Th* Nyssa Oat* City Journal, Nyssa, Oregon
Hoppy
Hobday»'"
Gr**ting> to all
our friends . . . w*
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CHETS MOTEL
FRANK AND DORIS ARBOGAST
patron
saint of
travelers
Modern-day man carries
around today's counter­
parts of magic potions and
signs used by his ancestor
to dispel evil spirits.
One of the tokens many of
us use is the Saint Christo­
pher medal seen frequently
hanging from the rear-
vision mirror in automo­
biles.
Who was this St. Christo­
pher7 His story is fascinat­
ing
In 200 A D there was a
powerful Arabian king, who
had a son whom he named
Offero, which means "the
bearer.”
His passion for proving
his personal bravery caused
him to leave home and seek
the ultimate challenge
One night he could hear
a voice as if calling from
the river:
"Offero! Offero! Help
me!"
Seizing his staff, Offero
ran toward the river bank
To his great surprise, there
was a little boy When the
child saw the youth, he
smiled, and to Offero there
seemed to be a great light
around him
"Offero, will you carry
me across the river?”
asked the child
Offero, thinking that the
child had been separated
from his parents, picked
him up and started across
the river with him
But as he proceeded, the
child seemed to become
heavier and heavier, and
the tide more fiercely
strong The waters almost
carried them away, but by
dint of his staff Offero
somehow managed to
steady himself with his
little burden and to reach
the shore, exhausted, but
safe.
He was falling asleep
when as if from a great
distance he heard the
child's voice saying,
"I am the Christ. You
have served me well, (or
you, Offero, carried Me,
Who bears the burdens of
the world, through these
waters tonight And I shall
leave a sign so that you will
know that it is so ”
And miraculously, when
Offero wakened, in the full
blaze of noon, he saw that
where his staff had lain,
there now grew a lush, luxu­
riant palm tree with leaves,
flowers and dates And Of­
fero knew that this was the
sign for which he had been
waiting He had found
Christ and he would serve
Him forevermore
And from then on. Offero
was known as Christopher
(Christ-Offero),
meaning
Bearer of Christ
the beginnings of Christmas
glowed in Festival of Lights
The roots of Christmas as
it is observed in Christian
countries go deeply into the
folklore of the Druids, Scan­
dinavians, Romans, Egyp­
tians, and Jews
Celebrations by all these
groups took place at a time
of year when "the days be­
gin to lengthen and the cold
begins to strengthen,” or
‘ ..aen the earth began to
waken under the kiss of
light, when new hopes rose
in frozen hearts.”
To the Jews this period
was the Festival of Lights
or Dedication, called Ha­
nukkah or Chanukah
Their history records that
in 165 B.C. a Maccabeean
army vanquished an army
of Syrians Judas Macca­
beus entered Jerusalem
with his forces and found it
a place of desolation, the
temple destroyed He began
the work of purification and
on the 25th day of Kislev it
was finished and a sacred
light was lighted
The sacred oil had been
almost exhausted but a jar
was found which they
judged would burn for one
day Miraculously it lasted
8 days' Therefore the Jews
decree each year that the 8
days previous to December
25 be celebrated
The first night two tapers
are lighted; one is the
torch The second night a
third candle is added and so
on for each night until the
eighth day Thus a true Ha­
nukkah candelabrum has
nine arms
tante Aria,
the Angels
and the
Good Star
In the olden days of
France, in a province which
was once a part of Bur­
gundy, Franche-Comte, one
of the gfft-bearers is Tante
Aria, the Air or Wind
Mother
It was the custom for
Tante Aria to ride on an ass
and bestow Christmas gifts
which fill the children's
shoes, and stockings hung
from the tree
One of the lesser-known
gift-bearers, Tante Aria is
sometimes grouped with
the angels and the Good
Star She is closely associ­
ated with the Christmas
tree in various lands
Such mother legends
come to us from Indian lore
related to the tree and the
cloud-bird
According to folklore
Tante Aria is the cloud
goddess and rides on the ass
to wed the moon-god at the
Winter solstice
From this pagan past de­
rive Christian customs in
Hungary children devoutly
praise the blessed angels
as bangers of the tree; in
Poland the Good Stars from
heaven play that role. The
Mother Star is imper­
sonated by a beautiful wo­
man in a white robe and
veil and is attended by
Father Star, a patriarch
who gives gifts to the chil­
dren who say their prayers
and sing their hymns cor­
rectly.
It is said that one who sits
under a pine tree on Christ­
mas Eve will hear angels
singing.
If the sun shines through
fruit trees on Christinas Day,
it is a sign that the trees will
bear much fruit.
A white Christmas pres­
ages a prosperous year.