The Catholic times. [volume], December 19, 1952, 1952 Christmas Supplement, Image 17

About The Catholic times. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1951-current

Image provided by: Ohio History Connection, Columbus, OH

                
December 19. 1952
Constant
As The
Northern Star
By
Myrtle Vorst Sheppard
Io thus madly spinning world,
where opinions and fashions and
modes of behavior change over
night in mans frantic race ‘to keep
up with the Joneses’, there is one
heart warming thought to which we
may cling: Christmas in its truest
sense, in its finest spirit, never
varies. It is as constant as the
Northern Star in its beauty, its
simplicity, its power to move men s
hearts.
The same tenderness, the same
warmth, the same promise present
that song-filled night in Bethle
hem. when the heavenly hordes
sang so gloriously of “peace on
earth to men of good will,” has
permeated every feast of the Christ
Child’s birth through all the years
since.
And this Christmas, in my home
parish, the little French hymn
which is my favorite of all the car
ols will still be sung.
Brought from Old France by the
original settlers, this little hymn
has passed from one generation to
the next in Ste. Genevieve. Mis
souri, that quaint and interesting
small town where Catholicism was
first cradled in the West. Translat
ed into English, it reads:
He is born the Divine Infant,
Let the strings and woodwinds
play and sound.
He is born the Divine Infant,
Let
ns
ail sing His corning!
For more than four thousand
years
The prophets have promised
Htm to ns,
For more than four thousand
years
We have awaited this happy
time.
If you have ever listened to Sta
tion KMOX’s radio broadcast of the
Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve
at Ste. Genevieve, you have heard
the voices ot the choir lift in this
tender melody of Christ mast ide.
You have heard, too. the voices of
the boys and girls of the parish as
they move reverently down the
aisle bearing the image of the
Christ Child, which the pastor re
moves carefully from its satin cov
ered litter and places in the straw
filled manger between Mary and
Joseph at the fore of the church.
If you are seeking proof-positive
of the changelessness of Christmas,
you will find it here in the church
of Ste. Genevieve, the oldest Cath
olic house of worship in the state
of Missouri.
Since that first Midnight Mass,
celebrated in the early 1700s in
a crude hut built of hand hewn logs
and chinked with mud and straw
the same Mass of the Angels has
been sung, the same procession of
children bearing the image of the
Christ Child has been re-enacted,
and this hymn has been sung.
History records that at the first
Midnight Mass in Ste. Genevieve,
more than two centuries ago, can
dies blazed upon the improvised al
tar, while a little group of French
men and a handful of Indians paid
homage to the Divine Author ol
Light and Life. Never was the Babe
of Bethlehem given a more eager
welcome, never has the gospel ol
Christmas fallen upon more recep
tive ears than those of these hardy
pioneers.
How attentively the homesick
Frenchmen and the Indians alike
must have listened to the words
read to them by the missionary of
the Society of Jesus who had come
from Kaskasia. Illinois, to celebrate'
the Mass: And she brought forth
her firstborn Son, and wrapped
BROS
DESANTIS
FLORISTS
Rd.
1875
Him in swaddling clothes, and laid
Him in a manger, because there
was no room for them in the inn.”
Many of those present were also
outcasts. Like Mary and Joseph,
they had come into a strange land.
Their path had not been easy. They
had endured untold hardships in
then search for a spot where their
children might be born to a new'
life of freedom and peace. Their
hastily constructed cabins of log
and mud were as draughty, as
crude, as unpretentious as was the
stable of Bethlehem itself. But the
flame of love for their Creator
burned like a mighty blaze within
their hearts. Nowhere could be
found a greater devotion to Christ
than was nurtured in the souls of
these hardy, trusting Frenchmen.
To them. Christmas was a day of
prayer and thanksgiving.
The children of Ste. Genevieve
arranged miniature scenes of the
Nativity, using hand-carved figures
which their fathers had whittled
painstakingly from native woods:
ami after the Midnight Mass, when
preparing for bed, they placed
their soft little doeskin moccasins
L67
»grown®
Wild. Pre*.
THE CATHOLIC TIMES CHRISTMAS SUPPLEMENT
The Crib At Nazareth
I
Thousands come to pray before the Crib in the Church
of the Annunciation at Nazareth during Christmas Week,
This same scene is enacted at Christmas time in Catholic
churches throughout the world. (Religious News Service
Photo)
u
I
before the fireplace in hopes that
“le petit Jesus” would remember
them with some small gift.
How eagerly the womenfolk of
the village must have donned their
capes and fur-trimmed bonnets,
and the men their hooded flannel
coats, as the bells of the little
church rang out across the star
flecked darkness, filling the brood
ing wilderness with the glad, sweet
tidings of Christmas. And what a
consoling thought it is that the
bells in our many towers will still
ring forth the same thrilling mes
sage this Christmas Eve of 1952.
For as these early Frenchmen in
their struggling new village on the
western bank of the Mississippi
were called forth from their cabins
to pay homage to the newborn
Babe of Bethlehem, so too will we
be called forth by the bells of our
parish church to worship at the
crib of “le petit Jesus.” And as
those Frenchmen knelt that night
in prayer beside their Indian neigh
bors, so can men of every race and
color kneel before our altars on
this holy feast and offer thei
hearts to God.
Best Wishes For A Joyous Season
The Buckeye Tent Awning & Mfg. Co.
264-268 Spruce Street
Columbus, Ohio MA. 3206
Wishing our many Friends
and Patrons Heartfelt Joy
and Abiding Peace at
Christmas.
TUCPASfef$@ADC0
60 I. Broad St. AD. 5810 AD. 6342
CITY DECORATING CO
Theo. Griesenbrock
781 S. Front St Columbus, O.
Iconvention according to the Rev I news of the death of Bishop Francis
J?..... |Donald McMahon. Denver play land the presumed death of Bishon
wrtphl and nmorarr US.hmm whn *«,«* L_
No, Christmas in its truest mean
ing never changes It never has,
it never will. So long as the earth
rotates on ita axis, men will seek
the Star of Bethlehem, the Divine
Infant, the Promised Messias!
CHRISTMAS GREETINGS
People's Life Insurance Co.
OF INDIANA
85 E. Gay St. Suite 611-12 ADams 4718
Columbus, Ohio
Herman E. Emig, Manager and Associates
Richard G. Emig E. O. Ryan William H. Emig
SEASON’S GREETINGS
TRENOR MOTOR SALES
3241 North High Street
COLUMBUS, OHIO
LA. 1115
DODGE PLYMOUTH
Merry Christmas and
Happy New Year
BUCKEYE STATE
SHERIFF'S ASSSOCIATION
COLUMBUS, OHIO
CAPITAL CITY MOTORS, INC.
281 E. Broad St. AD. 8116
THE & SSSr.Sl CO.
204 S. High ’/i Block S. of Town
MA. 4418 COLUMBUS 15, OHIO
AND BEST WISHES FOR THE NEW YEAR
THE STILLWATER CLAY
PRODUCTS COMPANY
Manufacturers
Vitrified Clay Pipe
Fire Clay Flue Lining
Liner Plates Wall Coping
Stove Pipe and Fittings
Chimney Tops
And Other Clay Products
Plant Office —UHRICHSVILLE, OHIO
CHICAGO 201 NORTH WELLS ST.
GENERAL OFFICES 3334 PROSPECT AVE.
CLEVELAND 15, OHIO
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