A (@hristmas
Blessing
B
Reb. Br. Howard Duffield
AY the blessing of the light
that shown at midnight come
to the hearts that are shadowed
and the homes that are dark.
€] May the blessing of the Manger
Cradle come to that innumerable
company against whom the doors
of hope and peace and rest are
shut.
@§ May the blessing of the Holy
Child come to every one who has
forgotten that thou, O God, art
his father end that all men are
brothers.
@ May the blessing of the Guid-
ing star come to those who wan-
der in the night and cannot find
the homeward way.
@§ May the blessing of the Stable
come upon all hearts, wakening a
kindly sense of kindred with every
living thing that walks the field
and forest or wings the air or
passes along the paths of the
seas.— New York World.
Bee
i
HERE is very little of the right |
motive in commemorating the
birth of Jesus the Savior. he |
Bpirit of the modern Christmas is to
have a good old time, feasting and
business activity, with the Holy Child |
Jesus a figurehead. i
Such is a very great offense to Al-|
mighty God. An offering to God In|
the spirit of righteousness, by humility,
worship, mortification, in self denial
and good works, should be the first
duty in celebrating Christmas,
Really a number of hours similar to
Lent ought to be considered, after
which would come the feast and re-
jolcing, ;
Respectful thankfulness to the Lord |
God of Hosts for his love and pity for |
R sinfsl race in his priceless gift of
Barlor-~such would be a fitting grace |
before partaking of the good things |
and many blessings that he has been
pleased to bestow on all people. What
would a person think In giving a re
ception and supper to have the guests
hasten to the dining hall and devour
the food without giving the honor and
respect due to the host first? Almighty
God Is treated in a similar manner in
pelebrating the modern Christmas |
George Cashel in Philadeiphia Press,
The Old Christmas Hymns.
Happy is the man or woman who, |
having left behind the schooldays and |
the home gatherings, still sings the old |
hymns and joins in the readings of the |
Christmas chapters in some simple |
church service designed to perpetuate
the true spirit of the day.
Soft, soft, so sleeps the little stranger;
Croon, eroon in tender notes and
mild!
Lovingly beside the lowly manger
Broods the Mother Mary o'er the
i Hush, hush, for far awey lies danger!
See, see how winsomely he smiled!
Yearningly beside the lowly manger
Bends the Mother Mary o'er the
Time, thou ert the ruthless ranger,
And Jui We all must uteds be tevon-
For still for us beside the lowly manger
———
HALL, Ph.
an
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« thems sweet, While shepherds watch ars keep - ing?
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A Christmas
Prayer
By
ery Bev. Michael 3. Lavelle
AVIOUR of the world, humbly
and lovingly we greet thee,
this Christmas morning, thank.
ing thee for all the blessings
brought by thy coming end ask-
ing the grace that we and all
mankind may appreciate them bet-
ter and make them more truly our
own with every year that passes by.
Make wus faithful, noble, indus.
trious, temperate, sincere. Send
forth thy spirit that we may be
recreated and the face of the
earth may be renewed. Make us
able to sing with the angels,
“Glory to God in the highest and
on earth peace to men of good
will.’ — New York World.
Che Season
Of | Peace
| inspired paean, for seraphic song. Let
i Joy come still to our homes and hearts.
of life and duty, Come, Lom
| There shall be room
| homes,
{ inn, but
! hest
heart In order that we may }
Christmas, Are we rejol
gifts of human love? Shall we |
| mindful of him who is the “unspeak
{ able gift?"—Rev. Dr. Robert 8. Mac
Arthur in Homiletic Review.
Blessed Christmas Day.
Oh, blessed day which giv'st the eternal
lie
To self and sense and all the brute within
Oh, come to us amid this war of jife—
To hall and hovel come! 0 all who toll
In senate, shop and st 4 1
Il warned and sorely ‘
| Come to them, blest and blessing, Christ.
mas day!
Tell them once more the tale of Bethile
The Kneeling shepherds and the Babe di-
vine
And keep them men, Indeed, falr Christ.
mas da)
HALLELUJAH,
O CHRIST |
THE. CHILD!
i
0
You little children in whose eyes
| The undimmed light of heaven
glows,
Whose dreams are bright of pars-
dise,
Whose thoughts are whiter than the
snows,
From holy lips and undefiled
Breathe your soft prayers like Christ
the Child.
And you whose thinning locks are
spent
With uoreturning sutumn’s rime,
Whose forms, like wind worn trees,
are bent
Beneath the heavy storms of time.
Take Christ the Child to be your
guide
Past the dim shoal where shadows
bide,
Oh, saving hands; oh, thou that hesrs
An earthly mother's lullabies,
Who sharest all our doubts and fears,
Whose bosom trembles to our sighs,
Teach us thy gospel pure and mild!
Make us like thee, O Christ the Child!
New York Tribune.
H Christmas
Carol ror Children
to the carth they ging
158 day a child is given
To crown ug with the joy of heaven.
This is the Christ, our God and Lord
Who in all need shall aid afford;
He will himself our Saviour be,
From sin and sorrow sci us free.
us that biecssedness he brings,
Which from the Father's bounty
springs ;
That in the heavenly realm we may
With him enjoy eternal day.
All hail, thou noble gucst, this mora
Whose love did not the sinner scorn
In my distress thou com's: fo me;
| What thanks shall I return to thee
| Were earth a thousand times as fois
Beset with poid and jewels rare,
Bhe yet were far too poor fo be
| 4 narrow cradie, Lord, for thee,
Ah, dearest Jesus, Holy Child!
Make thee a bed, soft, undefiled,
Within my heart that it may de
A quiet chamber kept for thee.
Praise God upon his heavenly thrond
Who pave 10 us his only Bon
For this his hosts, on joyful wing,
A bicst Neu ar of mercy bring.
Date of the Birth of Christ.
“In looking through a reference book
I find the birth of Jesus Christ took
place in the year 4 B. C. How could
| it possibly be?" asked a correspondent
{ of the Philadelphia Press.
To which the reply was made:
“The attempt to date things forward
and backward from the birth of Christ
was first made in 533 A. D. by a Ro
| man abbot, Dionysius Exigus. He re
garded Chfist's birth as taking place
in the year 754 after the founding of
Rome. Early Christians had put it is
the year of Rome 750.
“The abbot’s belated attempt to date
things from Christ's birth was probs
ably inaccurate, and the proper defink
nition of the Christian era is that it be
gins with January 1 in the fourth yeai
of the one hundred and ninety-f
Olympiad and the seven hundred
fifty-third from the founding of Rome
“According to the latest compute
Christ was born in the year 6 B. QO.
the year 7 B. CO
What of the Night?
Child jesus . oomey from heavenly
To save us from sin’s keeping.
Watchman, tell us of the night,
What its signs of promise are.