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odays Christmas Traditions Derive from Ancient Recent Tim es Christmas as formal observance has been cele brated by Christians since the third century The word itself means Christs Mass connoting the reli gious rites that commemo rated the birth of Christ Originally Christmas Day was celebrated on both January and Decem ber 25 During the fifth century the Western world adopted December 25 as Christmas with Eastern churches following suit la ter on Because December 25 was already feast day in honor of the pagan sun god Mithra Christians chose that date to honor Jesus as The Light of the World In many ways Christmas has served to replace the pagan Customs of ancient times For instance in Ger many the winter solstice was observed on December 21 by pagans and many customs of the proChris tian celebration were trans ferred to the Christian holiday Dramatic enact ments of the birth of Jesus Christmas Carols and the manger songs of medieval times were incorporated into the holiday celebra tion as time went on re placing the old pagan customs The Christmas tree itself is believed to be derived from the use of palm trees in the worship of the Egyp tian goddess lsis During the winter solstice palm tree with twelve shoots representing the months of the year was carried to celebrate the completion of one year and the begin ning of another The palm tree was replaced with fir tree as the observance extended to northern cli mates The Yule log came into use around the 16th cen tury and again this custom has its origins in pagan times At the time of the solstice sacred lire would be lit from brand kept from the previous years log It is thought that the custom was brought to England by the Vikings in later times the Yule log would be brought in with much ceremony on Christ mas Eve to light the holi day fire The Christmas stocking is originally an Italian cun tom Tradition has it that La Befam wandering witch comes on the feast of Epiphmy to fill the Years End Now days are short nights long and raw With pinching frost and slabby rain and snow But let good rousing fires and Christmas cheer Still mixd with charity conclude the year JOHN NATHAN HUTCHINS 1799 stockings of good children with gifts and those of naughty children with ash es La Befanas name is actually corruption of the word Epiphany the feast that commemorates the bringing of gifts to the Iri fant Jesus by the Three Wise Men The exchanging of gifts dates back to early medie val times and is probably inspired by the gifts of the Wise Men Christmas cards how ever are fairly recent tradition The use of cards dates back only to the lat ter half of the 19th century They were an inevitable outcome of the practice of writing to distant friends and relatives at Christmas time custom which came into greater favor with the increasing efficiency of postal systems ivo us the examlnor Tuesday Dec 20 1977 5A Nativity Plays Enjoyed by All at Yuletime daiitletiiofifjviéiniiai i313 themselves caught up in flurry of activities such as shopping making gifts or decorations and getting ready for the Christmas play It seems that every school and church wants to put on nativity play at Christmastime and with good reason Theres no more enjoyable way to teach youngsters the story of the birth of Jesus than by having them act out the events sur rounding that birth Children love dressing up in shepherds robes or angels wings and the annual holiday play gives them all chance to shine The adults equally enjoy wat ching their children perform or helping the youngsers put their play together Of course Mother often winds up doing most of the work making the costumes and chauffeuring Joseph or shepherd to dress rehearsal But Mom knows its worth the effort Some church and School pro ductions are very ambitious complete with orchestra and choir But even the simplest of pageants can make Christmas more meaningful for all God the vision which can 505 Thy love in the world in spite of human fail ure Give us the faith to trust Thy goodness inapito of our ignorance and weakness Give us the knowledge that we may continue to pray with Prayer understanding hearts and from Ipuo show us what each on of us AW can do to not forward the com Comnundor mg of the day of universal peace Amen AMERICA TODAY Americans today celebrate the Christmas holiday in many col orful ways The tradition of this beautiful season is strong in America north south east west Its warmth which unites one and all in peace and brotherhood has been and will bea unifying force for all time Bret Harte Story Tells of Western Christmas poor mountain cabin liousing group of rugged characters forms an unlike ly setting for an excellent Christmas story by Bret llarteiamed for his writ ings about the Cold Hush days Set in 1862 in the Sacramento Valley flow Santa Claus Came to Simp sons Bar is considered one of llartcs best stories The story centers around little boy Johnny who is ill in bed on Christmas live is home is poor cabin at Simpsons Bar cluster of similar cabins huddled around little store situated on Table Mountain Little Johnny is wise yond his years due to his roughandtumble environ ment but when he hears about Santa Claus he is mystified So when Johnnys father comes home with some drinking companions Johnny asks his father very natural question Just who is Sandy Claws His father brushes the question aside but one of the other men Dick Bullen is moved by the boys ig norante lie borrows mare Jovita and sets out to find some Christmas presents for the youngster lnloitunatel for Dick liullcn its not propitious time to run errands its been raining hemil and the river has overflowed its banks while the creek is impassable lie reaches his destination the town oi Turtlevillc where he wak ens some disgruntled shop keepers to do his lastmin ute shopping The return trip is even harder for poor Dick When he gets to the creek he finds it has be come river Undaunted Dick discards his coat and boots and saddle and rides the mere bareback through the rushing waters It is dawn before he reaches the mountain cab in at last when he arrives he is halfnaked and ex hausted But he has carried his cargo of toys to their destination and he tells Johnnys father to place the gifts in Johnnys stocking Tell him Sandy Claws has come he says and so ends marvelous story written in the best tradition if Bret Harte Twelfth Night On the twelfth day of Christmas My true love sent to me Twelve drummers drumming Eleven pipers piping Ten lords aleaping Nine ladies dancing Eight maids amilking Seven swans aswimming Six geese alaying Five golden rings Four calling birds Three French hens Two turtledova And partridge in pear tree AM From the Management Staff Santa Claus is here to say hope you all have Happy Holiday Were grateful to our friends From the Management Staff THE PflNHflNDliER Bayfield Mall In the Mews Warmest Wishes for Cozy Christmas to all of our friends and customers SUPER DISCOUNT FOOD MARTS lnAnguondotH Eu ltd 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