December 1928
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liament in 1652 passed an order that “no observation shall be held of the twenty-fifth of December, commonly called Christmas Day.” Luther gives us a glimpse of the beautiful old German custom of carol singing in telling of his youthful expe riences. He says, “At the time that the festival of Christ’s birth was celebrated, we went from house to house, and village to village, singing popular Christmas carols in four-part harmony.” Here is the first stanza of an old song written in 1500 and representing the better type of carols of the time: “When Christ was born of Mary free, In Bethlehem that fair city, Angels, did sing, with mirth and glee ‘In Excelsis Gloria!’ ” The four centuries ■ since Luther’s time have been fertile in every branch of Hymnology, and the Nativity has continued to inspire the pens of devout writers as has no other single subject. In. perfected form and stripped of medieval foolishness and superstition, a rich store of Christmas carols comes down to us of this favored twentieth century as a priceless heritage. Breathing the spirit of the Angels’ Song, there is “Adeste Fideles” (“O come, all ye faithful” ) attributed by some to Bonaventura of the thirteenth century, but more likely written by some unknown author of the seventeenth century. Passing by Ben Jonson’s “Hymn on the Nativity of my Saviour,” and John Milton’s “Hymn to the Nativity,” we must mention Watts’ paraphrase of Psa. 98, “Joy to the World, the Lord is come,” to which we turn so naturally on every Christmas morning. Then there is Wesley’s “Hark! the Herald Angels Sing,” and John Byrom’s “Christians* Awake, Salute the Happy Morn,” to the stirring old tune of “Yorkshire,” and the sweet old “Heilige Nacht” from the German, and “Noel” from the French. With these carols and many others clamoring to be heard with their sweet message of the Christ Child, shall we not bow reverently with the “wise men from the east,” bringing the treasure of our lives to be laid at His feet in renewed consecration—and sing with Phillips Brooks in his beautiful carol, “O holy Child of Bethlehem! Descend to us, we pray; Cast out our sin, and enter in; Be born in us today. We hear the Christmas angels Six Surprises Dr. W. J. Dawson tells of six genuine surprises which will come to the man who begins to tithe his income: 1. At the amount of money he has for the Lord’s work. 2. At the deepening of his spiritual life in paying the tithe. 3. At his ease in meeting his own obligations with the nine-tenths. 4. At the ease in going on from one-tenth to larger giving. 5. Over the preparation this gives to be a faithful, wise steward over the nine-tenths that remain. 6. At himself in not adopting the plan sooner. The great glad tidings tell; O come to us, abide with us, Our Lord Emmanuel.”
through every century of the Dark Ages and in every country, God was not left without a witness in Christian song, and particularly in celebrating the glad time of the i Nativity. “Carols have been written celebrating all sea'ssons of the natural and ecclesiastical, year, but. the only kind that remains in general use is the Christmas Carol.” With the spread of Christianity over Europe the use of Christmas carols and the celebration of Christmas took on many forms, according to the peculiar tribal character istics of the people, and this often corrupted the simple, devotional style of the Christmas carol, as typified by the Angels’ Song. “In northern Europe especially, the solemnities of the annual celebration of Christ’s birth were grafted upon a great national holiday time, which had a religious significance in the days of paganism; and this has left a distinct’impression upon Christmas-customs and on Christmas carols. The old heathen Yule log has lent its coloring to the English Christmas; and it is largely to this influence that'we' must attribute the jovial and purely festive character of many of the traditional and best known, as well as the most ancient, Christmas carols.” A notable character of the thirteenth century exerted his mighty influence in giving to Christmas carols a definite testimony for the truth of the Incarnation. There was a prevailing heresy of this period that denied the Virgin Birth, and Francis of Assisi conceived a practical way of combating this by singing carols in connection with a visible representation of the original scenes of the Nativity. On his way to Rome in 1223 he spent Christ- mastide at Grecia, an Italian village near Assisi. Here he arranged to carry out his idea in the local church, with an actual manger and a real live ox, and all the trappings of a stable. Mrs. Oliphant in her life of St. Francis gives the following description of the scene: “The population of the neighborhood rose as one man to the call of St. Francis. They gathered round the village church with tapers and torches, making luminous the December night. The brethren within the church, and the crowds of the faithful who came and went with their lights, in and out of the darkness, poured out their hearts in praises to God; and the friars sang new canticles, which were listened to with all the eagerness of a people accustomed to wandering jongleurs and minstrels, and to whom such songs were all the food to be had for the intellect and imagination.” During the centuries following, the observance of Christmas, especially in home and social circles, often degenerated into times of disgraceful debauchery and drunkenness. There was a strange mixture of religion and conviviality. In “Poor Robin’s Almanack” for 1695 is a song beginning as follows: “Now that the time has come wherein Our Saviour Christ was born, The larder’s full of beef and pork, The garner’s filled with corn.” In another song of the same period, entitled “The twelve days of Christmas,” the custom of a twelve days’ cele bration of Christmas, ending at Epiphany, is described in a way that is anything but devotional. In a different spirit, with a sincere purpose yet a stern and gloomy outlook, the Puritans, both in England and America, suppressed carol singing as fair as possible. Governor Bradford issued orders against such celebration in early days of Plymouth Colony; and Cromwell’s Par
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