THE MICHIGAN DAILY -A- Lurch Set Date of Holiday IN FREER, CHEAPER WORLD: Students Await Vacation Only After Severe Struggle By CHARLA'iNE ACKER*A4N the problem of the origin of It was not until the fourth cen- divinity remained. this tury that the Christian world es- tablished December 25 as the date of the birth of Christ, a date no more historically correct than any other. In the early years of the reli- gion, Christianity's followers were more concerned with the teach- ings of Christ than with his physi- cal birth. To celebrate it would have seemed at best pointless, at worst a sin to even think of keep- ing the birthday of Christ as some sort of pagan festival. By the third century, many people began to debate the possi- biity of observing the birthday of Christ. But their opponents re- fused to accept the idea that so divine a being could have been born at all, and invented ingenious ways for explaining the Gospel stories. Origin Questioned The question of His divinity eventually resulted in the celebra- tion of Christmas. The Church was certain that Christ was divine, but Some followers felt that Christ's divine nature was intrinsic and disregarded the idea of birth at all. Another widespread belief was that Christ was born completely human, but that, when at last baptized by John in the Jordan River. the spirit of God descended into Him and He, too, became divine. Thus in the early church, it was the day of His baptism, Epiphany, Jan. 6, that was a great feast day. Divine Birth Established The modern holiday of Christ- mas came after a severe and pro- longed struggle, during which the Church repudiated the notion that Jesus had never been born at all and further decided Christ was born, not made, divine. By at least the third century, Jesus' birthday was being cele- brated-but at various times dur- ing the year. Some celebrations were held as late as April, but January 6, the day of the Epi- phany, was most favored. How, then, was the date of December 25 established? It was in the western part of the Christian world that thisdate was decided on. By the middle of" the fourth century, the Feast of Isolated and separated from the whirl of metropolitan clamor, Uni- versity students eye the 19th of December as pushing off date for the hallowed two weeks known as Christmas Vacation and a chance to see the freer and cheaper out- from Willow Run to Wayne Major York and Miami with the new Airport startled a few of the more Lockheed Electras and airline of- economical students but they man- ficials expect continental services aged to adjust their moneybelts. in the not-too-distant future. Al- Jet flights-the future for most ready in operation are jet flights of the major companies-have al- between New York and the Euro- ready begun service between New pean continent. the Nativity was being celebrated side world. dh in Rome. With a student population that Saturn Worshipped comes from all parts of the globe, In the early years of Christian- the distribution list of destinations ity, the Romans were concurrently reads like the World Almanac. worshipping pagan deities, one of Most of this list, in fact 60% of whom was the god of the harvest, the University community, relys Saturn. on air traffic to get them to and A great feast in this god's honor from Ann Arbor. began each year around the mid- 'To whit, airline reservations to die of December-with the spirited key cities on the Eastern seaboard cry Ho, Saturnalia!-and lasted plus the warmer southern climes until January 1. become more desirable as the In the midst of the festival was weather gets colder and vacation December 25, the day, as the time gets nearer. U Arts'- Crafts, Hand Wrought Jewelry 6 for Christmas 0 ~ a at - 0 L.AK E D ESI GNS. 209 South State Sret (Below Marshall's took Store) Open Monday-Friday 'til 9 Romans calculated, when the sun was at its lowest ebb, ready to again increase its strength and help perpetuate the growing things of the earth. Called False Homage To the Christians, the Satur- nalia festival was a false homage to a disreputable god. The follow- ers of Christ, moreover, were dedi- cated to the slow, improving task of converting their pagan neigh- bors, which concurrently involved debasing their customs. But the habit of the Saturnalia proved too strong to be left be- hind. The Church at first forbade it, but later wisely sought to in- corporate the festival into its own ritual. The Church Fathers there- fore attempted to turn the festival away from Saturn and toward Jesus. On this account, some people have thought that the ChristiansI invented Christmas to compete against the pagan celebrations. The church did finally succeed in taking the merriment, greenery and gifts and giving them to Christ, but far from being able to swallow the pagan rites, it was almost consumed by them. Essence Stinks WASHINGTON (P)-An annual Christmas message from the Fed- eral Trade Commission: Beware of fly-by-night peddlers who offer you fancifully labeled "French" perfume at a rare bar- gain price. The stuff may never have been closer to Paris than New Jersey. The commission says every year it gets itself set for Christmas perfume complaints, and these show that "once again the word- ing of the ads and labels is more flagrantly fragrant than the per- fume." It recalled that one company in Newark said its perfume was "Fabrique avec essence importees de France" worth $25 a bottle, whereas the truth was it ordinarily sold for $3 and was made from "essence importees de somewhere Strikes Feared The biggest nag this year, how- ever, came in when airline me- chanics decided to go on strike- paralyzing transportation early last month, they struck fear into the hearts of many who had hopes of going long distances. Eastern Airlines, which caters to most of the Miami bounld passen- gers, has caused the most trouble. The large amount of traffic be- tween Ann Arbor and the vacation paradise has been stalled with most of the other airlines either being too swamped toaccommo- date or not scheduling Florida flights. "We have been able to reroute most of the ticket holders to other flights, but we have certainly put a crimp into their vacation time," commented a local travel bureau representative. He also mentioned that it has been hard to get places for people moving /to the exotic places-Jamaica, Havana, Caracas and San Juan. Mundane' Trips Easy The more mundane trips to Chi- cago, New York, Philadelphia and even isolated Milwaukee were handled with comparative ease. Moving some of the major airlines 1IF T S IE A1I hufE 1K - STATIONERY A Christmas gift that will be appreciated! Many fine values in plain and decorated papers for men, women and children. We have a large selection of notes; plain, decorated and initialed. UNUSUAL GIFT ENCLOSURE CARDS CHRISTMAS PLACE CARDS CHRISTMAS PARTY INVITATIONS CHRISTMAS CARDS Fine selection of assorted and single cards at prices that will please YOU! Christmas notes (for that personal message) in many designs. 119 East Liberty St. Ann Arbor ,lz : r; - ll a'. a - , l : rte: ' .-x . eb tt yl / , { s. k a F:v Ff tf , Skating can be Family Fun".. Give J. C. Higgins Ice Skates for Christmas! Just Say, "Charge It" on Sears Revolving Charge. 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