The Jeffersonian (Jefferson, Tex.), Vol. 2, No. 5, Ed. 1 Sunday, January 1, 1950 Page: 1 of 8
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LETTER TO NEW READERS PAGE S
THE JEFFERSONIAN
VOLUME 2
Number 5
JANUARY 1950
JEFFERSON, TEXAS
Word Christmas Derived from the Mass
Christmas, Roman
Catholic Feast,
Says Dallasite
Dallas—The date Observed as
the 'birthday of Christ was fixed
.by the Roman Catholic Church,
and Uen.ce people celebrating it
are observing what was original-
ly a Catholic feast day.
Noting this, James W. Rushing
in a pre-Christltngg letter to the
Dailas News, expressed his mind
openly on the matter. He felt
no compulsion whatsoever, he
said, to celebrate a "Roman Cath-
t>Hc festival." As far as he was
concerned, he said, Dec. 25th is
not the birthday of Jesug Christ.
Actually the exact date of the
Savior's brth i's not known. But
the date is not' so important as
the fact that He 'was iborn.
The celebration of His "birth-
day on Dec. 25th as the approxi-
mate date of His ibirth develop-
ed in the historic Catholic
Church. DUring the first 3 cen
turies either little celebration of
the birthday was held or when it
was lield, the date varied in var-
ious section's. This, of course,
was due to the bitter persecution
and the inconvenience of com-
munication between the far-flung
units of that Church which the
iBn cyclopedia Rritannica says
was first called "Catholic" in the
2nd century.
Prom the fourth century on
every Western calendar -marked
Dec. 25th as 'Christmas Day. Re-
fords show that: (I) its obser-
vance on that day was held at
Rome 'before ">">4. (2) in the Bast,
at Constantinople, not before 379.
and (3) that the Roman date
reached the Bast by way of the
Itosphorus during the great re-
viva! against the Allan heresy
.which denied the divinity of
Christ.
Following the death of that
hersey which tore the Church j
apart for a century peace return-
ed to the Church in the Bast and I
at a famous meeting of all their |
Bishors they reiterated their de-
votion to the See of Rome, as
supreme in the orderly govern-
ment of the Church. So it was
then that Christmas Day came to
lie observed throughout the world
on Dec. 25th, the custom at.
Rome having been gradually
adopted by all units of the one I
Church, all of which historically
held for Home special venera-
tion and obedience on account of
the primacy of Peter.
By the 16th century, when a
religious revolution introduced
the modern Protestant churches,
the date for the Christmas feast
had already 'been set by many
centuries of tradition. And as
far as the date for the observ-
ance of Our Lord's birthday was
concerned, the founders of the
various Protestant churches In-
troduced no change In It. Ex-
cept for. scattered incidents in
history, such the early Ameri-
can Puritan emphasis on Thanks-
giving as a quiisl-substitute for
Christjmas and the act of Eng-
land's Parliament in 1644 forbid-
ding Christmas, Protestants gen-
erally have universally observed
the ^nfelent Catholic feast of the
Natlyity as the birthday of Jesus
Christ.
Appeal to Return Home Sounded
;
"Why are there still separations? Why are there still schisms?" Asking this question, Pope
Pills Xll, pictured above, in Ills Christmap message to the world, has addressed a iatherly appeal to
all separated fro n the Historic Church to coxae •'ck 'home. Noting the advance of atheism, the
"3 year-olij Pontiff raised a question in the minds of many men of good will. Why can't believers
in Jesus Christ unite in the Historic Church, especially in the face of the advance of the enemies
of all religion? During this year, proclaimed a Holy- Year by the Church, the Holy Father hopes
and prays that all roads will lead to Pome, religiously as well as geographically. Photo, courtesy
of TUB ROC H EST BR, N. Y. CATHOLIC COURIER-JOURNAL.
Room For
Differences
Within the framework of our
democracy there is ample room
for honest differences of opinions
upon the political, social and
economic problems of life. But
there is no place for hate, malice
or vindictiveness. W. G. VOL-
LMER, president. T & P Rail-
way, in T & P Topics.
