per annum to the city, since if each child costs $30 or $40 a year, the thousand in the school would cost the city an easily calculated sum. We may therefore thank these good folks for saving us any greater tax bills; and this is but one of very many such schools, and a new one was started yesterday at Fifty-sixth Street and First Avenue.

In the school I visited in East Ninetyfirst Street, belonging to the church in East Ninetieth Street, and right next door to a public school, I actually saw, not heard of, these painful surprises. I say painful, because I feel pained to see what could be done even with little money, when each dollar does its duty, while a golden flood, to which I, as well as others, contribute, seem to prove again that money is not all. In this place every drop of water used anywhere in the building is filtered. I turned the water on in many places to see; every room has telephone connection with the principal's office; this is hard to believe, but there were the 'phones; the toilets were a revelation of the possibilities, and were of themselves worth a visit; and, actually in place was all the machinery, motors, piping, and all, for cleaning the building by the vacuum process! The beginning of its use had been deferred for a week or so, and it is no doubt now going. And every room was as well lighted as any I ever saw, with no acres of costly space acquired for the purpose, while a playground on the roof and a meeting hall, with a stage and drop curtain, on the ground floor, showed that modern ideas are in full blast in those directions. The rules permit teachers to visit three days per annum-why should we not look up domestic wonders? There are plenty other

High Mass at 4:30.

Low Masses at 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 o'clock in upper church; 9 o'clock for children and 10:15 o'clock in lower church. Solemn High Mass at II o'clock. Vespers at 4 o'clock,

Confessions will be heard on ChristWe mas Eve beginning at 3 o'clock. I would ask all who can do so, to come to confession in the afternoon.

Offerings for the decoration of the church and altars will be appreciated. We wish all our parishioners the choicest blessings for Christmas Day.

Just once in the year we ask you to remember in a special manner the worthy poor and the needy. We offer a large reward for doing so. From the beginning of this parish it has been the custom to offer the two High Masses on Christmas Day, the first Mass and the last Mass, for the intentions of all who put twenty-five cents in the poor boxes during the month of December, means less than a penny a day. Do not miss this opportunity to do good and to bring God's blessing upon you.

It

A special collection is taken up on Christmas Day. It ought to be special even if it were not announced as such. We love the Infant Saviour. He has dcne so much for us. All hearts are moved to do their best for Him. We love our Mother the Church, and we are moved also to do our best for her. Let (Continued on page 18)

CHRISTMAS!

On Christmas eve the bells were rung;
On Christmas eve the mass was sung;
That only night in all the year
Saw the stoled priest the chalice rear.
Then opened wide the baron's hall,
To vassal, tenant, serf, and all;
Power laid his rod of rule aside,
And ceremony doffed his pride.
The heir, with roses in his shoes,
That night might village partner choose.
All hailed, with uncontrolled delight
And general voice, the happy night
That to the cottage, as the crown,
Brought tidings of salvation down.

The celebration of the birth of our Lord on the 25th of December, Christmas day, has been observed from time immemorial in the Western Church. In the East, up to the end of the fourth century, the 6th of January, the feast of the Epiphany, was the day on which the birth of Christ was commemorated. These facts we learn from St. John Chrysostom, who in a Christmas sermon, delivered in Antioch in the year 386, says: "It is not ten years since this day (Christmas day on December 25) was clearly known to us, but it has been familiar from the beginning to those who dwell in the West. The Romans, who have celebrated it for a long time, and from ancient tradition, have transmitted the knowledge of it to us." In all probability the selection of the 25th of December, as the anniversary of the birth of the Saviour, comes down from Apostolic times, though during the ages of persecution (the first three centuries) it could only be observed in the silence and solitude of the Catacombs.

Naturally, the primary object of the feast was religious in its origin and observances. Hence, the vigil or eve of Christmas was originally observed by fasting and prayers in the church at which all the faithful assisted. This ancient and pious custom is still perpetuated by the celebration of holy mass at midnight, a privilege exclusively reserved Christmas day. On this day alone, also, can a priest say three masses. These three masses are now generally

to

said after dawn. But, in collegiate and in many cathedral churches, the three masses are said at considerable intervals, viz: One at midnight, one at dawn and one later on in the forenoon. These three masses are typical of the triple birth of our Lord, viz: His eternal generation from the Father, His temporal birth in Bethlehem, and His spiritual birth in the souls of the faithful.

Christmas, as a social festival, has always held a leading place among the notable feast days. In the ages of faith, when all Europe was Catholic, the custom of singing canticles, called carols, prevailed in many countries. These carols were generally sung during the hours between the nocturnal masses, and were intended to recall the songs of the angels and the shepherds at the birth of Christ. In Italy at the present day the Calabrian minstrels descend from the mountains to Rome and Naples, and salute with songs of ancient origin the shrines of the Blessed Virgin. the Blessed Virgin. During the Middle Ages morality plays, or dramas, representing the incidents and personages connected with the Nativity, were performed under the guidance. and with the approbation of the Church authorities. These plays were truly devotional, and served both to amuse and to enliven the faith of the people. Many of them, both as regards the musical accompaniments and the dramatic skill evinced in their construction, were of a high order of merit.

The Christmas crib, now so common in all Catholic churches, was first introduced by St. Francis of Assisi in the thirteenth century. At first the crib simply consisted of a rudely constructed cradle, filled with straw, and containing a figure of an infant. Then, after a while, statues of the Blessed Virgin and St. Joseph with those of the angels, shepherds and wise men were added, together with figures of the ass and ox. From these primitive beginnings have been developed the splendid cribs of artistic de