MISTAKE MADE 500 YEARS AGO

What was actual b

By M. McINTYRE HOOD

LONDON —— Is the Christmas

world wrong in its belief that Chi-rstmas Day this year is the

1963rd anniversary of Christ's

birth'.’ Scholars who have done years of research into this ques- tion have come up with the theo- ry that this is a mistake which dates back for well over 500 years,

it dates back to the time of Dionystus, the Russtan monk who. 1430 years ago first started reckoning dates from the birth of Christ. Up to that time. dates were counted by the Romans by the initials A.U.C. tanno urbis

Russia’s patron saint basis of Santa legend

By \l. \iclNTYRF) HOOD

Li'\\'llﬂ\' -_ Father Christmas and Santa (‘laus have d 0“ n through the centuries become almost synonymous with Christ- mas There are various opinions as to how thesc kindly old figur- es become identified with the spirit of Christmas Yet it is generally conceded that they both nwr‘ their orizin to St. .\'ic - olas. who was the patron saint of RllFila Even in thoroughly reliable sources of information. however, there are differences of opinion as to how he became associated with the legen d s which resulted in bringing into being the traditional figure of Santa Claus. or Father Christ- mas,

In the Fnryclopedia Brittan- ica there is found the following story of St. \‘icholas.

“St. l\'ichnlas of liyra. accord- ing to the Roman brcviary. was

silver to their prayers. earliest infancy he signally dis- played tho picty for which his whole life was remarkable. 0 Wednesdays and Fridays he reg- ularly refused to receive nourish‘ ment from his nurse. except once and that was after sunset.

GAVE WEALTH T0 POOR

"While still a youth he was de- prived of his parents and the wealth he thus early inherited he forthwith distributed to the poor, To this period what may he called the characteristic .leed 'of his life is attributed— the sec- ret hestowal of dowries opon the three dauzhters of a citizen. who ' fallen into poverty. unable to procure fit marriages for them. was minded to give them up to a life of shame.

“Having :wen himself wholly to God. Nicholas made a pilgri- maze to Palestine and during his voyaging miraculously stilled a storm by his prayers On his return to his native province he Visited \lvra. the capital. where the Bishon had just died. and the chapter head had been divinely advised to select as his success-

a man named l\Iicholas. who i should be the first to enter the 1 church the nevi morning. \Iichol- i as. thus plainly indicated. was duly consecrated and displayed

throughout his whole term of of-

fice every episcopal virtue. THROWN INTO PRISON

"Under \‘iaximiam and Dioc- v

letian he was seized. removed far from his diocese and thrown into prison. where he lay until the days of Constantine when he returned to Myra. He afterwards attended the council of Nice and died a natural death not long after his return. His remains were subsequently removed to Ban in Apnlia.

"So far. the authoritative Ro- man legend does not take us back farther than to the ninth century at the latest. Nicholas is not mentioned among the Nicene Fathers by any of the church historians of that or the suc- ceeding century. The earliest trace of his existence is in fact that a church was dedicated to him in Constantinople by Justin- ian about the year 560. Befor the 12th century his name had

I I

A.»

s : ANOTHER VERSION

n .other authoritative source. has

L" To you, from M...

FOLEY’S DRUG sron

conditao — from the building of world will celebrate Christ's Rome). Ever since Dionysius birthday having been 1963 years _ - made the change. most of the ago? ‘ uring Saturnaha. the Page

