El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-12-25

A(A( christmas Is Gll4h EL oclA III ~ 90
" out Christendom, and it is OBJ
served by Christians sojourning In
heather and pagan countries. but the
menus on the Christ child's natal day
I are as varied as are the countries
/ themselves. While we are slowing
awav all that for which the dyspePsLa
tablet doubtless was created, VIVA
viands and wines viii cause slInlLaI
havoc in Merrie England, in Germany
in France, in Latin America WHC
started this habit Of Christmas sorg-
Oddly enough. it seems now, the set
ting of Christ's birthday as OF DeceIn-
her %. and the custom of IeaSLlhS Oh
that dav as a tribute to Christ came
to~e+6eT nv no design Indeed. when
! the birthday of Christ was held TO De
/ anv one of a number of other oates,
/ notably January or March -, OF
! ADriI Q or 20 or May 20, or NOVeHl-
/ her II. the idea of gOrmandIzlng on
! the birthday of the Savior was repudl-
] ated by early Christians me SAGE
( Origen, in his eighth homily on Lev
! iticuS. scOrns the very idea OF Keep
! inc the birthday of Christ as If he
/ We're a king Pharaoh" Dlsputants
. were discussing the dates previously
| mentioned before December . W.
] put forward by certain men claiming
! to speak with authority. The IlrsI
/ authentic mention of the day now &C
! cepted throughout the world was a
! ldLln CLLLOLOSL dllllCE VI -'
which was first published in its en-
/ tiretv by MOmmSen in 1850. It SAYS
! year / after Christ IN the consulate
I Of Caesar and PaulUs. the Lord Jesus
| Christ was born on the 18th OF De
{ cember a Friday and 18th day Of the
/ new moon" Even here however, noth-
/ ing is said of feasting on that day
Ancient Feast shares Honor Of Day:
! Now. December 25 was a Mithraic
| feast day in those Olden times. Hence,
! those VINO believed that Christ was
/ born on December %, found that the
| ancient feasL shared the hOnOrs OF ms
! day. The two festive occasions mlSnJ
/ eventually have merged solely IOr IhlS
I reason. but the fact is that the adding
/ of feast to Ouher ceremonies or Gus
/ toms attendant upon the~CeIeDTaUlOn- OF
I ChriStS birth was due to the theOlO-
gians. As the custom of bapuzlnS
adults waned, both west and east IN
| favor of infant baptism. those who
] celebrated the feast Of the epiphany
| gradually. conceded, as baptism came
| earlier and earlier in human eNperl-
| ence. that the spiritual element en-
/ tered, cOincident with baptism, soon
! after birth. This was the theory OF
| those who believed that divinity was
present in the Christ child from the
! beginning, and did not come only with
his baptism in his young manhood at
l the hands of John the Baptist, as was
| asserted by others. As the baptismal
/ feast of the Epiphany lost ground,
/ favor was transferred to Decent Der 20,
we viii observe tClay.
Is Started by Constantine
! As early as A D. S53 Christmas
I feaStiuG was observed at the court OF
1 the Roman emperor COnstantius. 1t
| began to take hold in the west, in
! Thrace to be exact, spreading east
/ ward rapidly. Following the example
] of COnStantIuS, The patTlarchS OF Alex
I audria, Crete, Jerusalem and Antioch
/ impeHed their followers to do likewise
as time went on The date of its per
! manent adoption in Jerusalem was 40,
at the behest of bishop JuvenaL
Formerly Pagan Feast Day.
/ A fact of great interest to Ameri-
cans, VINO inherit their Christmas Gus
toms and bill of fare from the English,
is that December % was pagan feast
! day in Britain, centuries before the
I ancient BritOns were converted TO
[ Christianity Bede is authority for the
/ statement that the ancient people OF
| the Angli" celebrated December 25 as
| the beginning of their new year, and
/ he lnsinuates that the night Of that
] day was given over to doubtful Cere-
! monies which were called mOdranecht,
| or mothers night Either from mod
| eSty, or his natural indifference TO
| pagan dOings, Bede fails to describe
{ the ceremonies in question. The jolly
/ times around the Christmas board
We're put under the ban by an act
pushed through parliament by the
Puritans in 1853, on the ground that
7 1t was a heather festival The day
[ was observed by fasting until Charles
II revived the custom of feasting. all
though the Scots adhered to the PuTi-
J tan view until long afterwards
! Early ChriStnases Horrible Orgies.
| The Christmas feasts of the eally
SaXons were horrible orgies, in COM
! mon with all their feasts, but the
! Christmas dinner of the English peO-
| pie today is about what it has been for
! generations, e. e., hot spiced ale, called
( WaSSall, from ancient times, a baron
/ of beef. roast turkey stuffed with
z ctr fed wifi
/ with sage and onions, plum pudding
| with brandy. mince pie, peacock pie,
more wassai, and then snaDdragon'
| which Is brandy poured over ralSluS
I and set afiTe. Peacock Die is always
I put at the end of the table It is pro-
| tuSely decorated with the beautiful
but now usefuly unhappy birds head
! and neck. All the plumage, the cause
| of the peacOcks prOverbial vanity, is
| attached, the magnificent tail Lowering
all of that part of the table. The pop
ular Christmas beverage, wassail, is
always drunk hot and is served in
| huge bowl. Mine host or We hOnOred
/ guest drinks first and then starts the
| bowl around the table with the words
| 1t is the ancient fountain of good
| feeling. when all hearts meet to-
I gether." This quaint custom has been
| handed down from the days of the
/ Saxon, for it is recorded that the fair
. king Vortigern with a cup of gold
IIled with wine, and saN as she
/ bowed low "Waes hazel CwassauD
: hlaford cyning.' The modern English
I version of this is: BE of health, lord
( king"
Signifies Offering Of MagL
! How many in England and the
} United States who eat their fill of
/ plum pudding every December %
! know its legend2 1t is suppressed to
| signify the three fold offering of the
! Magi-gOld, frank-incense and myrrh.
! Then there is the mince pie 1t is sup
/ posed to represent the sacred manger
! of Bethlehem. In the Old days favor
/ lite deliCacy was yule dough, which
! meant fiat cakes made in the shape of
| baby. with the hands folded on the