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About Nyssa gate city journal. (Nyssa, Or.) 1937-199? | View Entire Issue (Dec. 21, 1961)
Nyssa Gate City Journal VOLUME LVI The Sugar City THE NYSSA GATE CITY JOURNAL, NYSSA. OREGON, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 21, 1961 SECOND SECTION 10 Cents Per Copy NUMBER 51 Church, Home Devotions Demonstrate Holy Meaning of Christmas Holiday Nyssa's Exchange Student Stresses Love, Joy and Gratitude in Christmas More than a holiday, Christmas is a holy day. In church services and private devotions, Christians commemorate a night of awe and wonder nearly 2,000 years ago, when a Star shone above a Child bom in a manger, when angels sang and shepherds watched. Dec. 25—as even the youngest chil dren know—is the date. And yet, in the first centuries of the Christian church, there was*--------------------------------------- no celebration of the birth of customs of the winter festivals, but they linked them to Christ- i Christ, no Christmas. There were festivals in the mas instead of to pagan revelry. ’ Decembers of those times, but Where formerly pagan peoples had looked to mythological gods they were pagan festivals. By LEILA ALAMPAY (Editorial Note: With touch * A girl used to dream of having ing simplicity, yet with almost a white Christmas. That’s some poetic grandeur. Miss Alampay thing impossible, because it does describes her emotions during not snow in her country, and her first Christmas season in sometimes her friends would the United States. Judging from laugh at her crazy ideas. She our reaction, the beauty of ex used to dream of making snow pression by this 17-year-old ex men and having a snowball fight change student from the Philip with her friends. pines will bring a lump to the One thing more, she wanted a throat, a tear to the eye. The father! Her father died when she self-termed "little girl" has a was a baby, and she needed one command of the written word i badly, because the other kids had that could well be the envy of one. She prayed to the Little her many Nyssa friends who Child in the manger to make her have had more exposure to the • dreams come true. She even tried English language.) her best to be a good girl, so that Celebrate the Sun Dec. 25 was the date of the Mi- thraic rites of the birth of the sun—Mithras, the Persian god of light. Teutonic tribes in Northern Europe celebrated the rebirth of the sun at the winter solstice with a Yuletide season of feasting and rejoicing, while the Roman’s winter festival, the Saturnalia, was held at about the time that is now the Christmas season. How then did Dec. 25 come to be, not a day of pagan festivals, but a day dedicated to Christian devotions? Some scholars believe that the Christian church may have set Dec. 25 as Christ’s birth date in order that the traditions of winter festivals might be hallowed by association with the Nativity. When the date was established in the fourth century A. D., other1 dates that were considered in cluded Jan. 1, March 21, March 29, April 9 and Sept. 29. Festivals Gain New Meaning Christmas began to be general ly celebrated on Dec. 25 in the fifth century A.D. People con tinued the familiar merry-making CHRISTMAS IN 1492 First Christmas in the New World was celebrated in 1492 by Christopher Columbus and his crew, who were dinner guests of an Indian chief, ruler of the island of Haiti. of the sun as source of the rebirth of light, now they gradually changed to religious observances of the Saviour’s birth with its symbols of faith, hope and life eternal. From the winter festivals come many of the traditions that are | now part of Christmas. The Ro man Saturnalia provided a model i for Christmas feasting, the giving i of gifts and the burning of can dles. Christmas lighting also derives j from winter solstice rites, where lights played an important part. The Teutonic Yule feast contri buted the customs of the Yule log and wassail bowl. Love, joy, gratitude and all shades of sentiment—these we do not fail to notice when the Christ mas holidays come with the early morning chill, the cold wind, the pines and the glittering lights. Whatever feelings there are, we see them in greater magnitude against the great significance of the day of Christ’s birth. Faith and love embrace the whole hu man race closer together, and, along with the wish for peace and | good will, come the little indivi dual wishes. Christmas is the spirit of giv ing. It is the day people eat more than what is enough for them and wish for things they wish to have. Christmas is a day for dreaming— dreaming of something that’s un usual and exciting. Gifts Gain Deeper Meaning When winter festivals merged i with Christmas, customs such as gift - giving gained a new and deeper meaning. Christians felt that they should celebrate Christ’s birthday with “gifts” for Him—commemorating Christmas with a renewal of re solve to perfect the virtues of generosity, compassion, peace, gratitude and reverence. Giving to the less fortunate became im portant. As Christmas became a holy day, many people began ex changing presents on other days. St. Nicholas’ feast day, Dec. 6, or Epiphany. Jan. 6, for instance. In some countries these customs still continue, with Christmas reserv ed solely for worship. THE NIGHT CHRIST WAS BORN has been commemorated by artists throughout the ages. One of the first to show the Christ Child in a humble manger scene was Renaissance Painter Bernar dino Luini, whose painting, "Adoration of the Christ Child," is reproduced above. With the Holy Family is a shepherd, and in the background other shepherds are shown with their flocks, as the angels bring glad tidings of the birth of Christ. The painting, from the Samuel H. Kress collection, is now at the Isaac Delgado Museum of Art in New Orleans.*____________________ ______________ Santa Claus would fulfill her wishes for her. Now, her friends won’t be laughing at her anymore. Her dreams have been and will be ful filled at last! She will miss the celebration back home, but she is determined to have a different Christmas this year. Part of her dreams have come true, and she’s expecting more of them to be ful filled soon. Love, joy, gratitude and all shades of sentiment — the air is full of them. The significance of Christmas means more to this little girl. Faith and love embrace the whole humanity together, and, along with the wish for peace and good will, come the little in dividual wishes; one of them, th« little girl’s wishes—MY wishes. NYSSA FURNITURE CO. 'Community Tree' Feted Years Ago By PAM ALEXANDER (Nysaa High Journalism Student) May the wonder and warm glow of Christmas give you great peace and joy with family and friends. MAULDING CLINIC Dr. J. J. Sarazin relates that distributing the presents s^ich as j candy and nuts from the big “community tree” on Main street was a main event of the Christ- [ mas season 25 years ago in Nyssa. People from surrounding areas brought their children to sing carols and join in the festivities. If the weather allowed, Christ mas events were held outside. Horse races, family games and caroling would constitute the en tertainment. More of the Christ mas activities were in the home than they are today. Even if Christmas is much more commercialized now, shopping started a lot earlier then, since most of the citizens shopped in l Boise and Ontario. Most of the presents were made in the home and candies and cakes dominated the gift list. Large dinner parties with danc ing at home were held on Christ mas Eve. Boise also held celebra tions in the theaters. They also had festivities in the streets. 'll!hat better time than the merry Yule tide to express deep appreciation to our customers for their loyal patronage throughout the year . . . We greet you one and all! FARMERS FEED & SEED DWIGHT O. WYCKOFF, Manager May your home be filled with boundless happiness. DR. K. E. KERRY DR. K. A. DANFORD