Romans had a great time of STRANGE STORY merry-making. Masters changed ' ~ it i s with their servant. o - sch-t]:withSttitinghrihgs 2:21in Esme s H us ing that the best way of convert- greens and candles. ing pagans from their heathen: were exchanged and everyone in fact St. Luke says that Christ festivals and habits was to make; feasted. was born in the days of Herodn a pagan festival into a Christian' PICKED FOR CHRISTMAS and Herod died in AUC 750‘ Sol “"9- In Rome- December 35 “'35 The ecclesiastical authorities Christ was born at least three. originally the pagan festival 0‘. probably picked December 25 as years before the accepted date». Saturnalia- This celebrated u": a suitable day to celebrate the And scholars and historians evenl der the Julian calendar. the ; birth of Christ. They thus gave now do not agree on the yeal.l winter solstice — the time when j a truly religious significance to the month or the day. How is it,| the sun started to climb again , a major pagan festival. then. that on December 25 thel after its gradual drop during the' The first celebration of De- ‘ cember 25 as the birthday of Christ appears to have been in Rome during the fourth century. Whether it came to Britain through the Celtic church is un- certain. but St. Augustine cer- tainly celebrated it. It is now regarded as fairly sure that the actual time

world has used dates as being‘’ either A.D. or B.C '_ But. according to modern schol- I ars, Dionysius made a mis- take. He took A.U.C. 753 as the date that Christ was born. But

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were decorated with ever-i

'10 The Guardian, Charlottetown, Mon. Dec. 23, 1963.

' i ° r1 - lrth date? ‘Klna Cha es restored its: Chnstmas fest1v1t1es

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Christ‘s birth was probably in t . n . ' become very prominent both in ithis say about St. Nicholas: ‘ the gpn ‘1 This would tally wlth the Eastern and Western} " Nicholas — the patron .0 V ‘ Church. It is difficult to tell pre- :saint of Russia. whose life iS‘ nigh,f:§§::d0$:‘;1bgfﬁsJudea ciser whv and to this day he is 3 wrapped in obscurity that is but is a cold and we! time e n ;one of the most popular saints in . little lightened by table. in ca- mm, wnuld not be likely to be { the orthodox Greek communion. i thollc_countrlcs. St. Nicholas is "u, on the hms with their Sheep. ‘LEGEND OF MIRACLES iestabhshed as the patron of t e

"Among the miracles assign~ly01mg arid PSPE‘CiHHN 0f St‘imi- ed to him is that of restoring i 31'5- In England. his feast was . three youths who had been mur. ‘ celebrated in ancient times with dered and salted down by an ‘great ceremony in the nu b lic ‘ innkceper in whose house they ; schools— Eton. Sarnn Cathedral ihad taken lodgings, Thus Men. and elsewhere: and still. in Ger- ’olas figures as the patron saint. malty 9n the vigil of his feast. lnot only of poor maidens and of Which is held on Dec. ti. 8 DW-

Ssauors. but also of travellersisml in the appearance and 003-2 land merchants. Children and es-itumf' 0f 3 blShOD 5550mm“ “1“ ipecially schoolboys are also re-lCh‘ldl‘en of H family 0r Of a ‘carded as being especially un.ischool and distributes amcnz der his guardianship In Russiartltem. to the good children. gifts land in Greece. as well as throu- ! of Bill nuts. sweetmeats an oth— ghout the north of Europe th e.er little presents as a reward lliberality of Nicholas or Klaus is 1 for good conduct. To the naughty ‘ led to by them onicomes the redoubtable punlsll-

:usually appea .the eve of his festival. Decemb-lment of the Klaubauf. ier 6. His protection is specially._""_’”“*"‘“ ’ iinvoked against thieves and loss. {by robbery or violence."

NATO FORCES

the National maximum

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Chambers Encyclopedia.

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@t this glad Christmastide, we wish for you the great gifts of faith renewed and spirit uplifted by the joy and promise of His holy birth.

