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Myths and legends of Christmas, tied
by Bertha f. Herrick lo Now is

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come our joyful feast. Let every
man be jolly, Each room with iye

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believes, is dressed, and every
post with holly. Now all our neighbors

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chimney smoke and Christmas blocks are burning
their ovens, They with baked miad choke,

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and all their spits are turning.
The celebration of Christmas, which was

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considered by the Puritans to be idolatrous, has for many centuries been so universal

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that it might prove of interest to
contrast the rites, ceremonies, and quaint

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beliefs of foreign lands with those of
matter of fact America. Many curious customs

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live only in tradition, but it
is surprising to find what singular superstitions still

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exist among credulous classes, even in
the light of the twentieth century. In

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certain parts of the England, the
peasantry formerly asserted that on the anniversary of

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the Nativity, oxen knelt in their
stalls at midnight, the supposed hour of

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Croft's birth, while in other localities
these were said to sing in their hives

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and subterranean bells to ring a merry
peal. According to legends of ancient Britain,

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cock'screw lustily all night on December the
twenty fourth to scare away witches and

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evil spirits, and in Bavaria some
of the countrymen made frequent and apparently aimless

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trips in their sledges to cause the
hamp to grow thick and tall. In

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many lands there is still expressed the
beautiful sentiment that the gates of Heaven stand

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wide open on Christmas Eve, and
that he whose soul takes flighted during its

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hallied hours arrived straightway at the throne
of Grace. A time honored custom in

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Norway and Sweden is that of fastening
a sheaf of wheat to a long pole

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on the barn or top house for
the widespirst holiday cha and in Holland,

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the young men of the towns sometimes
bare a large silver star through the snowy

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streets, collecting holms from pedestrians for
the helpless or the aged sick. Russia

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has no Santa cloths or Christmas tree, although the festival is celebrated by church

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services and by ceremonies similar to those
of our Lorine. In some of the

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villages in Wales, a Christmas pudding
is boiled for each of the disciples,

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the exception of Judas, and in
rural districts of Scotland, bread backed one

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Christmas Eve is said to indefinitely retain
its freshness. The Fatherland is the home

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of the Christmas Tree, which is
thought to be symbolical of the Tree of

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the Knowledge of good and evil in
the Garden of Eden, and candles were

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first used to chip defy the power
of Christianity over the darkness of paganism,

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been sometimes arranged in a triangular form
to represent the Trinity. Pines and firs

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been unattainable in the tropical islands of
the Pacific, The White residents sometimes cut

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down a fruit tree, such as
an orange or grava, or actually manufacturer

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a tree from wood, covering the
bare, stiff boughs with clinging vines or

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evergreen. In the Holy Land at
this season, the place of greatest interest

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is naturally the Church of the Nativity
at Bethlehem, erected on the supposed location

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where Chrst. Was born. It
is said to be the oldest Christian church

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in existence, having been built more
than fifteen centuries ago by the Empress Elena,

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mother of constantine. Repairs were made
later by Edward the fourth of England,

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but it is now again fast falling
into decay. The roof was originally

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composed of sadder of Lebanon, and
the walls were studdied with precious jewels,

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while numerous lamps of silver and gold
were suspended from the rafters. The Greeks,

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Latins and Arminians now claimed joint possession
of the structure and jealously guarded its

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sacred precincts. Immediately beneath the navel
the cathedral is a commodious marble chamber constructed

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over the spot where at the far
famous table was said to have stood,

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and reached by a flight of stone
steps worn smoothed by the tread and kisses

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of multitudes of worshippers. The manger
is represented by a marble's lab, a

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couple of feet in height, decorated
with tinsel and blue satin, and marked

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at the head with a chiseled star
bearing above it the inscription in Latin here

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was Jesus Christ, born of the
Virgin Mary. At the foot are several

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altars on which instance is kept burning
and from which mass is conducted, while

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a score of hanging lamps shed a
fitful light over the apartment. Many theories

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have been advanced as to the explanation
of the mysterious starr in the east,

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which guided the wandering shepherds, but
it is now thought to have been venessed.

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At the height of the splendor,
the only Christians decorated their churches with

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ever greens out of respect to the
passage of scripture in Isaiah, the glory

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of Lebanon shall come unto thee.
The fir tree, the pine tree,

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and the box together to beautify the
place of my sanctuary. And the Pagans

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believe them to be omens of good, as the spirits of the woods remained

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in their branches. Holly is known
in Germany and Scandinavia as Christ's thorn,

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and is emblematic everywhere of cheerfulness,
forgiveness, peace on earth, and goodwill

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to man. The oak mistletoe or
missle was held in high veneration by the

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ancient Druids, who, regarding its
parasitic character as a miracle and its over

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green nature as a symbol of immortality, was shipped it in their temples and

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used it as a panaceer for the
physical ailments of their followers. When the

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moon was six days old. The
bunches were ceremoniously cut with a golden sickle

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by the chief priest of the order
and received with care into the spotless robes

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of one of the company, for
if they fell to the unholy ground,

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their virtues were considered lost. Then
crowned with oak leaves, and singing songs

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of thanksgiving, they bore the branches
in solemn procession to the altars, where

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to white huckson were sacrificed to the
gods. The custom of kissing under the

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mistletoe dates back to the days of
Scandinavian mythology, when the god of Darkness

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shot its rivaled, the moltal Apollo
of the North, with an arrow made

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from its boughs, but the supposed
victim being miraculously restored to life. The

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mistletoe was given into the keeping of
the Goddess of Affection as a symbol of

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love and not of death. To
those who passed beneath it. A berry

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was required to be picked with every
kiss and presented to the maiden as a

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sign of good fortune, the privilege
seizing while all the berries were gathered.

