Vernon County Censor

CHRISTMAS
DAY
IN IRELAND
Religious Services Are Held on Great
Feast Day—Especially Among the
Catholic People.
The celebration of the festival in
Ireland does not differ to any great
extent perhaps, from its method of
observance in other countries.
The
deeply religious sentiment of the coun-
try makes the religious observance of
the festival its dominant feature.
The humblest habitation was an air
of cheerfulness when decorated
with the holly and ivy. From which
the red berries which grow on the
holly peep out in great profusion.
In the Catholic churches in the
larger cities, and in many of the small-
er places as well, masses are cele-
brated hourly from midnight on Christ-
mas eve, thousands flocking first to
the midnight mass and later to those
that follow.
Even in the penal days,
when it meant death for a clergyman
to perform the holy sacrifice, or for
those who assisted at it to be caught
in attendance, the midnight mass was
never abandoned.
When all the churches were des-
troyed by Cromwell and Elizabeth, the
priest took refuge beneath some pro-
tecting rock, and with scouts among
the flock thrown out to guard against
surprise by the soldiery, the mass
was offered up, as it had been in the
earlier
days of Ireland's religious
glory.
Today, happily there is no such
ban on the religious faith of the peo-
ple, and the throngs who then
flocked to the glen or the mountain
side to assist in the holy sacrifice, can
attend religious services in comfort-
able churches everywhere throughout
the land.
On Christmas morning, especially in
the rural portions of Ireland, the peo-
ple flock to the morning masses, often
traveling eight and ten miles from
their homes in the remote hills and
valleys of their respective parishes.
The goose hangs high in Ireland on
Christmas day and no family is too
poor not to provide the delicious bird
for that occasion.
On Christmas night the
waxed
blessed candle is lighted in honor of
Christ's nativity, and music and good
cheer of every kind are enjoyed every-
where.
The day following Christmas, St.
Stephen's day, is also regarded as
practically a holiday. It is most
availed of by the young people, es-
pecially the boys, for fun and frolic
of every description. Athletic sports,
football matches, hurling and other en-
joyments are general.
Christmas Tree Used Long Ago.
The Christmas tree is not exactly a
Christian institution. Before the time
of Christ the Druids worshiped the
spirits in the trees
and celebrated
the festival of Yuletide, in which the
tree had a prominent part. The first
man in the countries of the North
was the caveman. His cathedral was
the forest and its ceiling the blue sky.
seemingly upheld by the fluted col-
umns of redwood trees that raised
their lofty trunks to the zenith. And
in mid-winter he looked forth from his
rude door on trees lighted with the
rays of the setting sun into more
splendor than even glittering tinsel or
flickering candle can lend to the
Christmas tree of our time.