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Difference between revisions of "Christmas"
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== Charles Buck Theological Dictionary <ref name="term_19588" /> == | == Charles Buck Theological Dictionary <ref name="term_19588" /> == | ||
<p> The day on which the nativity of our blessed [[Saviour]] is celebrated. The first footsteps we find of the observation of this day are in the second century, about the time of the [[Emperor]] Commodus. The decretal epistles, indeed, carry it up a little higher, and say that Telesphorus, who lived in the reign of [[Antoninus]] Pius, ordered divine service to be celebrated, and an angelic hymn to be sung the night before the nativity of our Saviour. That it was kept before the time of [[Constantine]] we have a melancholy proof; for whilst the persecution raged under Dioclesian, who then kept his court at Nicomedia, that tyrant among other acts of cruelty, finding the multitudes of Christians assembled together to celebrate Christ's nativity, commanded the church doors where they were met to be shut, and fire to be put to it, which soon reduced them and the church to ashes. </p> <p> See | <p> The day on which the nativity of our blessed [[Saviour]] is celebrated. The first footsteps we find of the observation of this day are in the second century, about the time of the [[Emperor]] Commodus. The decretal epistles, indeed, carry it up a little higher, and say that Telesphorus, who lived in the reign of [[Antoninus]] Pius, ordered divine service to be celebrated, and an angelic hymn to be sung the night before the nativity of our Saviour. That it was kept before the time of [[Constantine]] we have a melancholy proof; for whilst the persecution raged under Dioclesian, who then kept his court at Nicomedia, that tyrant among other acts of cruelty, finding the multitudes of Christians assembled together to celebrate Christ's nativity, commanded the church doors where they were met to be shut, and fire to be put to it, which soon reduced them and the church to ashes. </p> <p> See [[Holyday]] </p> | ||
== Webster's Dictionary <ref name="term_100134" /> == | == Webster's Dictionary <ref name="term_100134" /> == | ||
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== Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament <ref name="term_55402" /> == | == Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament <ref name="term_55402" /> == | ||
<p> <b> | <p> <b> [[Christmas]] </b> —See Calendar, and Dates, § 1. </p> | ||
== Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature <ref name="term_32175" /> == | == Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature <ref name="term_32175" /> == | ||
<p> We present the following additional particulars concerning this important festival: </p> <p> "Pope [[Julius]] I confirmed the birthday of our Lord to be kept on December 25; and Chrysostom, in the 4th century, speaks of the feast as of great antiquity; [[Clement]] of Alexandria, in the beginning of the 3d century, speaks of it, but refers it to April 19 or 20, or May 20; and sermons of [[Basil]] and [[Gregory]] Nazianzen, preached on this day, are still extant. Epiphanins reckons it on January 6, but [[Augustine]] on December 25. From the West the observance of the day passed to the Eastern Church in the 4th century; as Chrysostom says, the feast was unknown at [[Antioch]] tell years before the time he was preaching, that is, probably, as kept on December 25, the day hitherto observed having been January 6. The Latins, and Africa, and the Greek Church, generally, however, held the [[Nativity]] on December 25, as appears from Jerome, Augustine, Chrysostom, Basil, and Gregory Nazianzel. The Orientals in Egypt, Cyprus, Antioch, and [[Palestine]] appear to have observed, for a time only, January 6, as the feast of. the Nativity and-Epiphany, or Theophania, name equally applicable to both, as Gregory Nazianzen observes. </p> <p> However, about the beginning of the 5th century the Nativity was commemorated, in the East, on December 25, and the [[Epiphany]] on the later day. In the 6th century, beyond doubt, East and West agreed in their observance. The Basquecallit the New Day, because all things are become new — old things are passed away. | <p> We present the following additional particulars concerning this important festival: </p> <p> "Pope [[Julius]] I confirmed the birthday of our Lord to be kept on December 25; and Chrysostom, in the 4th century, speaks of the feast as of great antiquity; [[Clement]] of Alexandria, in the beginning of the 3d century, speaks of it, but refers it to April 19 or 20, or May 20; and sermons of [[Basil]] and [[Gregory]] Nazianzen, preached on this day, are still extant. Epiphanins reckons it on January 6, but [[Augustine]] on December 25. From the West the observance of the day passed to the Eastern Church in the 4th century; as Chrysostom says, the feast was unknown at [[Antioch]] tell years before the time he was preaching, that is, probably, as kept on December 25, the day hitherto observed having been January 6. The Latins, and Africa, and the Greek Church, generally, however, held the [[Nativity]] on December 25, as appears from Jerome, Augustine, Chrysostom, Basil, and Gregory Nazianzel. The Orientals in Egypt, Cyprus, Antioch, and [[Palestine]] appear to have observed, for a time only, January 6, as the feast of. the Nativity and-Epiphany, or Theophania, name equally applicable to both, as Gregory Nazianzen observes. </p> <p> However, about the beginning of the 5th century the Nativity was commemorated, in the East, on December 25, and the [[Epiphany]] on the later day. In the 6th century, beyond doubt, East and West agreed in their observance. The Basquecallit the New Day, because all things are become new '''''—''''' old things are passed away. Christmas [[Eve]] is called, in Celtic, the [[Night]] of Mary; in Germany, the [[Holy]] Night; in Portugal, the [[Pasch]] of the Nativity; and in old English, [[Yule]] Merriment. In the [[Isle]] of Man the peasants bring tapers to church, and sing carols; and in [[Germany]] they beat with mallets on the house door, to symbolize the anxiety of the spirits in prison to learn the glad tidings of the Nativity. There were three masses on this day: one at midnight on the eve [except in the Gallican, Mozarabic, and Armenian rites], commemorating the actual birth of our Lord; the second at dawn or cock-crow, its revelation to man in the shepherds; and the third at noon, the eternal sonship of the Holy Child Jesus. Two masses were said in [[France]] in the time of Gregory of Tours; but three masses were not introduced into Spain until the 14th century, nor at [[Milan]] until the 15th century. In the Medieval Church there was a representation of the shepherds, as at Lichfield, with a star gleaming in the chapel vault; and so lately as 1821 the Flemish preserved the same custom, and the peasants entering with sheep offered eggs and milk, while midnight mass was said at the high-altar. From the time of Augustine, midnight mass was said on the eve; and the Councils of [[Orleans]] and [[Toledo]] required all persons to attend this service at their cathedral church. The Christmas-box was a receptacle made of earthenware, in the 17th century, in which apprentices placed the rewards of their industry given them at that season." </p> | ||
== The Nuttall Encyclopedia <ref name="term_70909" /> == | == The Nuttall Encyclopedia <ref name="term_70909" /> == | ||