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One of the most beautiful legends of
the black forest in Germany is that of

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the origin of the chrysanthemum or christ
flower. On a dark, stormy Christmas

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Eve, a poor charcoal burner was
wending his way homeward through the deep snow

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drifts under the pine trees, with
a loaf of coarse black bread and the

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peas of goat's milk cheese as contributions
to the holy they cheer. Suddenly,

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during a brief lull in the tempest, he heard a low wailing cry,

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and, searching patiently, at length
discovered a benombed and half clad child,

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but little more than an infantinears or
size. Wrapping him snugly in his cloak,

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he hurried onward toward the Hummel cottage, from which rays of light streamed

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cheerfully through the uncurtained windows. The
good house. Mutta sat before the fire

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with her little ones, anxiously awaiting
her husband's return, and when the poor

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frozen wave was placed upon a er
knee, her heart overflowed with compassion,

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and before long he was comfortably warmed
and fed. While the children vied with

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each other in displaying the attractions of
the pretty fir tree with its tiny colored

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tapers. And papered ornaments. All
at once, a mist appeared enveloping the

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timid stranger. A halo formed around
his brow, and two silvery wings sprang

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magically from his shoulders, gradually rising
higher and higher. He finally disappeared from

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sight. His hands had spread in
benediction, while the terror stricken family fell

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upon their knees, crossing themselves and
murmuring in awestruck's whispers the Holy Christ Child.

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The next morning, the father found
on the bleak, called spotward the

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child at the lane, a lovely
blossom of dazzling white, which he bore

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reverently homeward and named the Chrysantimum,
or a flower of Christ. In each

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succeeding festival season, some starved and
neglecty orphan was biaten to his frugal board

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in memory of the time when he
entertained an engine unawares. In merry England,

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Christmas was the chief event of the
entire year, and sometimes celebrate for

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nearly a month. The tables of
the wealthy literally groaned with plenty, but

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the poor, with other gaits were
not forgotten for oil Christmas account to keep

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up in house. It's corn to
be guilty of starving a mouse. During

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the reign of Elizabeth, the boar's
head was the favorite holiday dish and was

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served with mustard, then a rare
and costly condiment, and decorated with bay

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leaves and with rospmary, which was
said to strengthen the memory, to clear

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the brain, and to stimulate affection. Boars were originally sacrificed to the Scandinavian

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gods of peas and plenty, and
many oats were composed in their honor.

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That remarkable compound known as west Sail
was compounded or warm ale or wine,

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sweetened with sugar and flavored with spices, and bearing upon its surface floating bits

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of toast and roasted crabs and apples. The huge bowl gaily Day, created

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with ribbons, was passed from hand
to hand around the table, each guest

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to taking a portion of its content
as a sign of joviality and good fellowship.

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But the triumph of the pastry cook's
art was the rare missed pie,

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the use of which is of great
antiquity. The shape was formerly a narrow

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oblom, representing the celebrated manger a
Bethlehem and the fruits and spices of which

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it was composed were symbolic of those
that the wise men of the Orient brought

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us offerings to their newborn king,
while the partake of such a pie was

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considered a proof that the Eta was
a Christian and not a Jew. All

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sorts of games were immensely popular with
the English. Whether king or serf,

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aristocrat or paper merchant or apprentice,
a Christmas gamboled off a cheer the poor

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man's hearth. Through half the year. Everyone has heard of the matchless Lord

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of Misrule, also known as the
Abbot of Unreason and master of married despots,

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who attended by his more court king's
gesture and grotesquely master revelers, visited

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the castles of laws and princes twenty
thained them with strange antics and a prearious

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merriment. His reign lasted until twelfth
Night, during which period he was treated

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as became a genuine monarch, being
fated and feasted with all his train and

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having absolute authority over individuals and state
affairs. The great event of the evening

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after the holiday feast was the bringing
in of the famous Yule luge, which

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was often the entire route of the
tree. Much ceremony and rejoicing attending this

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performance, as it was considered lucky
to help pull the rope. It was

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lighted by a person with freshly washed
hands with a brand saved from the last

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year's fire, and was never allowed
to be extinguished, as the witches would

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then come down the chimney. The
presence of a bare footed or cross eide

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individual, or of a woman with
flat feet, was thought to foretell misfortune

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for the commune. The games of
nap Dragon and hot Cockles are supposed to

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be relics either of the ordeal by
fire or of the days of the ancient

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fire worshippers. The former consists of
snatching raisins from a bowl of burning brandy

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or alcohol, and the latter of
taking frantic bites at a red apple,

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revolving rapidly upon a pivot in alternation
with a lighted taper. Christmas cawrals are

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commemorative of the Angel's song to the
shepherds on the plains of Bethlehem, and

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are seldom heard in America save by
the surplused choires of the episcopal churches.

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The English weights or serenaders, who
sank under the squire's windows in hopes of

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receiving a Christmas Box unconsciously add a
touch of romance and picturequeness to the association

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of the season. For upon the
first evening air arose such strain as a

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awake glad heart the horizon, sing
it is the birthday of Thy King,

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or God dressed you marry, gentlemen, Let nothing you dismay, for Jesus

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Christ, our Savior, was born
upon this day. Most all the old

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time favorites are too well known for
repetition. The mere mention of their names

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recalls the scent of evergreens, the
peeling of the organ, the tinkle of

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light bells, and the music of
the Christmas chimes. Hark, the herald

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angels sing while shepherds watched their flocks
by night. Gloria in Excelsis and many

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others embodied the very spirit of the
season, and will live till times she'll

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cease to be sing the song of
great Joy that the angels began, singing,

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of glory to God and of good
will to man, while joining in

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chorus, the heavens bent over us, the dark knight is ending, and

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dawn has begun. And of mids
and legends of Christmas Tide by Bertha F. Herrick