'ISecularism which exiles God
from human life clear* the way
for the acceptance ot godless
subversive Ideologies." Catholic
Bishop* of the Itmted
ANTI-PAPAL REMARK
DENIED BY JURIST
down by the Pontiff and profess-
ing his spiritual allegiance to'
him as the head of the Church,
the jurist emphatically added
that this was "in no way incom-
patible with 4he performance of
Santa Fe, N.M.—Luis B. Arm- i nly official duties as a compe-
Ijo. v whose comment in "Time" | tPnt lUijje our courts."
that he was an American first.! Thp orlK,nH, Rtatwnent. Klven
then a Catholic pleased dellber- (( ,p1pphone interview, the
ate misinterpreters of the recent
Papal divorce views, has an-
nounced here that he was mis-
quoted.
"I am a Catholic ... I defin-
itely did not Intend ... to ex-
press any antagonistic or dispar-
aging spirit, toward His Holiness'
announcement." Judge Arwijo de-
clared It his statement.
Declaring hU intent lea to
upheld the metal principle* laid
Judge said, had been much "mis-
construed." Unfortunately as us^
lual. the misstatement was given
wide coverage In the press. The
correction wasn't even mention-
ed.
"To he a passive Christian to-
day is a Kind of treason."—Arch-
bishop Robert . L«cey of Sua
Astesle.
Pope's Appeal to
Return to Unity
Is Echoed Here
Christmas today is observed by
millions1 who give only dip ser-
vice to the Divine Ba'be of Bethle-
hem whilst the rest of the year
tiiey forget or else are ignorant
of what Jesus taught.
This 'forgetfulness. said the
editor of the Jeffersonlan in his
annual Christmas message to the
people of Jefferson and HugltW
Springs, is especially notlceal^fc
in the world's apostacy from ao4
Indifference to the Mass.
Speaking at midnight Mass in
Immaculate Conception Churchy
Father declared that all too many
say with their lips that JesiM
is God whilst in their lives they
refuse to believe the doctrines
which the Divine Child came ca
earth to teach. «
The very word Christmas, he
recalled, signifies the most beautl*
ful doctrine of the Babe of
Bethlehem about -which so many
millions are so unconcerened even
as to be ignorant of the meaning
of the word they have on their
lips each December 25th
TO All—BLACK AND WHITE
Addressing himself to "all the
souls entrusted to our pastoral
care, white and black, rich and
ipoor, followers of the Church
and those who have not as yet
learned Of her existence," Father
devoted the major portion of his
address to the doctrine of the
Christ Child which is signified by
the word Christmas.
Noting that Jesus is God and
that He has given Hi-* own auth-
oritarian power to His Church,
Father proceeded to explain the
origin and meaning of Christ's
Mass.
The word was coined, he said,
when England was still Catholic
and her people devoted to the
salutation, "Merry Christ's Mass,"
which became "Merry Christ-
inas."
Declaring that the infant Jesus
had deposited all His teachings
in His infallible Church, 'Father
singled out the Mass as the most
precious.
DESIRE TO SHARE
"Of all the treasures given to
His Church to teach there is none
that we desire more ardently to
share with our 'brethren not of the
household of the faith than this
one," he said.
Noting that the Babe of Bethle-
hem was God and therefore
"could Issue a warning to the
world that those who believe net
will be condemned," Father re-
called an occasion In the. Re-
deemer's life when he especially
spoke as one having authority.
The Incident was his promise
to give his flesh to eat.
QUOTE FROM THE RECORD
Quoting the record ak It Is to
be found in either version of the
Bible. (St. John's 6th chapter),
the priest recalled bow our Lord's
blunt words were taken literally
by a crowd, which burst forthl
with the question, "how can any
man give us his flesh to eat?"
Jesus as God, Father said, was
intelligent enough to see that He
had been understood literally and
good enough not to deceive %
•ingle wan.
Cant, oa pan* g cel. «.
I
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O'Rourke, John G. The Jeffersonian (Jefferson, Tex.), Vol. 2, No. 5, Ed. 1 Sunday, January 1, 1950, newspaper, January 1, 1950; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth293176/m1/1/: accessed April 27, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting The Dolph Briscoe Center for American History.