The Manawatu Herald. Saturday, December 24, 1910. A MERRY CHRISTMAS !

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXII, Issue 935, 24 December 1910, Page 2

The Manawatu Herald. Saturday, December 24, 1910. A MERRY CHRISTMAS !

Some say—that ever ’gainst that season comes Wherein our Saviour’s birth is celebrate, The bird of dawning singeth all night long; And then, they say—no spirit walks abroad; — The nights are wholesome ; then no planets strike ; No fairy tales, no witch hath power to charm; So hallowed and so gracious is the time! — Shakespeare. Thk joyous festive season is again upon ns. We say “joyous” because in this country Christmas should be a joyous time to young and old, rich and poor. Even to the sick and sorrowing it brings a certain amount ol relief. The children delight to anticipate Christmas Eve, aud often have we heard the little ones repeat “ only six more sleeps to Christmas —I wonder what Santa Claus will bring me this time ?” 'Tis true hemp is down, but we are not going to be pessimistic because of that. There is a buoyancy in other directions which should tend to unloosen the purse strings. The outlook is bright. Let us, therefore, approach the festive season with childish delight. It is a time for family re-union. It is also a time to bury all that is vindictive and evil in our nature. It is a time to forgive—no time more appropriate. It is a time to give to others less fortunate in the race of life of our surplusage. This is the time when the grey old man Leaps back to the days of youth; When brows and eyes wear no disguise, But flush and gleam with truth: Oh, this is the time when the soul exults, And seems right heavenward turning; When we love and bless the hands we press, While the Christmas light is burning. —Cook. It takes our thoughts back to the birth of Christ aud the glorious message, “ Peace, goodwill to men,” which has tumbled down through the ages, but has not yet been realised to the full among the nations. We hesitate to say that the message is yet realised to its full extent among ourselves. However, we hope our readers will enjoy the festive season to its full, and that the New Year will be the brightest they have entered upon. The institution of the festival, originally created purely for the observation of the nativity of the Saviour, is attributed by the spurious Decretals to Telesphorus, who flourished in the reign of Antoninus Pius (138-161 a.d.), but the first certain traces of it are found about the time of the Emperor Commodus (180-192 a.d.) As the rites of the Christians were misunderstood in those early days, the worshippers were obliged to celebrate their Master’s birth in secret. Every such meeting was regarded as the home of conspiracy, and the Roman Emperors, who saw an assassin lurking in every shadow, were well served with spies. So it happened that in the reign of Diocletian (284-305 a.d.), while that monarch was keeping court at Nicomedia, he learned that a multitude of Christians were assembled in the city to celebrate the birthday of Jesus. He ordered the church doors to be closed, and having set fire to the building, all the worshippers perished in the flames. It does not appear, however, says a chronicler, that there was any unitormity in the period of observ-

ing the Nativity among the early churches. Some held the festival in the month of May or April, others in January conjointly with the feast of Epiphany. The Church utilised the festival as a grand missionary effort to combat and banish the deep-rooted heathen feeling by adding for the purification of the heathen customs and feasts which it retained, its grandly designed liturgy, besides dramatic representations of the birth of Christ and the first events of His life. These efforts were successful, and from them sprang the socalled “Manger-songs” and a multitude of Christmas carols as well as Christmas dramas, which, at certain times and places, degenerated into farces or Fools’ Feasts, and the custom of reciprocal presents and of special Christmas meats and dishes. Thus, beginning as a purely religious ceremonial, the celebration of Our Lord’s nativity has gradually expanded until its present day dimensions have been reached. Interwoven with all the enjoyment there is, however, the deeply religious sentiment, “On earth peace, goodwill toward .men,” which is apparent in the hearty greeting everywhere heard, “ A Merry Christmas.”