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Christmas
■» father T. J. McNamara
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EDITORS NOTE-The Unlcn-Re- ever have
coder *? ta « ,he »P- ccuid make the rtars as „„ _ n _ v
.^j-uv to publish the address de- would one d:,v be coven* t ,1*
r«wl k. v Father McNamara at the roof „r a .table. And yet such ’
Chh^ -o-Ung of the N.n yj rf ^ , n crdcr , 0
Cjuptcr. D. A. R. We urge ihe power cf the world He
in all the weakness or a child and
in order to set at naught its pride
makes His bed in straw. The world
He made as His home and yet the
world received Him not. and thus
God
read it.
Chriitnus
child's feast. I do
, know cf any event in the life of
Our Bl-s** 1 Lord which expresses
more fully the moaning of those
words of Hi» in which He said
must become as little children if we
would enter into the Kingdom of
Heaven than this feast at Christmas.
It is an all-wise and an all-loving
Providence that has so
things that within a year’s cycle
there recurs a universal commemora
tion of the fact that God, wrapped
..add ling-clothes of
humanity, came into the world He
\ had made as a lovely Babe and
" found the Gateway therein through
the portals of motherhood. Christmas
s, indeed, the season when eyes and
•ary are drawn in memory and in
ju to a Pabe who was bom in a
ave under the floor of the world,
nd who. by that act shook the world
) its very foundations. It is the
!a=on of the stupendous mystery
' Omnipotence wrapped in swad-
ling hands and laid in a manger.
Christmas is the story of
who was homeless at home. This
Babe of Bethlehem did not fall from
the heavens into a bed of straw but
came into the world through the
great portals of the flesh. He Is not
suspended mid-air in history, but
like all other babes, He came into
the world by and through His moth-
Christmas then is the story of a
Mother and her Babe and as we look
at that Babe, nestling in its Mother’s
arms, the heavens and the earth
seem almost to exchange places.
Years and years ago, aye. centuries
ago, we used to think of heaven as
way up there.’ Then one day the
God of the heavens came to this
earth, and that hour when the
Mother held the Babe in her arms,
it became true to say that with her
look down’ to heaven. And
always where you looking through those Mother’s eyes
would ever have thought of looking we sec a Child. V/ho is the way, the
truth, and the life, and we come to
realize the force of His words that
unless we become .is little children
we cannot enter into His kingdom.
The complexity of life’s problems,
the brilliant results of the
of some misdirected students
for God in the form of a babe. Jio
one in the world would ever havo
ru>pc*tted that He who threw the
great fiery ball of the sun in the
heavens, would one day be warmed
by the breath <il oxen. No one in the
world would ever have suspected
that hands which could tumble plan
et ar.d worlds into space, would one
day be smaller than the huge heads
of cattle. No one in the world would
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Christmas comes and for a time at
tost we look u life through the
!?.**?* * ChUd and we that the
Kingdom eg Heaven, happiness is
to be hid only through the childlike
qualities of simplicity, faith _
innocence. Even thought it is not
our good fortune to have these
qualities manifest in our life through
cut the year when Christmas comes
the infection of the child's enjoy
ment reaches us and once again we
children, seeing with children's
eyes and enjoying with a childlike
heart. With this endowment we enter
whole-heartedly into the Christmas
customs of this our land and other
lands; we approach reverently the
legends that Christmas inspires; and
seek the blessings that little
Christinas superstitious practices
promise and with our adult minds
we know that all would be mean
ingless except for the historical fact
that God did come to earth in the
form of a lowly Infant and did nes
tle dose in a mother's arms.
