The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1910-12-24
The Birth of the Christ Child Com
memorated in Ireland With
Unbounded Joy.
There Christmas Has Always Retain
ed its Essential Religious
Significance.
Many Ancient Customs Have Sur
vived Through the Dark
-. Night of Persecution.

The essence of Christmas is the
same the world over. There is one
fundamental source Of all Christmas
joy and festivity; and this is, of
course, the same in Ireland as it is in
all Christian countries, says the Dub
lin correspondent of the Catholic Col
umbian.
The great central doctrine of Chris
tianity is the Incarnation. The great
central fact by which that doctrine
was first made manifest, and, as it
were, visible to men, was the birth
of Christ. That constituted the first
Christmas. 1t was the first appear
ance of the Saviour. It was His man.
Hesitation to man. 1t was His Epi-
phany. That this Babe of Bethlehem,
horn of the Virgin Mary, is at the
same time true God, the Eternal Son
born of the Father before all ages, the
Saviour of the world, the Redeemer Of
mankind, the God of our hearts-this
is the truth that distinguishes Chris
tianity from every other form of reli-
gion and from every system of phil
osophy.
| In no country In the world Is this
presence in the flesh Of Christ the
Saviour SO truly the center of all
Christmas JOY as It is in Ireland This
is due not merely to the spiritual
character of the Irish people but to
causes rooted in the country's history
and pervading it for generations. It
might seem remarkable, at first sight,
that the Christmas festivities among
a people so imaginative is not observed
in Ireland with anything like the va
riety Of customs and ceremonies which
ore SO prominent in it's observance in
other countries, and especially in the
Catholic provinces of Germany But
this will be easily understood by any
one who knows something of the his
tory Of Ireland.
spent part of last summer in a
country district of County Louth.
From the house, which stood on an
eminence, I could count tho site Of at
least a dozen different ruins. The
young curate Of the place was cul-
tured gentleman and secretary Of the
local Historical Society. One day I
said to him: "Ts that the ruins Of 4
monastery" NO." he answered,
"that was a medieval castle. But yon-
der tower on the other side Of the
road belonged to and is the ruin of a
monastery. 1t was probably Francis
can. But we don't know. All the
Irish records have been destroyed and
local traditions are unreliable. We
have to fall back on the English rec.
ords as the only source, and they con-
tain little more than the Acts Of Con-
fscation."
No Record Of Ancient Customs.
There it is in nutshell. And what
is true of the shrines of old Catholic
Ireland is true of her old Catholic
customs and traditions. The hand of
the tyrant and prosecutor destroyed
everything that 1t could reach. 1t
reached to everything that was tan.
gible and visible. The divine faith
that was enshrined in the hearts OF
the people it could not reach. This
alone in its essentials survived the
universal wreck and deluge.
These are facts which we must re-
member in considering Irish Christ.
mas customs, especially II we contrast
them with those Of other Catholic peo.
pies. In this respect Ireland is pecul'
far; she differs from all other coun'
tries. In other countries either the
faith survived with its customs and
ceremonials practically unimpaired, OF
/, was lost and the people were turned
from It's observances. But here ev'
erything extremely Catholic was de-
stroyed and the faith remained. OF
the Christmas customs Of Catholic
Ireland in its glory, we have not seen
the records nor the traditions. All
was destroyed. We have but the Eng
lish records Of laws that prescribed