creator, to infuse into his soul faith
in God and to accompany him through
life with the saeramental powers by
which he is enabled to rise into the
fullness of a complete restoration to
God. The Child of Bethlehem is the
Emmanuel who is our Savious, whose
name is Jesus and in whom is our
salvation.
"Christmas, then. finds its meaning
and it's spirit in the Child of Bethle-
hem, Jesus Christ, our Divine Saviour.
Emmanuel who is our Savior, whose
coming the patriarchs and the holy
men and women in the early ages of
the world prayed. The Child of Beth
lehem is the one foretold. typified and
prehgured. the one for whom the peo-
pie of Israel prayed and sighed. the
one vividly portrayed by Isaias, the
one whose life and death were proph-
etically chanted by the royal Spsalmist
He is the Divine Messias for whom the
Jewish people built all their hope The
time of his coming, the place of his
birth, the character of the virgin
mother, were all familiar to those who
read the books that held the Revealed
Word of God yet when the prophecy
was fulfilled, Bethlehem had forgotten
it's traditions and had no place for its
King, and the shepherds of Judea alone
heard the summons to come and adore.
when Christ was born, the imperial
ism of Rome ruled the world. The
power of the Caesars was a power
which had its source in the rule of
might, it was strength over weakness,
wealth over poverty, it was the rule of
despot and a tyrant. But the king
dom which Christ came to establish
was a kingdom of love, the love of
God for man and in. return mans love
for God. 1t was destined to strike at
the foundations of Caesarism and by
the gospel code to reach to the hearts
and lives of men and build in them a
power which was to obtain itt strength