CONCERNING CHRISTMAS.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume IV, Issue 195, 22 December 1876, Page 10

CONCERNING CHRISTMAS.

1' - ' ' 4"+" "■■ " Glory to God in the highest, and on Earth peace to men of goodwill." Close upon two thousand years ago there was a cave near an eastern village, where the shepherds of the neighborhood were accustomed to lead their flocks for shelter in inclement weather, and where wandering cattle might enter at all times. It was a dreary place abounding iv Utter, and whose only furniture was a manger. It was hardly fitting for the rough men who came there now and then, and except in seasons of storm or rain, or bitter cold — the open air was preferred by them. Yet this was the refuge found by our Lady, in which to give birth to the Saviour of the world. She cama there at evening attended by St. Joseph, an elderly man of a gracious and

venerable appearance, and who, we must suppose, was troubled at the thought of lodging her so unbecomingly. He had sought all through the village, and begged hard for room for tier in some household, but in vain : every where they were repulsed, for the houses were full and they were strangers. We can hardly conceive that any eye could have rested upon the form of Mary, and yet that she should have been refused admittance into whatever home it might be; but she was closely veiled, aud for the honor of the memory of those ancient women of Bethlehem, we will hope that the method of her attire fully concealed her from their sight. But thus it was to be, and for this alcne, perhaps, great things had taken place in the history of the world. The sequence of events is -wondrous, and the tree of existence was well devised, even though it was planned in the realm of mythology. It had required centuries to secure the attendant circumstances of the birth of Christ, so far as they were apparently natural. Many ages before this period, in a country far distant from Palestine, a city was built, whose foundation is wrapt in the obscurity of Pagan tradition, and involved in stories of the gods and marvellous occurrences j but which grew from a small beginning to be the mistress of the world, and which, under the name of Rome, is and ever must continue to be venerable. It followed from her universal dominion that in the stable of Bethlehem the Saviour was born, for it was by the decree of Gssar that the "whole world" was obliged to be enrolled, and that Joseph and Mary were, therefore, compelled to travel to the city of David. Thus was born into the world, amidst surrouudings that rude and squalid, He, of whom the glorious temple of Solomon was unworthy, and whom the wide universe itself, *' the heaven of heaven's," cannot contain. Do we not read •omnipotence iv this ineffable depth of humility ? " Dark with excessive bright thy skirts appear." Appearances proclaim their contrary, and lowliness here becomes the herald of majesty. Earth was regardless of Him, but Heaven sang hymns of triumph. j Yet, by-and-bye, earth also took up the burden of the song, and " Glory to God" was returned by many nations, where men of good will lived rejoicing in His peace. The happy Christmas time of old was a season of peculiar joy, i observed with beautiful and edifying ceremouies in mauy lands, and eveu now, though the ages of faith are passed, it is still hailed with gladness and gratitude by multitudes. j " Cantet nunc io chorus angelorum." j Thus sings the Church : let the choirs of angels sound His j praises, tor the voices of mcii are weak and impure. Let the priests stand at the altar and offer up the Holy Sacrifice in thanksgiving ere day has dawned upon the morning of His nativity. In the great cathedrals of mighty cities j ■wU.I the midnight Mass be celebrated, and within their sacred walls it may be thought that Christendom once more is true to its name ; for all the splendor of the Church will there be put forth in honor of the festival, and hard must be the heart that will not acknowledge the influences of the Babe of Bethlehem. In the quiet country also, in retired village churches, will the faithful children of Home do their utmost to express the praises of God. Under the balmy summer j skies of the Southern hemisphere, or through the snow and j frost of the North, the people will come in troops to kneel at ! His holy feet. Crowds that are beautiful to see as they pass through the night on their hallowed errand, because they are suggestive of the shepherds who hastened at the bidding of the angels to worship the Divine Infant when, wrapped in swaddling clothes, he lay in His rough manger cradle. Those who have read of her, will remember how Eugenic de Guerin gathered, on her way to midnight Mass, a spray of hawthorn covered with hoar-frost and glittering in the moonbeams, and how she longed to carry it with her to decorate the altar, if only it would have borne the heat. She, however, brought there a still more pure and lovely ornament in her faithful heart, and her life guided by the teaching of the Church. Let us hope that on the Christmas Day about >to dawn upon us, many such garlands will be laid at the foot of our New Zealand altars, and that we ourselves, each of us, •may be amongst those to offer them there.