The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1913-12-27
THE GREAT FESTAL DAY IN ENG
LISH LIFE AND LITERATURE.
written for The Catholic Bulletin by
Cecil Underwood.)

| 61ONSS, luS ATLAS gilt Ol yOuI N0l }
dear mother. Of course there is moth
ing in the air suggestive of blizzards
or sundogs or the inclement nay, in
human, climate where The Catholic
Bulletin is published. Yet you need
the heavy Scotch tweeds and ulsters
and often a fur-lined coat would not
be out of place, especially when driv'
ing across the northern moors. Eng
lish people as rule wear plenty OF
clothing, for clothing is very cheap
But fur is seldom seen outside the
large cities, where it is worn for style
rather than comfort. There is, l say
sufficient frost and cold to justify the
lines of Keats written on less i'm,
portant religious festal day.
"Ah, bitter chill it was!
The owl, for all his feathers, was
a-cold;
The hare limped trembling through
the frozen grass,
And silent was the flock in woolly
fold:
Numb were the Beadsman's fingers
while he told
His rosary, and while his frosted
breath,
Like pious incense from a censer old
Seemed taking fight for heaven, with.
out death,
Past the sweet Virgins picture while
his prayer he SAITH
With due apology to st. Agnes, these
lines apply to Xmas as well, for the
frost sparkles on pane and rooftree
on meadow and void, and bleak winds
sweep the winter land
The Family Hearth.
All the more pleasant for the chill
without, is the blazing hearth, around
which the family gathers to celebrate
yuletide The holly wreath and mis-
tletoe are in evidence, as if forming
part of the lares and penates. AnC
underneath the mistletoe each member
meets with a cordial pax tecum; ne
matter how much quarrelling anG
estrangement the year has brought al
is forgiven and forgotten in the pledge
of good will beneath the mistletoe.
have often thought, after layman's
fashion, this might be good custom
to introduce into that larger family
the clergy. Neighboring pastors, let US
say, who have been too busy to ex
change many cordial greetings during
the year!-let them meet at yuletide
beneath the mistletoe.
At the fireside-those large oper
hearths upon which the coal is heaped
and which have immortalized England
quite as much as her holly and plum
pudding,-you may call up the dead
past-all the sweet or sad memories
which may be woven into reverie;
hopes buried or deferred, the slings
and arrows of outrageous fortune; the
faces Of the beloved dead of whom we
think too rarely. There is plenty oi
material for gladness if we recall the
manifold blessings and substantial ia
vors which heaven has vouchsafed dur
ing the vanished months and years
, Plenty of material for sorrow, too, i
: we think of what has fallen by the
: wayside-the cry Of Virgil comes tt
our ears like funeral bell-sunt ZACH
ryma rerum-there are tears in the
: world and the sorrow of mortal'
pierces the heart. One reason,
: think, why the English people are 81
. pensive and so inclined to melanchol!
is the fact that they mediate for hours
by the fireside, recalling the past years
T the friends and relatives who are
scattered over the world; some at tht
: Cape; some in Canada or India o1
: America or far-off Australia. Almos
every family can mourn friend Of
/ relative lost at sea. Meditation always
, brings some kind of sadness.
"The Merry, Merry Bells of YuIe."
But Christmas is merry time, al
t exception to the general rule. Ever
{ the pensive Laureate mourning fo
} Arthur Hallam pauses to hear ''th'
merry, merry bells of Yule." Ant
Charles Lamb with his wholesom,
good nature comes into the room ant
! his CHEEKY smile exercises the demon
| of gloom, If perchance that spirit wall
abroad. Listen to Lamb-he is tryin'
to tell you what Xmas signifes:-
What is Xmas? 1t is the happies
/ time of the year. 1t is the season o
mirth and cold weather. 1t is the tim,
when Xmas-boxes and jokes are Civ
en-; when mistIetoe, and red-berriet
laurel and soups and sliding ant
schoolboys prevail; when the countr!
is illuminated by fires, and brigh
faces, and the town is radiant will
laughing children. Oranges shine on
in huge golden heaps; cakes frosted
over comes forth like the glitterint
snow DER the glittering heavens. Ant
on every stall you see the roasted ap
pies like incense fuming on pagan al
tars.
! "Oh! merry piping times of Christ
) mas! Never let us permit them to de
generate into distant courtesies ant
formal salutations, but let us shake oui
friends and familiars by the hand, al
our fathers and their fathers did. LIE
them all come round us, and let vi
count how many the year has added Il
: our circle. Let us enjoy the presen
and laugh at the past. Let us tell oil
stories and invent new ones, let u