Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 24, 1910. CHRISTMAS.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10153, 24 December 1910, Page 4

Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 24, 1910. CHRISTMAS.

What does Christmas convey? What is its real significance? Why do men , and women meet at the street cor- }' ner, in the railway cars, on the i steamer, in the homo, and extend J the hand of fellowship ? Why the social re-unions? Why the carolsinging, the religious devotions and -expressions of joy? Is it all a heritage that has been left by ignorant and bigoted forbears? .Assuredly not. Let us turn up the pages of history, and see how this festival came to be instituted. The first, traces of it are found about the time of the Emperor Commodus (180-192, A.D.) In the reign' of Diocletian, 2«4-305, A.D., while that ruler was keeping court at Nicomedia, he learned that a multitudtVof Cliristians were assembled in the city to celebrate the birthday of Jesus, and having ordered the church doors to be closed, he set fire to the building, and all the worshippers perished in the flames. Still, the observance of the nativity continued, although there was no uniformity in the period; some held the festival in the month of May or April, others in January, coajomt'y wit'.; the feast 'if

the Epiphany. Not casually or arbitrarily was the festival eventually celebrated on December Suth. One of tho principal causes that co-op-erated in fixing this period was that almost all the heathen nations regarded the winter solstice as tho turning-point of the year—tho beginning of the renewed life and activity of the powers of nature and of the gods, who were originally merely tho symbolical personifications of these. At the winter solstice the Norsemen held their great Yule-feast in commemoration of the fiery sun-n-heel ; and believed that during the twelve nights from the 25th December to the 6th January they could trace the personal movements and interferences on earth of their great deities. Tho Church eventually succeeded in banishing the deep-rooted heathen feeling by adding its grand-ly-devised liturgy, besides dramatic representations of the birth of Christ, and the first events 01 His life. Hence sprang the multitude of Christmas carols, etc., which, at certain times and places, degenerated into farces. The custom of decorating churches at Christmas, especially with holly and ivy, is a very ancient one. The Christmas tree would seem to be traceable to the Roman saturnalia. The bestowal of Christmas-boxes is' a very old English custom, but Christmas cards, which are at present distributed in millions, are comparatively modern. So much for the history of tho festival. Its special significance to-day, as it has been throughout centuries, is in the message it conveys. The birth of Christ established a new era in the civilization of the world. For twenty centuries Christianity has spread throughout the peoples. It lias formed, as it were* a "newheaven and a new earth." And, as people lay their business aside, iff is well that they should reflect upon the great inspirations which the birth of Christ has awakened, and the humanising influence that Christianity has had upon the world. Was ever a finer sentiment uttered than, "Peace on earth, goodwill toward men?" This is the sentiment which prevails to-day. It is a noble sentiment, and one which all should strive to cultivate. In tho turmoils of business, and the battle for life," there are many hard words said and cruel deeds done. But, in the strife and bitterness •of existence, in the perversity of human nature, in the bigotry and selfishness born of ignorance, the gospel preached by Him Whose birth is now being celebrated, the gospel of "Peace on earth, goodwill toward men," creates a nobler impulse, a higher ideal in the minds i of the people. There are many to- | day who are sick and afflicted; many i who are downcast by misfortune and bereavement; many to whom the world is dark and dismal. These will find solace and comfort in the mes- ' sage which Christmas conveys. And may they find it in its fullness! For

•the rest, one can only hope that they will derive such inspiration from the .approaching festival will enable them to spend, in its truer and better sen so, A Merry Christmas.