Some, they are. who would have
! believe that Christinas is older
than Christianity and* this, because
the Christmas tree, and the candles
the tree, and the Yule fire come
from a still more distant day. They
would have iis believe that Christ-
is older than Christianity be
cause these things are round among
primitive peoples in their worship
of the sun. How fcolish It is like
saying that the Washington Monu
ment does not mark the memory of
the Father of our Country because
it is an obelisk and obelisks
a period prior to the time of Wash
ington. Why are these things
bolic of the Christmas spirit? Why.
net because of the sun around which
lunula,. th e physical world revolves but be-
. care rause p f Son arcund Whom the
, . . . spiritual world revolves. And
stmeglo t° rise to the spirit, when cusloms , , d , a „ d
the flesh .s so weak, ofte, t.ntes | praclices ^ arc associalod wlth
j the Christmas season.
To mention a few of the customs
of other lands. In frozen Alaska is
j round the custom, known as “Going
arcund with the star.’’ A star-shaped
wooden frame is covered with bright
[tissue paper and for three nights is
carried from door to door by boy
and girls. Wherever they stop to sing
carols they are invited in and given
something. On the third night
other party oC boys and girls, mask
ed to represent Herod's soldiers, try
to capture the star and destroy it,
j just as Herod’s men tried to destroy
the Infant Christ.
In Austria great preparations
made for the Christmas festival. Two
huge loaves of bread are baked
typifying the Old and New Testa
ments. Three wax candles are
especially made. On Christmas eve
one of these candles is lighted and
the family sings a hymn. Befcre
they begin to cat, the father takes
the candle in his hand and says.
“Christ is bom.” TTien each child
in turn takes the taper and stand
ing on a stool repeats three times.
“Praised be the Lord! Christ is
bom." The second candle is light
ed on Christmas clay and the third
on New Year's Day ends the Christ
mas festivities.
In Belgium St. Nicholas >,oes from
house to heuse on December 6. his
fr-ast day. He is '.'ollowed by a black
servant called Nicodcmus (in Hol
land he is called Black Pete.) The
saint is vested as a 3ishop. and
carries a gilded book in which to
write the- names of all good chil
dren. His servant carries a black
names cf the bad chil
dren and also carries on hi* should
ers a huge black bag in which he
is to carry away any naughty chil
dren. The children first recite their
prayers and then ask for the toys
they would like to have. They are
UJd that St. Nicholas is expected
from Spain, which is supposed to
be his heme. Young Belgian belles
stiil take candles to the well at mid
night to sec the faces of their fu
ture husbands. It is feared in Bel
gium that+if a light is extinguished
accidentally on the table at the
Christmas feast, some guest present
will die in the course of the coming
year.
In Germany is found the home of
the Christmas trr There is no home
without a tree and twinkling cand
les and gifts on Christmas eve. Some
families have two trees, one for the
children and one for the grown
folks. In Germany instead of Santa
Claus the Christ Child is the popu
lar source of Christinas gifts. He is
often represented as a sort of combi
nation angel and fairy, impersonat
ed by a girl in white. He appears
Christmas eve and inquires how the
children have behaved, asks them
to recite a prayer, and sing a hymn
and then distributes the gifts. Kris
Kringle is a variation of Christ
Kind'l. All German children visit
their godfathers house and there find
gifts waiting for them.
one part of Germany, people
bind a great wheel with straw and
take it to the top of a hill near a
river. Here they set fire to the
straw and start it blazing down the
I- the straw biams and the
wheel rolls into the river. It is a
good omen that Santa will come.
An old legend in Germany relates
that all water turns to wine at mid
night on Christmas eve, and wbo-
ever tries to say “all water turns to
wine” will be frightened and pur sh
ed by the appearance of the devil
who will say, “and thou my child
art mine.” According to another old
legend, water drawn frem a well or
spring at midnight on Christmas
eve will remain fresh throughout the
year.
In England the Yule Log was usu
ally of oak and it was thought best
to have it cut at midnight. With
much ceremony it was dragged into
the house. To help pull the log con
ferred immunity from witches. A
bit of the log was always kept until
the next Christmas to help kindle
the new one, and this piece was be
lieved to help shield the home from
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throughout the year distract us
from the meaning of life as taught
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