B n’ J RESTAURANT

Bill Profit. Prop. Alberton

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us elitism: msurs E.C. PER‘LRY

Grocer Tignish

the gospel story of the shepherds “’5' b y day

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of the anniversary of the birth of l a tragitiona! part of the Christ. mas e

By M. McIntyre. Hood .'D0\' v- To King Charles 11, according to historical ords. must go the credit for re- storing all the festivity and is associated

with the Christmas season. When he was restored to the throne of Britain at the end of; the protectorate of Oliver/Crom- well happy Christmas seasons had been abolished, In 1944. Oliver Cromwell decreed that‘ Christmas was a pagan festival. ‘ So be banned all the merrimenti of the festive season. and order-V

‘is today. because living condl- 1y began about 400 years after

the. Christmas pudding w hi

Jesus. . ast. was discovered in TREE AND MISTLETOE ‘ 1499 by a Spaniard who. more by But it wasa long time after .luck than goad management. that before the Christmas tree ; landed on the coast of Venezue- and the present day gatherings ‘. is. To prove to scotfers that 1,, around it came into being in Bri- ‘: had real y them he tain. Prince Albert. consort of i brought home a flock of turkeys Queen Victoria is credited with l for which he had paid th re having first introduced It to this . marbles apiece. Little did country. He brought one tr 0 m i know that. as a result of t h 1, i Germany to Windsor Castle as a i piece of enter hundreds of thous- " surprise for the Young Price Ed- ; ands of turkeys will in this year wa lot 1963 race the Christmas din. The vogue of the mistlet o e t L19? tab-195 British horaes. and - ' omes in a coun rles w ere th bough. however. has its r oot s Christmas festive“ is observee back in pagan days. The Druids . after the manner in which it of Ancient Britain had a use for g was restored by King Charles it. They hung it up as people do i n now. And any nltaid who pissedi under it. witting y or unwi ing y . was fair game for any D ruli d, MORE EARN MORE youngdmanhllf sheﬁaeﬁenoglgl From 1956 to 1961. the num. ed “n er e mm 9 .“ iber of Canadians in the $4,000 then her prospects of marriage I to $10,000 income bracket in.

for the next 12 months were nil. The turkey, which now tormsicreased by 788.000 to 1.825,ooo_

tions were different. The indul- 'the birth of Jesus. It was ordain- gence in the traditional turkey i ed by Pope Julius as a means of was the privdege of only t h e counteracting a growing vogue wealthy classes. The serfs. how- for worshipping the sun. The De- ever. did have their share of cember festivals then in vogue c h were heathen and lewd. T ey was generally a communal at- all centred on reproduction, the fair. cooked in a huge iron pot. approach of spring and the rege-

But the fun and games of aeration of life. Pope Julius ra- Chrlstmas did not actually be- tionalized all this with observ- gin with King Charles. All that slice of Christmas Day. he did was to restore the Christ- thrust into the outer darkness mas festival as it used to be be- all the pagan rites associate d fore the advent of Cromwell. with man's eternal hope. and in-

The Christmas festival actual- augurated the joyful celebration

5|: 0

ed that the day be spent in fast- ing and holy thoughts and ord-‘ ances.

When King Chalies II camel back to the throne. he had very i different views from those 0 t‘ the stern dictator. So he restor- ed the Christmas fun and par-i ties. and so began the customs 1 of the modern British Christmas i oms which persist to th i I 1

WITH A DIFFERENCE

Christmas Day in the time ofl King Charles II. however. was i still very different from what it i

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: Best wishes for a tine old~fashioned Christmas

3.7.". a Santa is, here, bringing good cheer from all of us to each of you... and extending our sincere wishes that this will be the Men-fest

Christmas you bane ever known.

TOWN of SUMMERSIDE

J. E. Morrison. Mayor

Rs Christmas comes to

you this year, we warmly wish

that it may bring a holy meaning

ever deeper, hopes ever brighter, and joyous blessings ever richer.

’ Geo. A. K G 1 R0 S Mrs. Fangs Perry I)???” Minonald Sour-is H. B. Schumann Lao A. Wood

Here’s a holiday tradition

we really cherish . . .time out to tell you how much your loyal friendship and patronage mean to us

an! to wish you and your family a very healthy. happy and cheerful festive season]

Merry Christmas and I happy Holiday Season. May your blessing.

.5.

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